SABBAGH Hassib Sabbagh, co-founder and chairman of Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Group (CCG), one of the largest Middle East building contractors whose past projects include Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, died on Jan. 12 in Cleveland. He was 90. From a small firm founded in 1945 in Haifa, Israel, that built housing for Jewish veterans of the British army in Palestine, CCG became the 44th largest firm on ENR’s list of The Top 225 Global Contractors, with $5.46 billion in 2008 international revenue. More than two-thirds of that is in industrial and petrochemical markets. The firm relocated to Beirut in 1948 but

John B. O�Dowd, a vice president of New York City-based engineering firm STV Corp. and a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who commanded its New York district during the 9/11 terror attack in lower Manhattan, died Jan. 26 at age 54. He suffered a sudden heart attack while in flight on business. O'DOWD O’Dowd joined STV in 2007 as vice president in its construction management division, providing oversight for two projects on which the firm was involved at the former World Trade Center site: the Freedom Tower and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. He

Peter Green, a U.K.-born engineer who became one of ENR’s most prolific writers of technically detailed journalism on global construction megaprojects, died on Jan. 10 of pneumonia complications in New York City. Green, 81, had been ENR’s senior transportation editor for a decade until he retired in 1996, covering some of the world’s most complex projects and biggest disasters. GREEN ENR’s archives are filled with references to cover stories that Green reported, wrote and edited. He managed ENR’s coverage of noteworthy transportation projects, including the huge English Channel rail tunnel, Boston’s Central Artery network and reconstruction of infrastructure damaged in

GRAF Edward D. Graf , an innovator in grouting and foundation engineering and founder of a successful soil stabilization company in California, died on Dec. 16, 2009, in Honolulu of lung disease. He was 84. Graf pioneered development and application of several grouting techniques, including compaction grouting and controlled fracture grouting, and held or co-held six pressure-grouting patents. He founded in 1957 Pressure Grout Co. in South San Francisco, which has been involved in more than 1,600 grouting projects in the U.S. and globally. It was sold to an investor group several years ago. Graf was honored for his contributions

MALONEY STACY David L. Stacy , a civil engineer and co-founder of transportation contractor Stacy & Witbeck Inc., Alameda, Calif., died on Nov. 12 in San Jose, Calif. He was 77. Witbeck founded the company, now No. 212 on ENR’s list of The Top 400 Contractors, in 1981, along with partner Robert Witbeck. Major projects of the firm, which reported $351.2 million in 2008 revenue, include renovation of San Francisco’s cable cars and muncipal trolley system and modifications to California’s Calaveras Dam. Witbeck retired from the firm in 1998 and also was president of the Association of Engineering Construction Employers.

John F. Donohoe, chairman of Moretrench American Corp., a major geotechnical construction firm based in Rockaway, N.J., and industry activist and innovator, died suddenly of a heart attack Dec. 2 while addressing an employee gathering at the company office, officials say. He was 67. DONOHOE Donohoe, a civil engineer and 45-year Moretrench veteran, had served as the company’s president from 1982 until 2002 and as CEO as well from 1995 until 2007. He was also current president of the General Contractors Association of New York (GCANY) and winner of the 2009 OPAL award last spring for construction innovation and excellence

CIANCHETTE Ival R. “Bud” Cianchette, a founder and former top executive of Pittsfield, Maine-based The Cianbro Cos., one of the state’s largest general contractors, died on Nov. 5 at age 83 in Falmouth, Maine. Cianchette had contracted cancer, according to local reports. Cianchette and three of his brothers, sons of Italian immigrants, founded their company in 1949. Bud Cianchette served as its president, chairman and chairman emeritus from 1962 until his death. Cianbro, which ranks 149 on ENR’s list of The Top 400 Contractors, reported $478 million in 2008 revenue, split among general building, industrial and transportation markets. The firm

Michael Horman, associate professor of architectural engineering at Pennsylvania State University, State College, who also specialized in research on building efficiency and use of lean construction in green buildings, died Sept. 15 while teaching a graduate course, says the school. He was 38 and suffered a fatal heart attack, according to published reports. HORMAN Horman was director of the university's Lean and Green Research Initiative, a research effort focused on high-performance and sustainable building design and construction, and co-editor of its Journal of Green Building. He also served as assistant specialty editor for the American Society of Civil Engineers' Journal

SCHMIDT Richard L. “Dick” Schmidt Sr., who rose from apprentice mason to third generation family leadership of CG Schmidt Inc., Milwaukee’s largest building contractor, died Sept. 10 in West Bend, Wis. at age 77. Cause of death was not disclosed. Schmidt was chairman of the contractor, which ranks 288th on ENR’s list of The Top 400 Contractors, with $256 million in 2008 revenue. He had previously served as its president and CEO, a post now held by his son, Richard L. “Rick” Schmidt Jr. CG Schmidt, founded in 1920, is noted for construction of projects that include an addition to

Ralph R. Peterson, who was to retire next month at age 65 as chairman of CH2M Hill Cos. after building the former regional engineering firm into a $6.5-billion diversified global construction competitor, died Sept. 1 from stomach cancer. He had battled it for several years. Peterson with staff on Singapore job. “I will miss his intellect, his ability to deal with complex issues and his desire to help others succeed,” says Lee A. McIntire, a former Bechtel Corp. executive who succeeded Peterson this year as president and CEO. “He was an industry icon.” Peterson had been CEO since 1991. CH2M