Brown and Caldwell has promoted Euan Finlay from senior vice president to chief operating officer, based in Denver. He joined the firm in 2019 after holding senior management roles at CH2M and Jacobs.

JLL Project & Development Services has named Jon Wright vice president of its life sciences project and development services. In this position, he is responsible for developing real estate solutions for JLL’s life science clients in the Pacific Northwest, northern California and Rocky Mountain regions. His previous roles include senior project manager for Merrick & Co. and branch director for CH2M in Uganda.

Ryan Pittson and Blake Kiener have joined Sundt Construction’s transportation group in Pocatello, Idaho, as senior project engineer and field engineer, respectively. Both are working on the Idaho DOT Interstate 86 and Interstate 15 interchange projects. The firm says Pittson has been an estimator, project engineer and project manager on large projects in the Intermountain region. Kiener is a recent construction management graduate of Northern Arizona University.

Del Walker has joined HNTB in Denver as senior program manager and vice president. In this role, he will work closely with clients in Colorado, California and the Western states on large regional transportation projects. Walker most recently served as chief technical manager on a large P3 project in Denver. Earlier in his career, he was deputy assistant general manager for capital programs at Denver’s Regional Transportation District, responsible for implementation of the RTD FasTracks program.

Catamount Constructors, Denver, has hired Emily Livorsi as vice president of people. She has 14 years of experience in management consulting, HR technology and coaching programs and most recently was senior consultant of people insights at BetterUp.

The Salt Lake City Dept. of Airports has appointed Melyssa Trnavskis as director of airport design and construction management. She had been aviation project manager at T-O Engineers and worked for the Calgary Airport Authority as director of engineering and project manager for airfield development. Trnavskis also has held various engineering and planning roles at CH2M Hill and Isbill Associates. She will implement capital improvement programs for Salt Lake City International Airport, South Valley Regional Airport and the Tooele Valley Airport.

Obituary

James “Jim” Morter, an innovative architect who designed numerous high-profile projects in Colorado’s Vail Valley, died Aug. 26 at age 78.

The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, considered his best work, features outdoor seating on a grassy area partially covered by multiple intersecting roof planes. Completed in 1987, it remains a local landmark and launched a national trend, says Mike Imhof, president of amphitheater operator Vail Valley Foundation.

“Jim was extremely gifted and a very kind and generous man,” he says. “His work has brought inspiration to all who have visited the Ford Amphitheater, and we are forever grateful for his ingenious and creative service to our community by creating one of the most iconic venues in America here.”

Adds Kyle Webb, a Vail-based architect who worked with Morter from 1991 to 1999: “There was always a quirk to everything that Jim did. He would reflect deeply on everything.”

Morter was based in Vail until 2008, when he relocated his design firm to Austin, Texas.