Rich Cavallaro, former CEO of contractor Skanska USA and its civil construction unit, has joined Gilbane Building Co. as executive vice president of its New York and New England regional divisions. He left Skanska after 23 years in October 2018. In the Gilbane New York role, Cavallaro succeeds William J. “Bill” Gilbane III, who joins parent firm Gilbane Inc.’s board. Grant Gagnier, former senior vice president and operations head of Lendlease Americas’ construction unit, is named Gilbane NY’s vice president.

Reginald DesRoches, dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, Houston, will become university provost, its chief academic officer, July 1. He will be the first black male in that role in Rice’s 65-year history. DesRoches, who joined Rice in 2016, had been chair of Georgia Tech’s civil-environmental engineering school. His primary research interests are design of resilient infrastructure systems under extreme loads and smart materials application.

Germany-based Tractebel Engineering GmbH named Thomas Brandstätt board chairman, succeeding Martin Seeger, who left the firm on Dec. 31. Formerly the Lahmeyer Group, the company was acquired in 2014 by Brussels-based Tractebel, which ranks at No. 53 on ENR’s list of the Top 150 Global Design Firms. It reported $780.5 million in 2018 global revenue and has 5,000 staff in 33 countries.

The Sundt Cos. has named to its board of directors Teri Jones, who was elevated in 2018 to building group president. She is also a University of California-Berkeley construction management advisory board member.