Kier Group plc, the London-based construction and services firm, has named Stephen Bowcott as chief operating officer, a newly created position in the company. The appointment comes as the firm completes its July 1 acquisition of Norwich, England-based municipal infrastructure-maintenance contractor May Gurney. The $337-million transaction creates a firm with a total of 16,000 employees and estimated revenue of $4.2 billion, says the firm; about half is from construction, 41% from environmental and other services, and 9% from property development. Bowcott, who joined Kier in 2007, was a board director responsible for the construction division. He formerly worked for U.K. construction firms AMEC and Mowlem. John Wilkinson, former May Gurney managing director of public-sector services, now is executive managing director of Kier Services. Kier says the firm is part of a joint venture that is the preferred bidder to design, build, finance and operate the estimated $900-million Mersey Gateway toll-bridge project in England that is set for financial close later this year. Its partners are Samsung C&T Corp. and Spain's FCC Construcción S.A.
Felipe Andre Isore Gutierrez has joined Hill International as senior vice president in charge of its construction-claims group operations in Latin America. He is based in São Paolo, Brazil. Gutierrez is a former partner-director at consulting firm KPMG, at which he led the company's major-projects advisory-consulting practice in Brazil.
Partners of Delich Roth & Goodwillie (DRG), a Bonner Springs, Kan., engineering firm, have joined design firm Alfred Benesch & Co., Chicago, in new roles following a June acquisition. Chris Burns, DRG former president and municipal department head, is now senior vice president and Kansas division manager at Benesch, says the firm. DRG Chairman Carl Reed becomes a project principal; Stephen Roth, formerly a vice president and transportation department head, now is transportation group manager; Kirby Demott, former treasurer and MEP department chief, and John McClannahan, former principal and water-wastewater department head, are now senior project managers. Benesch ranks at No. 128 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms. All executives remain based in Bonner Springs.
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York City, has named Teresa A. Dahlberg as dean of its Albert Nerken School of Engineering, effective on Aug. 5. She is currently associate dean of the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Dahlberg also is founder and director of what is now the STARS Computing Corps, a national consortium of colleges and universities that seek to develop technology leaders. Cooper Union recently announced that, beginning with the 2014 freshman class, it will require students to cover 50% of tuition; previously, there was no tuition. About 50 Cooper Union students who took over the university president's office in May to protest the new policy voluntarily ended the action on July 14. A working group will present proposed financial alternatives to university officials on Dec. 1.
The PENTA Building Group, Las Vegas, has named John Cannito as chief operating officer. He was vice president of finance and corporate services. PENTA is No. 268 on ENR's Top 400 Contractors list, with $215.8 million in 2012 revenue.
S. Bijoy Ghosh has joined Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York City, as a vice president and senior engineering manager in its U.S. water practice in Atlanta. He was an AECOM vice president.
Swiss-based global equipment manufacturer Liebherr Group. Most recently, he was the managing director of corporate units Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd. and Liebherr Rental Ltd. Mayr has worked at Liebherr since 2001. The parent firm had $11.9 billion in revenue in 2012.
Sayward "Woody" Mazur has joined law firm Schiff Hardin, Chicago, as a partner in its construction practice. Based in New York City, he was co-founder of Mazur Carp & Rubin and leader of its construction practice. Schiff Hardin says Mazur Carp & Rubin was merged into the firm on July 1. Its staff of 400 now includes an enlarged construction group of 17 attorneys. Mazur co-founded his firm in 1980.
Ken Vigil has joined Environmental Science Associates, a San Francisco environmental firm, as a vice president and leader of its landscape architecture program. The role follows the June acquisition of Vigil-Agrimis, a Portland, Ore., water-resources engineer, of which he was founder and president. Co-founder Paul Agrimis also is a new vice president. ESA ranks at No. 119 on ENR's list of the Top 200 Environmental Firms, with $53.5 million in 2012 revenue.
Engineer-architect SmithGroupJJR has hired Cynthia K. Pozolo as principal and project director, based in Detroit. She had been corporate director, vice president and studio leader at Albert Kahn Associates Inc., also based there. Pozolo, finance committee chair of the American Institute of Architects' Michigan chapter, also was recently named an AIA Fellow. Don Posson has also rejoined the firm as co-director of sustainable design, based in Washington, D.C. He had been a partner and managing principal at Vanderweil Engineers, Alexandria, Va. and previously served as SmithGroupJJR's director of engineering in Washington.
The Tilt-Up Concrete Association, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, has named as board president Kimberly Corwin, president and chief operating officer of A.H. Harris & Sons, a West Hartford, Conn., concrete formwork supplier. Tilt-Up promotes the use of site-cast, tilt-up building techniques.
Turner Construction Co. has elevated Victoria Klopfenstein and Matt McCabe to vice president and regional controller. She now handles the central and Southwest regions, and he manages the federal services unit and mid-Atlantic and Ohio regions.
