Workplace Safety Expert Keeps ‘Smart People From Doing Dumb Things’

DEVON MOLITOR ’12, recipient of Concordia’s 2023 Professional Achievement Award, joined the Marine Corps right out of high school as a nuclear-biological-chemical defense specialist, and served in Iraq to train police and border patrol. He then worked his way up in the field of occupational safety and today is a director and associate vice president in his group at AECOM, the mammoth global company that designs and builds large-scale projects like bridges, airports, stadiums (including SoFi and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas), and much more.

“Devon’s business acumen gained at Concordia has been a significant differentiator throughout his career in the safety profession,” says longtime friend Galen Cooter, who also serves a vice president and director of safety, health and environment at AECOM. “His depth of knowledge of the business has allowed him take what has traditionally been a compliance-based role and turn it into a true partnership between our Safety, Health, and Environment Department and our executive leadership.”

Molitor’s post-military career began by doing “random jobs” that came up for his environmental services employer, and learning the industry from the ground up. Workplace safety expert keeps ‘smart people from doing dumb things’

At the encouragement of his wife Lisa (Olson) ’05, herself a Concordia alumna, the Huntington Beach native enrolled at Concordia to finish his degree in business administration.

“Concordia’s degree gave me a firm foundation to establish a direction in life,” he says. “Without that, I wouldn’t have moved into safety as a profession. It gave me a clear direction. The introduction to law and liability I got out of the program I still regularly use in the safety profession today.”

Molitor graduated cum laude in 2012 and went on to earn a master’s degree in occupational safety management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He also served on Concordia’s alumni board of directors.

Meanwhile, he kept progressing as a safety professional and was hired by AECOM which some call “the largest company nobody’s ever heard of.” Molitor served as an area safety manager until 2020 before being elevated into his current role at the Fortune 500 company.

“I fell in love with what I do for a number of reasons, and some only exist in AECOM,” he says. “Few firms in the world have the span of exposure to the different things and crazy-interesting projects they do. We also get to do stuff that makes a difference. Our team is very like minded, and we get along famously. It’s a fun group of people to work with.”

Molitor’s role as a safety professional “is to keep smart people from doing dumb things,” he says. “People often forget what matters. Our job is to teach behaviorally-based safety culture. Nothing at work is worth risking somebody’s life or their ability to enjoy things in life. Nobody’s tombstone has ever said, ‘I may be dead but thank God the wastewater treatment is online.’”

That kind of humorous approach to teaching the importance of on-the-job safety prompted Molitor and a co-worker to create a video series to raise awareness for the company’s safety program — but in a comedic and memorable way.

“We threw on suit jackets, bought a green screen and ad-libbed it,” Molitor says. “It had a very Ron Burgundy, tongue-in-cheek vibe.”

Before highlighting a safety topic, they lampooned senior leaders and made fun of corporate initiatives and practices, such as the 19 different communication methods the company uses. The series, dubbed the "Safety for Life News Network,” quickly went viral within the company and beyond, earning recognition and thanks from the CEO.

“We had viewers on every continent. People were sharing them outside of AECOM,” Molitor says.

Molitor was named a “Rising Star” by the National Safety Council, an annual award given to just 30 or so top professionals in the industry under age 40. He speaks often to corporate groups about occupational safety and empowering employees.

“I still giggle about it because when I started in the company, I was the guy they wouldn’t let talk to clients because they were afraid of what I might say,” he says.

Concordia’s Professional Achievement Award goes to an individual who is respected as an exceptional contributor and authority in his or her professional discipline and who has demonstrated outstanding qualities of character and leadership. “It’s really special,” Molitor says of receiving it this year. “I do a lot of public speaking in front of small and big audiences, but when I received the award, I couldn’t have been more nervous, for some reason.”

Devon, Lisa, and their two children live in Orange.