Black & Veatch, Overland Park, Kan., has elevated Jim Lewis to chief administrative officer and president of the company’s administrative division. He had been executive vice president and director of project support for the company’s energy unit. As CAO, Lewis replaces Howard Withey, who has retired after 22 years at the firm. Lewis will lead firm operations and manage IT, enterprise risk and facilities, among other duties.

Jim Lewis
LEWIS

The American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Va., has recognized five individuals with its 2011 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Award for lifetime achievement and impact. The winners are Kris R. Nielsen, chairman and president of Pegasus-Global Holdings Inc., Cie Alum, Wash., for leadership in construction as an expert in risk and program management; William F. Baker Jr., partner at architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chicago, for design innovation in tall buildings and structural systems; Col. Stephen J. Ressler, associate professor and deputy head of the civil-mechanical engineering program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., for contributions to engineering education and for developing a nationwide Internet-based design competition that has introduced engineering to 50,000 middle- and high-school students; Joseph A. “ Bud ” Ahearn, a retired U.S. Air Force major general and now vice chairman of CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, for government leadership in running the service’s $10-billion worldwide development program; and Gregs Thomopulos, chairman and CEO of Stanley Consultants Inc., Muscatine, Iowa, and president of FIDIC, the international design organization, for his career impact in management.

Travis Coulter has joined Roy Anderson Corp., a Gulfport, Miss., contractor, as vice president of preconstruction. He had been senior vice president and chief preconstruction officer at Kraft Construction, Naples, Fla. He now oversees Anderson’s preconstruction and estimating unit.

Schnabel Engineering Inc., Glen Allen, Va., has promoted John Harrison to principal. He is the firm’s expert in new dam design, dam rehabilitation, structural engineering, and hydrologic and hydraulic analysis.

Robert Johnson has been named president of Gemini Construction Co., Augusta, Ga. He had been senior construction manager. The contractor also named Nathan Youngblood as director of operations. He was chief operating officer of Nordahl Homes.