SEATON

David T. Seaton has been named CEO of Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas, in a planned succession. A 26-year veteran of the contractor, he will replace in that role Alan L. Boeckmann, who will retire but becomes the firm’s non-executive chairman. The executive changes take effect on Feb. 3. Seaton, formerly chief operating officer, also served as senior group president of three Fluor units: energy and chemicals, power and government. He is a former managing director of Fluor Arabia Ltd. Boeckmann, who has been chairman and CEO since 2002, joined Fluor in 1974.

Stanton “Stan” Eckstut has been named principal of architecture firm Perkins Eastman, New York City. The move follows the firm’s acquisition of Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects (EE&K), of which he had been founding and senior principal. The firm also is New York City-based. The transaction, announced on Nov. 2, will involve the two firms combining operations in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanghai. Perkins has about 500 employees, says a spokesman; EE&K has 85.

David A. Boaté has joined Gannett Fleming, the Harrisburg, Pa.-based design and construction management firm, as vice president and Northeast region director of transit and rail. Based in New York City, he had been vice president and director of major capital transit projects for VHB.

MARTINOVICH

Susan Martinovich, director of the Nevada Dept. of Transportation (NDOT), has been elected president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). She is the first woman to serve in that position. Martinovich, who has run NDOT since 2007 and been an employee since 1984, is on the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board. NDOT has 1,700 employees and an operating budget of $700 million. AASHTO also elected Kirk T. Steudle as vice president. He is director of the Michigan Dept. of Transportation and chairs AASHTO’s standing committee on performance management.

Dale Kuntz , president and chief operating officer of petrochemical services contractor Starcon International Inc., is now the firm’s top executive officer, following its acquisition on Nov. 5 by The Cianbro Cos., the Pittsfield, Maine, contractor. A Cianbro spokesman says Starcon becomes a wholly owned subsidiary, with Kuntz maintaining his titles but reporting to Peter Vigue, Cianbro chairman. Starcon’s founder, chairman and CEO, Michael J. Uremovich, is stepping down from the firm. He is set to become national chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors on Jan. 1. Cianbro, which ranks 169th on ENR’s list of the Top 400 Contractors, reported $354.2 million in 2009 revenue and has 2,500 employees. Starcon, with estimated revenue of about $150 million, has 1,500 people in its workforce. The purchase expands Cianbro operations beyond the eastern U.S. while enlarging Starcon’s range of capabilities beyond industrial services. Both firms operate as open-shop contractors. Starcon, formerly based in Manhattan, Ill., is now based in La Porte, Texas.

COTTON

HOK, the St. Louis architect, has named Matthew J. Cotton senior vice president and co-director of its health-care practice in the north-central region. He had been associate principal at architect Tsoi/Kobus Associates Inc. Cotton succeeds Paul Strohm, who now has an expanded firm-wide role in HOK’s worldwide practice. The region covers work in Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Wyoming, Montana, Tennessee and Colorado.