O’BRIEN Thomas E. O’Brien, chairman and CEO of contractor-fabricator BMWC Group Inc., Indianapolis, died on Jan. 18 in that city at age 59. The firm says he died after a long illness but did not disclose details. O�Brien, who joined BMWC in 1979 as assistant project manager, was named president in 1996, CEO two years later and chairman in 1999. He was also an advisory board member of the Construction Industry Institute and on the executive committee of the Indiana Construction Roundtable. BMWC Group ranks 340th on ENR�s list of the Top 400 Contractors, with $160 million in 2009 revenue.
NORTON Cheryl Norton has been named president of Kentucky American Water, Lexington, the state’s largest investor-owned water utility. She is the first woman to serve as president. Formerly vice president of operations for Illinois American Water, a sister company, Norton succeeds Nick Rowe . He now focuses on his role as senior vice president for the eastern division of the utility’s parent, American Water. Rowe remains based in Lexington. John Barefoot and Richard Plymale Jr. have joined Mead & Hunt Inc., a Madison, Wis., transportation engineer, as vice presidents. The roles follow its Jan. 5 acquisition of RPM Engineers, of
MCDONALD Joan McDonald, a veteran public- and private-sector transportation official, was nominated on Jan. 14 by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to be commissioner of the state transportation department. She must be confirmed by the state Senate. McDonald is currently commissioner of the Connecticut Dept. of Economic and Community Development and has served as senior vice president of transportation for the New York City Economic Development Corp. She also is a former vice president of Jacobs Engineering Group and former deputy commissioner of the city Dept. of Transportation. Robert B. Leonard has been named administrator of the municipal agency
George Lamphere, former president of Washington, D.C.-based contractor Charles H. Tompkins Co. (later known as Tompkins Builders Inc.) and a builder of many city and area landmarks, died on Dec. 10, 2010, in Kensington, Md. Lamphere was 79 years old. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, according to The Washington Post. LAMPHERE Lamphere, who joined the firm in 1954, served as president from 1985 until retiring in 1996. Tompkins became a subsidiary of contractor J.A. Jones Inc., Charlotte, N.C., in the early 1970s and was acquired by Turner Construction Co., New York City, in 2003, when Jones filed for bankruptcy.
Len C. Rodman has been chairman, president and CEO of Black & Veatch, the Overland Park, Kan.-based international engineer-constructor that specializes in power and water infrastructure, since 2000. He has worked for the employee-owned firm since 1971. B&V ranks 14th on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms and 34th on its list of the Top 400 Construction Firms. On Jan. 12, he sat down with ENR editors in New York City. ENR: How is the economic recovery going? Rodman: I’m between cautiously optimistic and bullish. But Washington needs an energy policy in place. Clients are dubious. High costs
Randy Holman, credited with overseeing the surge in military construction activity at San Antonio’s Fort Sam Houston prompted by mandated base realignment, describes the program as “fast-moving, complex and dynamic.”
Many people serve to improve the construction industry every day. Each year since 1964, the editors of Engineering News-Record have reviewed the stories that have appeared in the magazine during the year and selected individuals for special recognition.
LEO William Leo has joined HDR, Omaha, as senior vice president. This follows the firm’s Jan. 4 acquisition of HydroQual Inc., the Mahwah, N.J., water consulting firm, where he was president. HDR is ranked 11th on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms. Kyle Tanger and Will Sarni have joined the sustainability services unit of Deloitte Consulting LLP, New York City, as directors, following its Dec. 13, 2010, acquisitions of ClearCarbon Consulting Inc. and DOMANI Sustainability Consulting LLC, of which they were CEOs, respectively. Clear Carbon is a carbon footprint and energy management consultant, while DOMANI is a sustainability
When Gilberto Neves, chief executive officer of Miami-based Odebrecht Construction, called Eloise Gonzalez in the middle of the night to come with him on an emergency trip to earthquake-torn Haiti, she was astounded.
Gustavo J. Parra-Montesinos is coming to the rescue of concrete-frame designers and contractors in earthquake country, long bedeviled by rebar-congested coupling beams that span openings in seismic shear walls.
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