The Board of Directors of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has announced that Mark G. Watson will become the society’s executive director on April 1.
Watson, who possesses nearly 20 years of experience working in key capacities at RSNA, has served as the society’s interim executive director since September 2008. For the past 15 years, he has worked as assistant executive director for finance and administration at RSNA.
He was chosen after an extensive candidate search by Korn/Ferry International in conjunction with RSNA’s board of directors and executive director search committee.
"The board’s selection of Mark Watson indicates not only its recognition of his history of distinguished service with the RSNA but also its confidence in his ability to provide the good counsel and effective leadership needed to realize the promise of RSNA’s future," said Burton P. Drayer, M.D., chairman of the RSNA board of directors.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Watson started his career in 1986 at the KPMG Peat Marwick accounting firm. He was hired by RSNA as the director of finance in 1990, and two years later became the director of finance and business affairs. In 1994, he became assistant executive director of finance and administration.
Watson has since managed all membership, financial and accounting activities of RSNA, such as the development of long-term financial forecasting models that have proved critical to the board’s strategic plans and decisions.
Furthermore, he has also been responsible for society business and administration, including reviewing and negotiating all society agreements and contracts with outside parties and developing and administering all personnel policies. He was involved in the entire development process of the RSNA headquarters building, from site selection and financing through construction and move-in. Also, during RSNA management of a number of radiology societies in the 1990s, Watson served as the executive director of the Radiation Research Society and the North American Hyperthermia Society, where he worked closely with the governing boards and committees of these societies and oversaw their administration. In 2005, he was named director of the RSNA Research and Education Foundation.
