PIERSON

George Pierson, president and chief operating officer of the Americas unit of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., New York City, has been named to the additional role of corporate CEO. He replaces Keith Hawksworth, a 33-year PB veteran, who becomes chairman. Hawksworth replaces former CEO James L. Lammie. PB became the 15,000-person professional services unit of U.K. contractor, Balfour Beatty LLC in an October acquisition.

Effective Jan. 1, Jeffrey N. Lighthiser becomes president and CEO of Draper Aden Associates, a Blacksburg, Va., engineer. He replaces firm co-founder Bill Aden, who remains chairman. Lighthiser is executive vice president, director of marketing and strategic growth and site planning and engineering division director.

KELLY

VALDEZ

Eamonn Kelly will join Black & Veatch, the Kansas City-based engineer-contractor, as managing director of its South Asia Pacific region. In that Melbourne, Australia-based role, which B&V says he assumes “early next year,” Kelly will develop and manage the firm’s work in regional water-related markets. He was general manager for water and infrastructure groups at Melbourne Water, a government utility in Victoria.

The National Council of Structural Engineers Associations named William D. Bast president at its annual conference, held on Nov. 17 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is principal-in-charge of the building practice in Chicago for Thornton-Tomasetti Inc. and a former president of the Structural Engineers Foundation. The Chicago-based organization is a confederation of 39 state and regional associations across the U.S. that advocates for issues affecting structural engineering practice and practitioners.

Patrick Flynn has joined Nolte Associates Inc., a Sacramento-based engineering firm, as senior vice president and regional managing director for northern California. Prior to this appointment, he was Pacific Region transportation director for Kleinfelder Inc. Flynn also has been vice president and associate principal at Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Weston Solutions Inc., a West Chester, Pa., environmental, redevelopment, and construction firm, has elevated Peter A. Ceribelli to chief operating officer. He had been senior vice president for its service-line division and led its expansion into property redevelopment and new markets in India, Europe and China.

Myrna Valdez has joined Gannett Fleming, a transportation engineering firm based in Camp Hill, Pa., as director of national transit planning. Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, she will focus on its western operations. Valdez had been transit studies practice leader at Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

TAYLOR

SIMONETTA

CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, has named John Madia senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Formerly vice president of human resources for manufacturing, engineering, shared services and marketing functions at Dow Chemical, he replaces Robert “Bob” Allen, who takes on a new corporate role as senior vice president for executive leadership. The company also announces that President and CEO Lee A. McIntire has been elected to the additional post of chairman, effective on Jan. 1. He replaces interim Chairman Jerry Geist, who remains an outside board director.

Todd W. Taylor has joined the special systems design group of RTKL Associates Inc., Washington, D.C., as a principal specializing in health-care technologies. RTKL is the engineer-architecture unit of the Netherlands-based engineering firm ARCADIS. Taylor had been director of technology at Smith Seckman Reid.

Brian W. Ness has been named director of the Idaho Dept. of Transportation in Boise. He had been administrator of the Michigan transportation department, where he worked for 30 years. Ness starts in his new post in January.

DOBSON

TRAYLOR

Richard Simonetta has joined URS Corp. as vice president and national director of high-speed rail. Based in Columbus, Ohio, he will direct the firm’s high-speed rail transit practice nationwide. Simonetta had been CEO of Valley Metro Rail, a Phoenix agency responsible for design, construction and start-up in 2008 of the region’s $1.4-billion, initial 20-mile light-rail line. He also is a former CEO of MARTA, Atlanta’s transit system, and former chairman of the American Public Transportation Association.

The Moles, a Woodcliffe Lake, N.J.-based national organization of heavy-construction professionals, has selected Thomas Dobson, a global foundation contracting pioneer and former CEO of Keller Group LLC, London, and Thomas W. Traylor, CEO of Traylor Bros. Inc., an Evansville, Ind.-based bridge, marine and underground contractor, to receive its 2009 outstanding achievement awards. These will be presented on Jan. 27 in New York City.

WALTZE	MCINTIRE
VLIEGENTHART	FERNANDEZ

The Beavers, a Los Altos, Calif., association of heavy-construction professionals in the western U.S., has selected four 2010 Golden Beaver award winners. The group’s management award goes to James D. Waltze, chairman and CEO of Griffith Co., a Brea, Calif., contractor. Winning the engineering award is Lee A. McIntire, president and CEO of CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, and former executive vice president of Bechtel Group Inc. Named to receive the award for supervision is Martin “Dutch” Vliegenthart, vice president and midwest region operations manager for J.F. Shea Construction Inc., Walnut, Calif., and a 48-year veteran of underground construction. Alfonso “Al” Fernandez, vice president of sales and marketing for Volvo Construction Equipment and Sales in San Leandro, Calif., will receive the Beavers’ service and supply award. The awards will be presented on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles.