Bill Steele was promoted to vice president of Sundt Construction's Texas district. He previously served as manager of preconstruction services in the district's San Antonio headquarters. In his new role, Steele will oversee preconstruction efforts and estimating for local and state projects in the state. During his tenure at Sundt, Steele held the positions of senior estimator and preconstruction project manager at the company's Tempe, Ariz., headquarters.

Kurt Knebel was hired as vice president of civil operations for the Texas division of McCarthy Building Cos. He will focus on project management, oversight and executive leadership of the division's transportation business unit. A 25-year veteran in civil construction, Knebel spent nearly five years as the North Texas area manager for Austin Bridge & Road.

Gary P. Graphia, executive vice president of Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge, La., will retire on May 1. He joined the firm in 1999 as chief legal officer and corporate secretary and also served as its chief operating officer. Most recently, Graphia has been responsible for strategic initiatives that include corporate development, mergers and acquisitions and client relations. Shaw says it expects to enter into a "short-term consulting agreement" with him. No permanent successor was named.

Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Houston, has announced three new additions to its executive team. The firm hired Rick Johnson as director of operations for its federal services division in Austin. A 29-year construction industry veteran, he will be in charge of operations for its federal procurement efforts. Kevin Wentland is now the contractor's business development manager, responsible for introducing cost-effective services from conceptual planning through final construction. He has more than 28 years of construction experience. Stacy Walsh has joined the ranks of S&P as its new controller. He has been in the accounting arena for 16 years with experience in tax, audit, financial reporting and overall accounting oversight.

PBK, Houston, has hired two new directors. Cliff Whittingstall is director of higher education, supervising all of the firm's higher education projects, Roy Montalbano is the new director of business development. A principal since 2001, Montalbano has been with PBK for more than 20 years.

Dick McNary was named president and COO of project management consulting firm Project Control, San Antonio. Bob Crittenden, the firm's former president, will continue as CEO.

Kleinfelder, Dallas, announced several new hires following the January acquisition of Houston-based environmental planning and permitting firm Corrigan Consulting. Tom Wiberg is senior environmental project manager. Based in Dallas, he will provide services in regulatory compliance and environmental assessment and remediation for public and private-sector clients. Most recently, Wiberg owned Wiberg Environmental Consulting. Joe Kowalski joins the firm as senior professional, also based in Dallas. He has more than 26 years of engineering experience and will work with the firm's retaining wall practice group. He previously owned and operated Kowalski Engineering Inc., which provided geotechnical consulting services and engineering design services projects. Rey Cantu is senior project manager and client account manager. Based out of Kleinfelder's Austin office, he will provide services to projects for state and local governments. Cantu has more than 27 years of engineering experience and has held positions with the Texas Dept. of Transportation and the city of Austin.

Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas, has named Biggs C. Porter as chief financial officer and senior vice president. He replaces D. Michael Steuert as CFO, effective on May 4. Steuert, CFO since 2001, retires from that role on May 31 but will remain with Fluor through the end of the year, according to the firm. Porter is formerly CFO of Tenet Healthcare Corp., a national investor-owned health care delivery system. He also held senior level finance positions with Raytheon Co. and Dallas utility TXU Corp. Fluor's board of directors also elected CEO David T. Seaton to the added role of chairman. Alan L. Boeckmann retires from Fluor's board as its non-executive chairman. He had served for nine years as company chairman and CEO. The company is marking its centennial in 2012.

Jonas McBride was named by Rosendin Electric, San Jose, Calif., to the newly created role of director of central U.S. engineering. Based in Austin, Texas, he will help oversee multi-office engineering projects and expand the firm's regional operations. McBride will be located in the local office of KST Electric, a wholly owned subsidiary. He has 17 years of experience in design and construction. Before joining Rosendin Electric, McBride served as a consultant specializing in mission-critical data center design. He also has worked for Smith Seckman Reid, NSPOF Communications and Day Brown Rice.