Olivier A. Girod

Olivier A. Girod is a professional engineer and management executive with demonstrated ability to lead complex organizations. Trained in France and the USA, he has used his engineering skills to improve the performance of enterprise processes and implement innovative business strategies. Olivier's experience includes P&L oversight in the $150M to $500M range, impact on +$1B real estate agreements, and managing +1,000 bargaining unit employees. He is passionate about operational excellence, effective leadership, and well run programs.

Presently, Olivier serves in a senior executive position at an independent Federal agency whose mission includes protecting investors and overseeing financial markets. He has been with the agency since 2014. His current role focuses on real property infrastructure, the security of personnel and assets, the preservation of official records, and government transparency through the Freedom of Information Act. Previously, Olivier spent twenty years in manufacturing, rising through the ranks from individual contributor to executive. During this time, he had many opportunities to participate in enriching human endeavors, such as daily production of The Washington Post newspaper, the publication of official journals of government, and start-up of a secure facility to produce biometric passports. He began his career in the nuclear and aerospace industries.

Olivier graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Arts et Métiers ParisTech. He received his master's in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University and a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech. Additionally, he completed executive programs at the Center for Creative Leadership, Georgetown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While a doctoral student in the Grado Department, he was a research assistant under Kostas Triantis, his academic advisor. Olivier's dissertation work combined linear programming with fuzzy set theory in order to measure the technical efficiency of systems when only imprecise data are available.

Olivier was appointed to the Texas Tech Academy of Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineers in 2008; he was inducted into the ISE Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2018. A licensed engineer in Virginia, he has been a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers for more than 30 years and joined the American Society for Quality +25 years ago. He is also a longtime member of Alpha Pi Mu and the National Society of Professional Engineers.