In 2023, Alaska's governor awarded her the coveted Alaska Humanitarian Service Medal and the Alaska Community Service Medal.
ANCHORAGE, AK, December 10, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marlene D. Watson, MS, MA, MDiv, has been inducted into Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Ms. Watson, a leader in the engineering sector, is a respected project manager who utilizes architectural and civil design experience to lead successful projects. As a civil engineer with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, she leads a technical and administrative team responsible for the management of the Tribal Transportation Program for assigned tribes. In this capacity, her role includes administering complex contracts for planning, road maintenance, safety, transit operations, design, construction and bridge projects, and often traveling to Alaska Native villages to offer assistance with projects. Her work toward sustainability has led her to be widely recognized as a transformative voice for Indigenous communities. Adjacent to her work with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Ms. Watson is a brigade chaplain with the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), where she holds the rank of captain.
Among her numerous achievements, Ms. Watson is the recipient of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) 2023 Ely S. Parker Award, a lifetime achievement award. In 2023, Alaska's governor awarded her the coveted Alaska Humanitarian Service Medal and the Alaska Community Service Medal. Furthermore, Ms. Watson was one of the original organizers of the first Indigenous Peoples Day declaration in the United States, authorized by the City of Berkeley, California, in 1992.
Before commencing her work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2019, Ms. Watson was a designer at Bunton Clifford & Associates and Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Inc. and a job captain at ATI Architects & Engineers, MWM Architects, and Akol & Yoshii Architects. Earlier in her career, she worked in various West Coast locations for Visions Enterprises, Inc and White Shield, Inc. Her career began in the 1980s and 1990s with project management roles at NASA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Department of Energy San Francisco Operations Office and the California Department of Housing & Community Development.
Born in the Bay Area of California, Ms. Watson began as a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, at the age of 16. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture in 1985. She continued her education at U.C. Berkeley, obtaining a Master of Arts in Architecture and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering Management in 1992. She later earned a Master of Divinity with an emphasis in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2012.
In her personal life, Ms. Watson attended Victory Outreach Church and later a member of First Covenant Church and has served on its board of directors in Alaska. She also served on the boards of Alaska Christian College from 2016 to 2022 and AISES from 1995 to 1997 and 2012 to 2015; AISES Board Secretary 2008 to 2011. She completed the Clinical Pastorial Education (CPE), a chaplain residency program at Providence Alaska Medical Center from 2013 to 2014.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who's Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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