Irvin E. Richter, 79, an innovator and leader in global construction claims resolution and project management as founder in the mid-1970s of consultant Hill International and later CEO and chair, died June 22 in Voorhees, N.J., after a stroke, said his son David, also his successor as CEO. Hill, initially based in Willingboro, N.J., and later in Philadelphia, "worked on some of the largest, most complex construction projects around the world,” the firm said, citing Richter for pioneering approaches in claims management, litigation alternatives and project monitoring. 

David Richter noted his father’s personal involvement in the firm’s work to settle disputes on complex projects such as the Channel Tunnel and Petronas Twin Towers high-rise in Malaysia, and to manage megaprojects such as creation of the Palm Jumeirah resort in the Persian Gulf.  Richter "was actively sought as an expert, international arbitrator, mediator, and neutral party," said the company. 

Richter oversaw Hill’s growth into a publicly traded giant, telling ENR in 2007 that “the marketplace is looking for size.” But he also witnessed the split of its two core specialties into separate firms before he stepped down from company leadership in 2016.  The dispute resolution unit became HKA.

"He was an industry Icon who created with his vision a great PM/CM business from scratch and left his fingerprints on the blueprints of many projects in the US, Middle East and the world,"  said Michael Tahan, senior director of construction management and alternative delivery at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) in a tribute. 

Active in industry groups, Richter was a board member of the ACE Mentor Program and past national president and fellow of the Construction Management Association of America.