Thomas F. Fortier has joined design firm HOK, St. Louis, as vice president and director of science and technology. Based in San Francisco, he is formerly a principal and managing director at Bay Area architect KlingStubbins, which was acquired by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., in 2011. Fortier also was a principal at ZGF Architects. 

FORTIER

West Yost Associates Inc., a Davis, Calif.-based engineer, has elevated Charles Duncan to president. Formerly chief operating officer, he joined the firm in 1997 as a project manager. The firm, which has seven offices in California and Oregon, specializes in water, wastewater and stormwater design and construction management.

B.L. Harbert International LLC, the Birmingham, Ala.-based contractor, has named C. Ben Nevins as vice president of its commercial division. He had been president of Brice Building Co., a construction firm, also based there, that was acquired in 2010 by Anderson Cos., which Tutor Perini bought in 2011. Nevins is on the executive board of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction at Auburn University, a past president of the Alabama chapter of the Associated General Contractors and an AGC national director.

SANSALONE

Mary J. Sansalone, former dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at St. Louis-based Washington University, will join Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., as vice president for strategic initiatives, effective on March 1. Most recently, she was provost and chief academic officer at the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Sansalone, also a 20-year structural-engineering faculty veteran at Cornell University, was the second woman to earn tenure and be promoted to full professor in Cornell's College of Engineering, says Stony Brook. She also was vice provost of academic programs at Cornell. Sansalone is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, co-recipient of the Wason Medal for materials research from the American Concrete Institute and the Carnegie Foundation's U.S. national Professor of the Year. Sansalone, whose research has led to one patent and an ASTM standard for non-destructive testing, is writing a book about insights gained from her experiences developing a university for young women in South Asia, according to Stony Brook.

James E. Walker, former chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' navigations operations branch, will join the American Association of Port Authorities as director of navigation policy and legislation in its government-relations office, effective on Feb. 11, ENR has learned. He will succeed David B. Sanford, who is retiring. Walker, retired from the Corps in January, also was deputy chief of operations for its Mobile, Ala., district. 

KOLAYA

Yonkers Contracting Co., Yonkers, N.Y., has elevated John L. Kolaya to president and chief operating officer. Formerly executive vice president, he joined the heavy-civil contractor when it acquired Crimmins Constructors in 1987. Kolaya is an executive committee member of the General Contractors Association of New York and has chaired several committees for The Moles, a heavy-construction professional group. Carl E. Petrillo, who remains CEO of Yonkers, gains the added role of chairman.

Timothy Bonczek rejoins Kaufman Lynn Construction, Boca Raton, Fla., in the newly created role of chief operating officer. Most recently, he was a vice president at Dana B. Kenyon Co., Jacksonville, Fla., but first joined Kaufman Lynn in 1997 as a superintendent. The company also named Christopher L. Long as vice president of operations. He had been operations director at Balfour Beatty Construction, managing its education-related projects in southeast Florida. Ronald Scott Haligman also joins the firm as general counsel. He was a partner at Rozencwaig & Nadel LLP in Hallendale Beach, Fla.

Chicago-based ESD (Environmental Systems Design Inc.) has promoted James Vallort and James Sauvageau to senior vice president from vice president. Vallort, who leads the firm's commissioning and building-science business, is past president of the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE). Sauvageau is business leader of the firm's mission-critical facilities group.

SOMERVILLE

Patrick L. Somerville has joined HNTB Corp., Kansas City, as a vice president and Southern California group director. Based in Santa Ana, Calif., he is formerly a vice president at AECOM Technology Corp. Somerville also is a board member of the Southern California chapter of the American Public Works Association.

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), Washington, D.C., has named George Kelemen as senior vice president of government and political affairs, effective on Feb. 4. He will replace Jane Calderwood, who was a vice president and now is senior policy adviser for Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). She also had been Sen. Snowe's chief of staff and legislative director. Kelemen, senior director of external affairs for the American Cancer Society, will be ACI-NA's chief lobbyist and manage its government affairs department. The group represents local, regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the U.S. and Canada. 

WONG

Simon Wong has joined San Diego-based engineer-consultant Kleinfelder as vice president of corporate development. The new role follows the firm's Dec. 31, 2012, acquisition of Simon Wong Engineering, a San Diego firm of which Wong was founder and president. About 115 Wong employees also have joined Kleinfelder, the firm says. Simon Wong Engineering specializes in project management, structural and bridge engineering services, construction management and inspection services.