Scott Ketcham, deputy director of U.S. OSHA's construction directorate chief since 2017 and a former OSHA area director, was named acting chief, according to a current website posting. He succeeds Dean A. McKenzie, who headed U.S. OSHA’s construction directorate since 2016 but died on Nov. 4 at age 62 of cancer, said an online obituary. McKenzie also was a millwright and former construction project manager and business owner before his federal appointment to the U.S. Labor Dept. construction safety post. 

Azar

Mario Azar has joined Black & Veatch as president of its power business. He is former CEO of the oil, gas and marine unit of Siemens and was executive vice president of the firm’s Americas power generation solutions business. Azar succeeds Ed Walsh, who retired in December.

Four industry firms announced CEO elevations: Hensel Phelps President Michael J. “Mike” Choutka now takes the added role at the Colorado contractor; as does President M. Gayle Packer at Olathe, Kan., design giant Terracon, with David Gaboury named chairman; at GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., former operations officers Patrick F. Sheehan becomes CEO while John C. Murphy takes a newly created chief operating officer role; and engineer Tighe & Bond CFO Robert Belitz succeeds David Pinsky in both top roles. 

The University of Kansas School of Engineering has named Arvin Agah as permanent dean, effective Jan. 22. A professor of electrical engineering and associate dean for research and graduate programs, he has been interim dean. The school is the university’s second-largest academic unit, with 3,000+ students on two campuses. 

Ivor Jarman has joined NV5 Global Inc. as executive vice president of international operations, after its buy of CSA Building Services Consulting Engineers, a Hong Kong-based MEP and fire protection firm he founded.

Earnest F. Gloyna, former dean of the University of Texas, Austin Cockrell School of Engineering, died on Jan. 9 at age 97, says the school in an online tribute. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer in World War II, he was a 52-year Cockrell faculty member and a water resources expert, serving as dean for 17 years.