Joachim Ebert, Arcadis US CEO, Dies at 51; Permanent Successor Named
Michael Dyke has been named managing director by a joint venture of U.K.-based Balfour Beatty Group Ltd. and France’s VINCI Group S.A. of two engineering projects valued at $6.2 billion on Britain’s London-to Birmingham high-speed railroad (HS2). He will lead work on team contracts secured last month for the northern 90 km of rail linking to the existing West Coast Main Line.
Dyke had been CEO of eight2O, a design-build alliance formed by Thames Water, the private utility company that manages London regional water and wastewater services, to handle $2.2 billion of capital work in the five-year investment program ending in April.
Harriman, an Auburn, Maine, design services firm, promoted principal Mark Lee to CEO and Jim Fortin, who leads its structural and civil engineering studio, to chief operations officer, effective June 1. They will succeed Clifton Greim, president and CEO, who is retiring. Founded in 1870, Harriman is the fifth-oldest U.S. design firm, according to the company.
Victaulic, a leading manufacturer of mechanical pipe-joining systems, elevated Rick Bucher, chief operating officer, to the added role of president, succeeding John F. Malloy, who remains chairman and CEO. Bucher joined the firm in 2009 and became COO last year.
Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., has named Michele Marcolongo dean of the College of Engineering, effective July 31. She currently heads the materials science and engineering department and is a faculty member at Drexel University. Marcolongo, who also had been associate dean for intellectual property development, co-founded three biomedical technology start-ups and authored the book Academic Entrepreneurship: How to Bring Your Scientific Product to a Commercial Discovery.
Beena Sukumaran, vice president for research at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J., will become dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, on Aug. 1. She had headed Rowan’s civil and environmental engineering department and will succeed Marek Dollár, who will return to the faculty. Sukumaran received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ New Jersey Educator of the Year Award in 2010 and has been cited for documenting infrastructure damage in the state after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Miami University’s undergraduate engineering program in the Top 10 at national public universities.
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San Francisco-based building contractor Swinerton has elevated Ray Haj to senior vice president overseeing operations in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. Formerly a division manager for L.A. and the county, he joined Swinerton in 2001. Pete Ruiz was promoted to the division manager role.
Joachim Ebert, the 51-year-old CEO of Arcadis North America since 2016 whom the firm credits with turning around its financial performance and overseeing its digital transformation, died on April 15 of pancreatic cancer, the firm said.
He joined the Highlands Ranch, Colo., unit of Dutch design giant Arcadis NV as its chief operating officer in 2015. The unit says it has about 5,000 employees and revenue of about $1.3 billion. Ebert previously was a partner at management consultant McKinsey & Co., where he co-led its product development practice.
“Joachim was a charismatic leader. Nothing fazed him, and he approached every situation with positivity and determination,” said Peter Oosterveer, CEO of Arcadis NV. “He inspired everyone who worked with him.”
Alexander Rothchild, president of Arcadis North America’s U.S. environment business, succeeds Ebert as CEO. He had served in the role on an interim basis since Jan. 1.
