OAK BROOK, Ill. – The Board of Directors of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is pleased to announce that

Mark G. Watson will become the Society's executive director on April 1, 2009. Watson comes to the position with nearly 20 years of experience working in key capacities at RSNA and has served as the Society's interim executive director since September 2008.

Assistant executive director for finance and administration at RSNA for the past 15 years, Watson was selected after a thorough 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 graduating from Western Illinois University in Macomb with a bachelor's degree in business and accounting, Watson began his career in 1986 at the KPMG Peat Marwick accounting firm. In 1990, he was hired by RSNA as the director of finance, and two years later became the director of finance and business affairs. In 1994, he became assistant executive director of finance and administration.

During the next 15 years, Watson was responsible for all membership, financial and accounting activities of RSNA, including the development of long-term financial forecasting models that have proved critical to the board's strategic plans and decisions.

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 every detail of the development of the RSNA headquarters building, from site selection and financing through construction and move-in. 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, working closely with the governing boards and committees of these societies and overseeing their administration. In 2005, he was named director of the RSNA Research and Education Foundation.

His depth and breadth of knowledge of RSNA operations and his leadership skills made him the natural candidate for the position of interim executive director.

Colleagues and RSNA board members have long noted Watson's business and financial acumen, as well as his administrative skills.

"He has demonstrated integrity, sound judgment and the ability to make decisions at strategic and operational levels," Dr. Drayer said. "His understanding of and commitment to the RSNA mission, coupled with his genuine affinity for the volunteers and staff who carry it out on a day-to-day basis, have impressed all who have worked with him."

Watson was born in Iowa and has lived in the Chicago area since 1988. He and his wife of 23 years, Annamarie, have two children, Sarah and Matt.

RSNA is an association of more than 42,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research.