ZIMMERMAN Bernard Zimmerman, a co-founder of the architecture department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a 35-year faculty member and a leading practitioner in Southern California, died on June 4 in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 79. Zimmerman, who helped start the department in the early 1970s, was a “vocal critic and demanding instructor to many,” says faculty colleague Kip Dickson. He was president of his own Los Angeles firm, Zimmerman Architects and Planners, and a partner in several other locally based companies. Zimmerman co-founded the Los Angeles Institute of Architecture and Design and helped launch its
KORF Victor W. “Bill” Korf Jr., former national director of transportation at Omaha-based engineering firm HDR Inc. and former deputy secretary of transportation and chief engineer for the Washington Dept. of Transportation, died on June 9 at age 77 of complications due to cancer. Korf joined the agency in 1956 and was involved in construction of the Seattle Evergreen Point floating bridge. He retired in 1985. At HDR, Korf managed offices in Washington, Arizona and California, and worked with the newly independent Polish government in the 1980s on its first privately funded highway project. Arthur C. Erickson, the Vancouver, British
MILLSTONE Isidore E. Millstone, a founder of Millstone-Bangert Inc., a major building and heavy contractor in Saint Louis and a local philanthropist, is presumed dead at 102 after an apparent suicide on May 16. A 1927 engineering graduate of local Washington University, he founded Millstone Construction in 1929. His firm merged with Bangert Construction in 1996. The firm built Busch Stadium, among other local landmarks. He managed projects in Israel in the 1950s.
PAPADAKIS Constantine “Taki” Papadakis, a civil engineer and construction firm manager who served as president of Drexel University in Philadelphia since 1995, died unexpectedly on April 5 at age 63. The university attributes his death to pulmonary complications. Papadakis joined Drexel at a time when its enrollment, physical plant and bottom line had sunk to new depths. During his presidency, the university experienced an academic and financial reinvigoration. Papadakis “famously insisted on measurable goals for his managers,” says the university, adding that he was one of higher education’s longest-serving presidents. Replacing Papadakis as interim president is Charles R. Pennoni, Drexel
Constantine "Taki" Papadakis, the president of Drexel University in Philadelphia and one of a few civil engineers to be running a major academic institution, died unexpectedly April 5 at age 63. According to the university, his death was related to pulmonary complications, although he was in remission from cancer. Photo: Courtesy of Drexel University Constantine "Taki" Papadakis Papadakis, a management veteran of three construction industry firms, joined Drexel in 1995, at a time when its enrollment, physical plant and bottom line had sunk to new depths. But during the 14 years of his presidency the university experienced an academic and
HERZOG William E. “Bill” Herzog, founder of Herzog Contracting Corp. a major rail and transit construction firm in St. Joseph, Mo., that ranked 194 among ENR’s Top 400 contractors last year, died on March 6 in Platt City, Mo., at age 88. Herzog founded the firm in 1969 after a 22-year career in the public and private sectors. It had $385 million in 2008 revenue. Herzog also held numerous patents in materials and equipment techniques, and is a former president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri. LORE H. Edgar Lore, a former contractor executive recognized by ENR in 1979
BOND J. Max Bond Jr., one of the most prominent African-American architects in the U.S. and partner in Davis Brody Bond Aedas, New York City, died on Feb. 18 in Manhattan at age 73. Bond, a former Fulbright Scholar and university architecture instructor and dean in the U.S. and Ghana, was also partner-in-charge for design of the National Sept. 11 Memorial underground museum under way at Ground Zero. He cofounded Bond Ryder & Associates, a New York firm that merged with Davis Brody, and was a city planning commissioner. “ To have met Max, was to know instantly why his
GARVEY Daniel S. Garvey, chief engineer of the New York State Thruway Authority who supervised the expedited repair and investigation of the major roadway after the 1987 collapse of its Schoharie Creek overpass, an event that killed 10, died on Dec. 7, 2008, of heart failure in Queens, N.Y. He was 81. Garvey was named to that post in the 1970s after serving as a deputy commissioner in the New York City highway department, where he directed closure of 25 movable city bridges left in the open position during a strike by bridge operators. He also was the first chief
RUDOLPH Frederick “Fritz” Rudolph Sr., cofounder and former president and chairman of Walbridge, Ohio, building contractor The Rudolph/Libbe Cos. Inc., died on Jan. 11. He was 79. The firm, founded in 1955 with Rudolph’s brother and cousin, reported $321 million in 2007 revenue. He retired in 2004 and was president of Associated General Contractors of Ohio.
HENKELS Paul M. Henkels, chairman of Henkels & McCoy, a Blue Bell, Pa., utility contractor, died on Jan. 8 of complications from a brain tumor. He was 84. Henkels, who joined the family firm as a high school student, was chairman since 1985 and was named president in 1972. He was also first president of the Greater Philadelphia Utility Contractors Association and of the Atlantic Contractors Association. Henkels was a strong supporter of education causes, championing enactment of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program and annually lecturing in ethics at Princeton University. Henkels & McCoy ranks seventh on ENR’s list