Deborah Grubbe, President of Operations and Safety Solutions, LLC 

Annual Lecture in the Phillips 66 / C.J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership

Lecture Title: "The Ethics of Fear"

Description:

While ethics is something that is usually learned in the home, many businesses, universities, and governments are finding themselves relying on staff education and policies to address ethics in their workplaces.  Licensed professional engineers are required to participate in continuous learning activities on ethics; however, an engineer, with one error, can hurt or kill more people and destroy more value than any other profession. Grubbe will outline ethical dilemmas from many sources and will discuss how engineering professionals may best prepare and protect themselves and their reputations.

Bio:

Deborah Grubbe owns and manages a private consulting company and has served in executive positions with DuPont and BP in London.  She was the 2021 President of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and is the current President of the United Engineering Foundation.  Deborah has been a nine-year member of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and consulted in safety culture with the Columbia Shuttle Accident Investigation Board. She also served on the State of Delaware’s Licensing Board and chaired its Law Enforcement and Ethics Committee. She is a member and former chair of the National Academy of Construction’s Safety Committee and is an Emeritus Member of the Center for Chemical Process Safety. 

Grubbe obtained a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and attended the University of Cambridge, England, on a Winston Churchill Fellowship. She is a registered Professional Engineer in Delaware, a chartered engineer in the United Kingdom, and is a Fellow of both the American and British Chemical Engineering Institutes. In 2002 she was named the Engineer of the Year in the State of Delaware and was the 2018 Delaware Valley Engineer of the Year. In 2010 she received an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Purdue University and was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2023.