Title: Owner and President
Company: Operations and Safety Solutions LLC (OSS)
Location: Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, United States
Deborah Grubbe, owner and president of Operations and Safety Solutions LLC (OSS), has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Engineers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in project management, construction safety and chemical process safety.
In the face of challenges and expectations due to her gender, Ms. Grubbe has established herself as a leader and business owner in the engineering world across nearly 50 years. This journey began when she was attending a Catholic school in fourth grade and a nun told her class that every person is given gifts and placed in this world to offer those gifts to others. While figuring out what her gift might be in high school, Ms. Grubbe encountered a math teacher who suggested that she consider engineering. Concurrently with that, she was told by a guidance counselor that women could not be engineers — a proclamation that just encouraged her to prove the guidance counselor wrong.
In 1978, Ms. Grubbe’s efforts began to pay off when she joined DuPont as a chemical engineer, project engineer, division engineer and staff engineer. She would come to recognize DuPont as the ideal place to grow, as the company employed many experts in the field and was deeply invested in developing its young engineers. Due to that support, Ms. Grubbe remained at the company for more than 25 years. Throughout that time, she was promoted to such positions as manager of human resource development, project manager, capital manager, regional engineering manager, business engineering manager and director of engineering.
Culminating her experiences at DuPont, Ms. Grubbe was promoted to corporate director of operations and safety with the company in 1997. This role included overseeing safety and health activities across multiple divisions and leading a 700-person engineering team. After ending her full-time work with DuPont in 2005, Ms. Grubbe contributed as a vice president of group safety and safety change management at BP and a member NASA’s aerospace safety advisory panel. She has also remained affiliated with DuPont as an executive consultant in health care safety culture and leadership and a principal consultant in operations and safety excellence, capital management and process safety.
Building on her success in the field, Ms. Grubbe launched her own company, Operations and Safety Solutions LLC (OSS) in 2009. Through this organization, she is able to assist clients who require safety leadership guidance across industries, including in aerospace, chemical, construction, health care, and oil and gas.
Ms. Grubbe has additionally demonstrated her commitment to the education of young engineers as a lecturer in ethics and process safety management at Purdue University; a member of the advisory board for advanced safety and engineering management at The University of Alabama at Birmingham; a member of the advisory council for Rowan University’s Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering; and a member of the advisory board for chemical and biological engineering at Drexel University. Her current duties also include leading the Center for Ethical Practice at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, serving as an investor and discussion expert at Future Energy Partners, formerly PetroMall, investing in Near-Miss Management LLC, and providing part-time guidance as the president of the board of trustees for the United Engineering Foundation.
Ms. Grubbe’s performance in the field was born of her academic journey, beginning with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Purdue University, where she graduated with highest distinction in 1977. Before starting her own business, she completed coursework in business administration and management at the University of Delaware in 1981. Ms. Grubbe earned an honorary doctorate in engineering from Purdue University in 2010. She has also obtained certification in a number of relevant areas, including in chemical engineering through the University of Cambridge, as a Six Sigma green belt through DuPont, as a chartered engineer through the Institution of Chemical Engineers, and as a licensed engineer through the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers.
Beyond her career, Ms. Grubbe is a devoted wife to her husband, James B. Porter Jr., a fellow engineer who has been extremely supportive in her professional life. She is also a loving stepmother to one and grandmother to one. Ms. Grubbe’s favorite pastimes include exercising, gardening and participating in water sports with her husband. She has no immediate plans to retire, as she finds her work with OSS to be highly rewarding.
For more information, please visit:
Contact Ms. Grubbe: