John C. Truesdale TRUESDALE, a Democratic former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board and five-term veteran, died on July 3 from cancer in Annapolis, Md., said the board. He was 89. Truesdale served under recess appointments by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, retired once, and then served again as chairman in 2001 at age 80. In 1995, he upheld an NLRB administrative ruling that the carpenters' union could not fire 10 independent union group members for “disloyalty” during a 1991 organizing drive. He and two other board members ordered Sigurd Lucassen, then union president, to re-instate and compensate

Richard C. Halpern, a Chicago-based construction manager who oversaw numerous high-profile domestic and international building projects during a 50-year career, died July 3 of complications from cancer treatment in Houston. He was 78. Photo: courtesy of Rebecca Halpern Richard Halpern As an executive at former building firm Morse Diesel, Halpern managed the construction of the Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building when it opened in 1974. He was among three executives cited by ENR in 1974 for their roles in the landmark project, which included the industry’s first major effort to recruit minorities into its workforce.In 1976, Halpern co-founded CM

HELLMUTH PageSoutherlandPage, the Washington, D.C.-based architect-engineer has named George W. Hellmuth as executive vice president and regional director of business development. Most recently, he was principal of architect Perkins + Will and market-sector leader of its commercial, civic and corporate practice. Peter J. Wallace has rejoined Hill International, Marlton, N.J., as senior vice president in its construction claims group, based in Philadelphia. He was founder and principal of the capital projects consulting practice at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. Wallace originally joined Hill in 1977, leaving as a senior vice president in 1996.Ann Massey, formerly president and CEO of MACTEC,

There had not been a practicing architect as Architect of the Capitol for some 100 years when George M. White took the post in 1971. But during his 25-year term, the former American Institute of Architects' vice president also used his electrical engineering, business and law training to manage large congressional and other U.S. building projects as well as steer design and project management in new directions that were not always supported by industry or his Capitol Hill bosses. PHOTO: COURTESY OF AOC CAPITOL IDEA MAN White created the first master plan for the future U.S. Capitol complex. White died

Alexander A. “Sak” Sakhnovsky, a pioneer of test methods for curtain-wall stability, died of heart failure at age 84 on June 19 in Miami. SAKHNOVSKYWhile running a housing research laboratory at the University of Miami, Sakhnovsky was among the first to perform window testing, in 1954. A trained chemist, he was instrumental in developing, in the 1960s, the American Society for Testing Materials' static water- leakage test. It remains virtually unchanged today. Sakhnovsky bought the lab and launched Construction Research Laboratory Inc. (CRL), Medley, Fla., in 1968.CRL is considered the world's first and largest curtain-wall test facility, with 40 test

MCLAUGHLINTimothy L. “Timmy” McLaughlin was set to step down on June 30 as president of the national American Subcontractors Association Inc., but his term ended unexpectedly on June 9 when he suffered a fatal heart attack in Charleston, S.C. He was 62. Active in the Alexandria, Va.-based specialty contractors advocacy group for more than 20 years, McLaughlin was also general manager of Austin Construction Co. Inc., a site and utility contractor in Summerville, S.C. His successor at the 4,500-member ASA is Kerrick Whisenant, president-elect and pre-construction director of Cornerstone Detention Prod-ucts Inc., a Tanner, Ala., detention equipment and security electronics

DELLA ROCCA Michael Della Rocca, regional managing director in North America for U.K.-based Halcrow and president of its subsidiaries in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean, is set to join AECOM in a similar role, also based in New York City. A company spokesman confirms the appointment but did not disclose his exact title and start date. AECOM announced internally on June 13 that Jim Jaska was named president of its newly combined Americas and government-services unit, effective on Oct. 1. He has led its government operations unit, which includes U.S. federal and global government-services work. Halcrow says Robert Ulrich, development

BENNETTJames P. “Jim” Bennett twice turned down invitations, dating back to 1973, to join Canada's PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. He finally came aboard 15 years later, in 1988, as vice president of its Denver building unit, eventually leading its U.S.-based operations in building and civil construction, which included the contractor's push overseas. A former president of two PCL units, Bennett died on June 9 in Georgetown, S.C., at age 74 of a massive stroke, says the firm. A former vice president of J.A. Jones Construction Co. and president and CEO of Rogers Construction Co., Bennett became PCL Construction building unit

Timothy L. “Timmy” McLaughlin was about to step down June 30 as this year’s president of the American Subcontractors Association Inc., (ASA), but his term came to a more abrupt end when he suffered a fatal heart attack on June 9 in Charleston, S.C. He was 62. MCLAUGHLIN McLaughlin, active in the Alexandria, Va.-based specialty contractors advovcacy group for more than 20 years, also was general manager of Austin Construction Co. Inc., a site and utility contractor in Summerville, S.C. Immediately succeeding him is Kerrick Whisenant, ASA president-elect, who was to have assumed the 4,500-member group’s top role on July

CLARKE KRÜGE Global design firm W.S. Atkins plc, London, has named German physicist and former construction executive Uwe Krüge as CEO. Effective on Aug. 1, he replaces Keith Clarke, who is retiring from the post. Clarke will remain sustainability director and play a role in Middle East business development. Krüge has been president of Cleantech Switzerland, a Swiss government export support group, and a senior adviser at Texas Pacific Group, an international private equity firm. He was also the CEO of Swiss high-tech firm Oerlikon Management AG but was replaced in 2009 after it recorded a 40% fall in sales.