Principal Scientist
Dr. Deborah Gebhardt has over 30 years of experience in personnel selection research and development and validation of physical performance assessments and medical guidelines in the military, public, and private sectors, including Fortune 500 clients. Her areas of expertise include job analysis, ergonomic analysis, physical test development and validation, and medical guidelines development. Dr. Gebhardt’s research and work products have focused on integrating the biomechanical and physiological aspects of human performance with the ergonomic aspects of the workplace, resulting in methodologies for measurement of occupationally related physical capacities and injuries. She developed an innovative methodology to determine the severity of medical diseases and conditions that limit or preclude safe and effective job performance.
Dr. Gebhardt holds Fellow status in the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She has authored and co-authored book chapters and journal articles in her area of expertise and testified as an expert witness in class action (Title VII) and arbitrations related to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For her work in physical testing and medical guidelines, she was awarded the M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace from SIOP in 2006 and 2019. She also received the Distinguished Terrapin Award from the University of Maryland School of Public Health in 2020 as well as the 2010 Stephen E. Bemis Memorial Award and 2003 Innovations in Assessment Award from the International Personnel Assessment Council. Prior to joining HumRRO, she was president of Human Performance Systems.