C-Suites Shift at AE Firms, Agency

Stanley Consultants, a Muscatine, Iowa, global designer, named Kate Harris and Gayle Roberts as CEO and chairman, respectively. Harris, who also is president and succeeds Roberts in both roles, previously was senior vice president and a global commercial officer at MWH Global. Stantec bought MWH in 2016. Roberts, who served as CEO since 2012, succeeds Gregs Thomopulos, a 52-year firm veteran who is chairman emeritus.

With the surprise resignation on July 1 of Brian Shortsleeve, a former venture capital executive, as acting general manager and chief administrative officer of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on May 25 announced an agency executive shake-up.

Shortsleeve’s exit comes six months before MBTA was to choose a permanent successor, say media reports. Board committee Chairman Steve Poftak becomes interim general manager, MBTA Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Gonneville will be deputy general manager, and CFO Michael Abramo will be chief administrative officer.

Carl Galioto, managing principal of the New York City and Philadelphia offices of design firm HOK and a member of its executive committee, is elevated to president.

John D. Anderson, 90, a former American Institute of Architects national president and sustainable design pioneer, died in Denver on May 21. He co-founded the architectural firm Anderson Mason Dale, which designed, in 1972, what was then the largest solar-heated building.

As ENR Editor-at-Large for Energy, Business and Workforce, Debra K. Rubin has a broad vantage for news, issues and trends in global engineering and construction related to key areas of global energy development and transition, corporate business and management, regulation and risk and next-generation workforce development.

Debra also launched and manages ENR's Top 200 Environmental Firms annual ranking, which defines key players in the dynamic global market for environmental services; and is editor of ENR WorkforceToday e-newsletter on industry talent management news and trends. Click here to receive this free monthly newsletter.

She also is a key organizer of ENR's annual Groundbreaking Women in Construction conference, a major AEC industry forum for talent management and women's career advancement. Click here for more detail on plans in formation for the next live event.

Johanna Knapschaefer, ENR’s New England Special Correspondent, has been writing about trends in design and construction of buildings, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure for more than a decade. She also profiles award-winning industry leaders and delves into broader construction issues such as workforce training, worker safety and health, climate change remediation and emerging offshore wind and tidal energy developments. Over the past two decades, her articles have appeared in Architectural Record, BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, American Banker, Modern Metals, BusinessNH Magazine, Pittsburgh Magazine and many other publications. Johanna is fluent in Japanese, and taught English and academic writing in the Science and Engineering Department of Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, while living in Japan for eight years.

When not writing, Johanna enjoys mountain climbing, singing and playing her Spanish guitar.

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