James D. Ross was elevated to president and CEO at LJA Engineering, Houston. Ross previously served as senior vice president in charge of the Houston land development division and is a member of the board of directors.

Clay E. Morel was named president of Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc., Houston. Morel has more than 40 years of experience leading domestic and international service companies.

AECOM made three new hires.

Jim Gravesande recently joined the firm as vice president and director of the transit/rail program in Houston. Gravesande’s experience includes management and engineering on transportation-related design projects. Philip Topek was hired as principal in the water/wastewater program, also in Houston, and Jeffrey Decoteau has joined the firm as water resource leader in Baton Rouge.

Harold Thompson has rejoined CallisonRTKL in Dallas as vice president and office director. Thompson began his career at RTKL (now CallisonRTKL) in 1997 and rose to office director before moving in 2013 to lead the Dubai office.

Manhattan Road and Bridge Co., Tulsa, the bridge and heavy infrastructure construction arm of Manhattan Construction Group, promoted Ryan Haney to vice president of Oklahoma operations and Tom Cramer to vice president of Arkansas operations. Haney and Cramer succeed Rich Horrocks and Mark Windle, both of whom plan to retire before the end of the year. Haney has been with Manhattan since 2012 and Cramer since 2018.

Kristian Sonnier has been hired at Ryan Gootee General Contractors LLC, New Orleans, as vice president of communications and business development. Sonnier previously served as vice president of communications and public relations at New Orleans & Co.

Skanska in Dallas has promoted Todd Reeves to vice president/project executive in North Texas. Reeves joined Skanska in 2001 as an intern and was most recently a project executive on the Collin College Wylie Campus.

George Grantham Jr., vice president at RS&H, has been named the firm’s Austin transportation leader and office manager. Grantham has 30 years of transportation experience.

Suffolk has hired Mark Penny as general manager for its Dallas office. Penny previously served as the head of construction in the Central and Rocky Mountain regions for Katerra Construction and spent 15 years with Manhattan Construction Co. in Dallas.

Clifford Halvorsen has joined HNTB Corp. in Houston as construction services director and associate vice president. Halvorsen brings 35 years of experience to this role, with a background of leading projects across the Houston region for the Texas Dept. of Transportation and Harris County Toll Road Authority.

Craig Floyd has joined Palmisano, New Orleans, in the newly created role of regional growth leader. Floyd spent the last 18 years with Branch Builds in Roanoke, Va.

Power Design has promoted Nick Young to regional vice president of the Southwest region, encompassing Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Juan Fernandez was hired at SmithGroup’s Dallas office as principal and workplace studio leader. Fernandez has more than 15 years of industry experience. Walter Marks II has joined SmithGroup’s Dallas office as principal and health studio leader. He has dedicated his 30-year career to health care planning and design.

T. Baker Smith has made several promotions. Dennis M. Hymel Jr. has been named transportation practice leader, based in Baton Rouge. Gerald “Jerry” Hauske was promoted to coastal practice leader, based in Galveston, Texas. James “Jim” Naismith was named ports practice leader in Corpus Christi, Texas. Kevin S. Beyer was promoted to coastal lead professional, based in Prairieville, La.

Keith Jeffreys has been appointed operations manager for PCL Industrial Construction Co. in Katy, Texas. Jeffreys has been with PCL for 12 years.

Freese and Nichols has added several staff members across Texas. Richard Campbell is the firm’s new financial services director. He will be leading efforts to help municipal clients across the South and Southeast to develop funding strategies for their water-related infrastructure projects. Joining the firm as account directors are Juan Bujanos in Brownsville, working with municipal clients in the Rio Grande Valley, and Liz Grindstaff in Austin, working with clients in Central and West Texas.

The environmental and coastal team has also expanded with the addition of Lisa McMichael as senior environmental scientist in Houston; Joel Tillery as senior project manager in New Orleans; Sheri Larson as senior project manager in Dallas; and Ryan Fikes as coastal environmental scientist and ecologist in Austin.

McCarthy Building Cos. announced a series of promotions. Miguel Arguelles was elevated from senior project manager to project director for the Houston business unit. Andrew Gutierrez was promoted from senior project manager to project director, based in Lubbock, Texas. Matt Schrodel was promoted from senior project manager to project director, based in Dallas. Dave Wallace was elevated from senior project manager to project director, based in Dallas.

HITT Dallas has hired Irene Coe as director of business development to help grow market share in corporate interiors and mission critical facilities.

Talley Riggins Construction Group, Dallas, has hired Robert Martin as project executive to focus on expanding the firm’s industrial and office divisions. Martin has 25 years of construction industry experience.

CobbFendley has hired Chris Ernst as subsurface utility engineering senior project manager based in Dallas. Jeff Fansler has joined CobbFendley as a senior project manager based in Fort Worth.

Steve Pascuzzi was hired as a senior project manager at Rosendin Electric in Austin. Pascuzzi has more than 20 years of experience in the electrical industry.

Benjamin Jenschke has been hired as a project manager with Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. in Austin to design and manage transit and municipal transportation projects. Jenschke previously designed and managed rail, roadway and port projects.

Garver made several additions to its Texas team. Justin Rackley was hired as North Texas facilities team leader in Dallas; Wade Benton has joined Garver as senior transportation project manager in Georgetown, Texas; and Derek Schwanke has been hired as West Texas infrastructure team leader in Dallas.

Sundt Construction promoted Jennifer Peralta to project engineer in its El Paso, Texas, office. Peralta has been with Sundt for two years. The Sundt Cos., the parent company of Sundt Construction, has added Tom Sorley to its board of directors. Sorley retired as CEO from Rosendin Electric in 2019 but still serves as executive chairman.

Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing announced a series of new hires and promotions. Benjamin Kelley was hired as a waterproofing superintendent in San Antonio; Walker Smith was hired as a waterproofing estimator in Austin; Jonathan Gonzalez was hired as a roofing senior project manager in Austin; and Wayne Ferguson was hired as a roofing senior project manager in Houston. Jonathan Strellow has been promoted to senior project estimator in Austin; Megan Deitschel has been promoted to marketing coordinator I in Austin; and Sebastian Alvarez has been promoted to superintendent II in Oklahoma.

Obituary

Walter Wilcox, former president and CEO of Dallas-based L.A. Fuess Structural Engineers, died Aug. 13 at age 61 of complications from COVID-19. Wilcox had just retired in April to spend time with his wife and family. He was the lead structural engineer on Dallas-Fort Worth Airport’s International Terminal D.