Grant Willson joined the faculties of the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin in 1993. He came to the University of Texas from his position as an IBM Fellow and Manager of the Polymer Science and Technology area at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, among many professional organizations. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals in polymer chemistry and materials science and is co-author of more than 300 journal publications. He is editor and author of several books and co-inventor on more than 25 issued patents. Willson is the recipient of the 1999 National Academy of Sciences Award for Chemistry in Service to Society.

Willson received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry from San Diego State University.