One felt the thrill of a dramatic whitewater adventure as a teenager. Another saw a demonstration of a liquid damper in a college lecture. Others disassembled a nuclear aircraft carrier in the Navy, or grew up surrounded by a family of stone masons. And one survived not one but two opioid overdoses, rescued by Narcan.
These are some of the defining moments and experiences that shaped this year’s ENR Newsmakers, chosen by the editors. Those moments inspired each of the industry change-makers to rethink their career trajectory, come up with clever new solutions or galvanize a team to accomplish great feats of design and construction.
As varied as their backstories and accomplishments are, these 25 Newsmakers are united in their efforts to make the industry—and their communities—better places to live and work. Read their stories on the pages that follow and meet them in person at ENR’s Award of Excellence gala on April 13 at Pier 60 in New York City. Visit enr.com/aoe to register.

Kevin Antonelli
Senior Director of Construction
Google
Mountain View, California

Chad J. Basinger
Vice President Project Management
Swank Construction Co.
New Kensington, Pennsylvania

Sean P. Clifton
Senior Principal
Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Seattle

Matt Compher
Vice President, Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality
Quanta Services
Houston

Rick Cotton
Executive Director
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
New York City


Carlos Diaz
Project Director
McCarthy Building Cos.
Phoenix

Brian Golden
Former Director, Boston Planning and Development Agency and Partner, Keegan Werlin LLP
Boston

Thomas S. Gunning
Executive Director
Building Trades Employers' Association Northeast (BTEA Northeast)
Boston

Andrew Hallett
Senior Project Manager Infrastructure
Cianbro
Pittsfield, Maine

Ryan Hamrick
Division Manager
Superior Construction
Tampa, Florida

Tom Hunter
CEO
Toronto Seniors Housing Corp.
Toronto, Ontario

Jesse D. Jenkins
Assistant. Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dept. and Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey

Michael H. Jones
Principal Engineer, Associate Vice President
HNTB
Los Angeles

Burcin Kaplanoglu
Vice President, Oracle Industry Lab
Oracle Vertical Industries
Chicago

Rosemary J. Knight
George L. Harrington Professor of Earth Sciences, Stanford Universiay; Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment
Stanford, California


James Litwin
Vice President of Construction
Harbor Bay Ventures
Northbrook, Illinois

Tony Mazzo
President Urban Foundation/ Engineering LLC
New York City

Valerie McCain
Hanford WTP Project Director and Senior Vice President
Bechtel National Inc.
Richland, Washington

Marty Parichand
Founder
Outdoor New England
Franklin, New Hampshire

Sarah Cherry Rice
Founder and Executive Director
Digital Ready
Boston

Mario Rodriguez
Executive Director
Indianapolis Airport Authority
Indianapolis

Don Scott
Structural Engineer
Don Scott Consulting
University Place, Washington

Wil V. Srubar III
Co-founder and Chief Technology Advisor, Prometheus Materials Science Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, Colorado