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Come join us and attend the
Outlook 2010 Executive Conference
Kermit Baker, Ph.D., Hon. AIA
Chief Economist
The American Institute of Architects
Kermit Baker, Ph.D. is Chief Economist for The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, DC. In this capacity, he analyzes business and construction trends for the U.S. economy, and examines their impact on AIA members and the architectural profession.
Baker originated the AIA's "Work on the Boards" survey, a monthly assessment of business conditions at architecture firms, as well as the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel, and writes a regular economics column for the AIA member newspaper, AIArchitect.
Baker is also the Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. This research effort is aimed at developing an improved understanding of the dynamics of the U.S. repair and renovation industry.
Prior to joining the AIA, Baker was Vice President and Director of the Economics Department at Reed Business Information, where he was responsible for industry forecasting. During his ten years at Reed, he developed the Top U.S. Construction Markets report, and served as editor of Reed Business Information's Building and Construction Market Forecast newsletter.
Baker received his Masters degree in Urban Planning from Harvard University, and holds a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the same field. In 2002, Kermit was made an honorary member of the AIA.
Shailen Bhatt
Associate Administrator for Policy and Governmental Affairs
Federal Highway Administration
Mr. Shailen Bhatt was appointed as Associate Administrator for Policy and Governmental Affairs in the Federal Highway Administrator (FHWA) in August 2009.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Bhatt served as a Special Assistant to the FHWA Administrator. In this capacity he played an instrumental role in assisting FHWA as a key liaison to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation on issues relating to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He also played a key role in leading and managing the smooth transition of the new FHWA political team.
Previously, Mr. Bhatt served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. In this role he had responsibility for advancing transportation projects and addressing regional transportation needs. He also served in other transportation leadership positions, including Director of the Bowling Green/Warren County Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Program Manger of Smart Commute-Black Creek, Ontario, Canada.
Mr. Bhatt received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Western Kentucky University. He has also been actively involved with community activities having served as a board member on Preservation Kentucky, and the Bowling Green/Warren County Regional Airport.
William Calhoun
Executive Vice President
Clark Construction Group, LLC
In January of 2008, Mr. Calhoun was promoted to Corporate Executive Vice President responsible for acquisition of work with strategic focus on major projects. In this role, Mr. Calhoun works with each of Clark’s regional offices throughout the United States. Prior to January of 2008, Mr. Calhoun served as President of the Institutional Division within Clark's Mid-Atlantic region. In this position he was responsible for the division and the development of its employees. Mr. Calhoun focused on obtaining work in the public sector as well as Clark’s Science and Healthcare initiatives, which included noteworthy projects such as The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the $1.4 Billion BRAC NCE Campus at Ft. Belvoir and the $642M Walter Reed Army Medical Center at the Bethesda Naval Medical campus.
With the company since 1983, he has led many award-winning projects. Among them are the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas; completed eight months ahead of schedule and recognized by the US Secretary of Labor with an EVE award (Exemplary Voluntary Effort) for successfully bringing women and minorities into San Antonio’s construction work force. Mr. Calhoun also led Clark’s efforts on the $185M National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Measurement Laboratory in Gaithersburg, Maryland; recognized as 2005 R& D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year and Mid Atlantic Construction Magazine’s 2004 Project of the Year.
Mr. Calhoun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He is a member of the External Advisory Board of Georgia Tech's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, an inductee into the College’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni. Mr. Calhoun also serves as a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of So Others Might Eat in Washington D.C., the Board of Visitors at the College of Engineering at the University of Maryland, and was appointed by the GSA’s Commissioner of Public Building Services to serve as a National Peer in the Construction Excellence Program.
Tucker Carlson
Contributor, FOX News and Senior Fellow, The Cato Institute
Tucker Carlson is a veteran journalist and political commentator, currently working
for the Fox News Channel. Carlson joined Fox from MSNBC, where he hosted several
nightly programs. Previously he was the co-host of Crossfire on CNN, where he was the
youngest anchor in the history of that network. During the same period, Carlson also hosted
a weekly public affairs program on PBS.
A longtime writer, Carlson has reported from around the world, including dispatches from Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon and Vietnam. He has been a columnist for New York magazine and Reader's Digest. He currently writes for Esquire, The New York Times magazine and The Daily Beast. Carlson began his journalism career at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper in Little Rock. His most recent book is entitled, Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News. In 2006, he appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.
Dennis Carr
Deputy Project Manager, Recovery Act Project
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC
Dennis Carr is a member of the Executive Management Team for Fluor Corporation and reports directly to the Senior Vice President of Environmental & Nuclear Operations for Fluor Government Group. Dennis has 28 years of experience managing challenging projects in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons mission.
Dennis is currently on assignment with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions at Savannah River Site serving as Deputy Project Director for SRNS’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) activities.
Prior to his current roles at the Savannah River Site, Dennis spent 21 years managing challenging environmental remediation, decontamination and demolition, and waste management projects at the $4 billion Fernald Closure Project. He worked closely with local, state, and federal regulators and other stakeholders to build consensus on strategies and to create a common end-state vision.
He holds a Civil Engineering degree from University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from Xavier University. He has also completed numerous executive leadership and project management programs. He is a registered Professional Engineer. He and his wife, Janet, have two daughters attending Ohio University.
Manju Chandrasekhar
Vice President - Economics & Business Solutions
Halcrow, Inc.
Mr. Manju Chandrasekhar is a Vice President within Halcrow’s Consulting Business Group, who has 15 years of worldwide experience in project financing, management and delivery; detailed financial, operational and economic analyses; and business strategy development and implementation related to large-scale transportation infrastructure. His professional experience is global and covers projects in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Manju’s wide-ranging international expertise and experience has been garnered in varying professional roles in a number of different industries, i.e., investment banking, market research and consultancy.
Manju has been involved as a Project Manager and an Advisor on several projects, both in the international marketplace as well as domestically. He has effectively combined his background in investment banking with the consulting engineering activities, thus enabling the involvement of private-sector project developers and project financiers, such as developers, concessionaires and investment banks, in several projects. More recently, Manju has played an active role in leading and managing transactions advisory projects for clients.
His expertise covers, amongst others, the areas presented hereafter:
- Buy-side transactions advisory, encompassing all aspects of commercial and technical due diligence assessments, for sponsors, concessionaires and lenders;
- Concession agreements and contracts for privately operated infrastructure facilities, including public-private partnerships;
- Project financial structuring, including access to public and private monies, co-financing, structuring public-private partnerships, etc.;
- Development of business plans, marketing and implementation strategies;
- Project planning, financing, strategy, implementation and delivery, with particular reference to international markets;
- Economic and financial viability assessments of transport infrastructure projects;
- Market assessments and forecasts, taking into consideration factors such as macroeconomic indicators, international trade, globalization, competition, marketing, strategy, etc.; and
- Project and program management, encompassing planning, design engineering, contracting, finance and coordination aspects.
Manju is considered an industry expert on large-scale infrastructure financing in the maritime sector, and he has both been an invited speaker at several conferences as well as a published author and interviewee in numerous magazines. Since joining Halcrow in 2007, Manju has spoken at 4 different seminars organized by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), in addition to speaking at 4 privately organized conferences on infrastructure financing. Furthermore, he has been interviewed by, and provided opinion pieces for, Lloyd’s Fairplay, Lloyd’s Shipping Economist, Port Strategy, Project Finance International and PPP Bulletin on more than 10 occasions. Finally, Manju has been a visiting lecturer at Columbia University, where he has addressed the Master’s class in Construction Management on the topic of public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Rick Ciullo
Chief Operating Officer
Chubb Surety
Rick rejoined Chubb Surety as Chief Marketing Officer in 2005. In September, 2008, he was named Chief Operating Officer of this Chubb division. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall performance of Chubb’s worldwide $400 million Surety, Political Risk and Structured Trade Credit businesses.
Rick joined Chubb & Son in 1981 as a Surety trainee, and spent 3 years as a surety underwriter in both a branch and home office role. Beginning in 1984, he managed surety departments in Denver, San Francisco and New York City, as well as Chubb’s New York zone.
Rick joined Chubb’s property & casualty operation in 1992, first as Marketing Manager of the Chubb’s Downtown New York office in 1992, followed by a brief role in Pittsburg as Marketing Manager for the Northern Zone. Beginning in 1996, Rick managed 2 separate branches for Chubb: Louisville Kentucky in 1996 to 1998 and Kansas City, Missouri in 1998 to 2005.
Rick earned a BA in economics and history from Wesleyan University. He continues his education today through Vistage, a worldwide organization dedicated to executive-level education and development.
James C. Dalton, P.E., SES
Chief, Engineering & Construction
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Mr. James C. Dalton currently serves as Chief of the Engineering and Construction (E&C) Community of Practice and is responsible for policy, program, and technical expertise in the execution of over $10 billion of design and construction programs for the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Department of Defense, other Federal agencies, and over sixty foreign nations. He provides leadership to a field organization consisting of 8 divisions, 41 districts, and approximately 15,000 personnel and guides the development of engineering and construction policy for the Corps world wide Civil Works, Military, and Environmental Missions. He also serves as the Corps South Atlantic Division Regional Integration Team (RIT) leader.
Mr. Dalton served as the Regional Business Director for the South Atlantic Division in Atlanta, Georgia from July 2005 to May 2007. He led strategic initiatives, performed strategic evaluations of long-term workload trends, promoted and managed workload sharing between the districts and other Corps of Engineers business centers. He also led the Programs and Project Management Business Process throughout the South Atlantic Division by ensuring standard business processes and policies in all programs. He was responsible for providing regional support in Contracting, Engineering, Construction, Information Management, Resource Management, and Public Affairs.
Mr. Dalton is a native of North Carolina and has been employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since 1978. After a short employment with the Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta Georgia, Mr. Dalton joined the Corps’ Wilmington District in Wilmington, North Carolina. He began his career with the Corps as a cost engineer in Wilmington after completion of the training program.
Mr. Dalton earned his B.S. degree in Architectural Engineering in 1978 from N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C. He was selected for Long Term Training and attended N.C. State University where he earned his Masters Degree in Civil Engineering in 1992. Mr. Dalton is a registered professional engineer in Virginia.
Mr. Dalton was awarded the Excellence in Construction Management Award in 1995 and was the winner of the nationally recognized Black Engineer of the Year in 2007 for Career Achievement. Mr. Dalton also has received numerous performance awards including the Superior Civilian Service award in 2001 for his work in the Far East District and the Meritorious Civilian Service Award for work in Iraq in 2005.
Mr. Dalton is married and has a daughter and son.
Gregory M. Druga
Vice President, General Manager
Grunley Construction Company, Inc.
Greg Druga is Vice President and General Manager of Grunley Construction Company located in Rockville, MD. Grunley is a mid-sized general contractor serving the Mid-Atlantic region. Grunley was ranked No. 193 in the most recent ENR Top 400 General Contractors and No. 49 in ENR’s list of Green Contractors. Grunley specializes in modernization and renovation projects for the Federal Government and private owners.
At Grunley, Greg oversees construction operations, pre-construction services, business development and the supporting functions of the company including safety, quality management, and human resources. In his over 25 years of construction industry experience, Greg served in various operations roles for The United States Steel Corporation, J.A. Jones Construction Company, and Turner Construction and it’s subsidiaries prior to joining Grunley in 2005. His background includes many high profile construction projects nationwide including numerous Federal Courthouses, Modernization of the United States Supreme Court, the Gallery Place Development in Washington DC, and most notably the construction of the National World War II Memorial.
Among Greg’s most recent management responsibilities for Grunley are the Mary E. Switzer Building (Phase II), the U.S. Department of the Interior (Phase IV), and the Herbert C. Hoover Building (Phase II and III), all modernization projects awarded by GSA and funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
In addition to numerous industry affiliations, Greg is a Member of GSA’s National Registry of Peer Professionals. He is also the Sr. Vice President, Legislative Outreach Committee Chair, and member of the Board of Directors of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
Greg graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1981 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Greg lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Karen and son Elliott.
Robert W. Frentzel
Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Specialized Industries
The PrivateBank
Mr. Frentzel and a team of former LaSalle Bank colleagues joined The PrivateBank in late 2007 to establish a commercial lending banking platform focused on Specialized Industries. Currently, this team includes Asset Based Lending, Construction & Engineering, For-Profit Education, and Security Alarm.
Prior to joining The PrivateBank, Mr. Frentzel worked at LaSalle Bank for 12 years and was responsible for building and managing many of it’s specialty commercial lending divisions, including: Construction & Engineering, For-Profit Education, Environmental, Food & Agribusiness, Insurance, Power & Energy, Security Alarm, and Surface Transportation. Mr. Frentzel began his career at Harris Trust & Savings Bank where he worked for 8 years in business development and commercial lending.
Frank J. Giunta P.E.
Senior Vice President & Managing Director (Americas),
Hill International, Inc.
Frank J. Giunta is Senior Vice President and Managing Director in charge of Hill's Construction Claims operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has more than 25 years of extensive experience in engineering and construction consulting. He has been actively involved in the evaluation, presentation, resolution and management of construction claims, as well as project management oversight. Mr. Giunta has managed complex consulting assignments on behalf of public and private owners, engineers, contractors, insurance and financial institutions. These assignments have involved a wide range of projects which include highways and bridges, dams, power related facilities, water and wastewater treatment, landfills and building construction. He has been engaged in the design of civil structures, including roads, highways, railroads, hydraulic structures, underground piping systems and has prepared engineer's estimates and technical specifications.
Mr. Giunta is a Professional Engineer with memberships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Giunta earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering & Construction Technology and a B.S., Cum Laude, in Civil Engineering from Temple University. Mr. Giunta earned an M.B.A. in Financial Management from Drexel University.
William J. Guerin
ARRA National Program Management Office Recovery Executive
U.S. General Services Administration
Bill Guerin is the National Recovery Program Management Office Executive, heading GSA’s response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In that position, Mr. Guerin will ensure the timely and effective delivery of high performance green building projects worth more than $5.5 billion that will stimulate the U.S. economy and help jump-start sustainable industry in the United States. Prior to his current appointment, Bill was the Assistant Commissioner for Construction in the GSA’s Public Buildings Service. In that position, Mr. Guerin was responsible for the delivery of GSA’s more than $1 Billion per year Capital Investment program, focused on the design and construction of Federal Buildings, Land Ports of Entry, Courthouses and other construction projects for the nation’s landlord.
Bill hails from California with a BA in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a MBA from the Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
John Horsley
Executive Director
American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO))
In 1999, John Horsley became Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), which advocates policies and provides technology leadership on behalf of States to improve the Nation’s transportation system.
Previously, Horsley was nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as Associate Deputy Secretary of Transportation where he served from 1993 to 1999 as the Department’s advocate for intermodal policies, quality of life initiatives and as liaison to State and Local Governments, US Congress, and transportation constituencies.
A native of the Northwest, Horsley was elected to five terms as County Commissioner in Kitsap County, a community just west of Seattle. He is a graduate of Harvard, an Army veteran, a former Peace Corps volunteer and Congressional aide, and did graduate study at Georgetown. He is Past President of the National Association of Counties, and was founding Chairman of the Rebuild America Coalition.
He and his wife Deanna have been married for 36 years and have two children: Adam and Jennifer.
Tom Ichniowski
Washington Bureau Chief for Engineering News-Record
McGraw-Hill Construction
Tom Ichniowski has been Washington bureau chief for Engineering News-Record since 1989. He joined the McGraw-Hill Companies in 1978 as a correspondent for Business Week in that magazine’s Philadelphia bureau and was Business Week’s Philadelphia bureau manager from 1980 to 1984. He then moved to Washington in McGraw-Hill’s bureau, covering transportation and other issues for Business Week, ENR and other publications.
Tom is a native of Baltimore and has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College of Columbia University and a master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Robert Ivy, FAIA
Vice President and Editorial Director,
McGraw-Hill Construction
Editor-in-Chief,
Architectural Record
Robert A. Ivy, FAIA, Vice-President & Editorial Director of McGraw-Hill Construction, and Editor in Chief of Architectural Record, oversees 16 print and 17 digital publications. He has become a spokesperson for the profession on the most important issues of our time, including the effect of architecture on climate and important social and political questions.
In 1996, Ivy took on the leadership of Architectural Record, the world’s most widely read architectural journal and has led the launch of other publications. In 2009, Ivy received the Crane Award, for his lifetime contributions to the business press.
Ivy has delivered numerous keynote speeches at U.S. and international events and interviewed leading figures. His book, Fay Jones: Architect, was cited for the “highest standards of scholarship, design, and production.” He has also served three times as the U.S. Commissioner at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Mr. Ivy, holds an M.Arch. from Tulane University, and a BA (cum laude) in English from the University of the South (TN). He is a member of CICA, the International Circle of Architecture Critics,. He currently serves on the advisory boards of four schools of architecture, including Auburn University’s Rural Studio, Tulane University, Mississippi State University, and Tongi University School of Architecture and Urban Planning in Shanghai, China.
John R. Lowe, AIA
Principal,
WDG Architecture PLLC
Mr. Lowe directs Government and Public Sector projects at WDG Architecture. A graduate of the University of Illinois, with a Masters of Architecture, and minor in Business, he has practiced architecture for more than 23 years.
He spent his first decade with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum in St. Louis, Missouri, and London, England as a business strategist developing Program of Requirements and Real Estate Strategies for global corporations.
He then spent his second decade with Gensler in Washington DC directing consulting efforts which supported GSA’s prospectus development activities. One notable project included the US Department of Transportation Headquarters at the Southeast Federal Center.
Most recently he has facilitated the transformation of WDG into a design-build architectural firm. Recent assignment include two (2) new headquarters buildings for the US Army Corp of Engineers in conjunction with Foulger Pratt Construction.; the Missile Defense Agency HQ at Ft. Belvoir, VA, and the Army Test and Evaluation Command HQ at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
Most recent successes in design build and ARRA funded opportunities include the role of Architect of Record with Clark Construction and HOK on the new Coast Guard Headquarters at St. Elizabeths.
In keeping with his spirit of adventure, he and his cycling buddies rode the recently opened--155 mile long--Great Allegany Passage trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland last month. . .in a single day.
John Mothersole
Principal, Industry Practices
Global Insight
John Mothersole is a senior member of the Global Insight Industry Practice. He helps supervise the group's price and wage forecasts, is directly responsible for its nonferrous metal industry forecasts, and is an editor of the Supply Manager, the chief publication of the Pricing and Purchasing service. Other duties have included providing inflation analysis for the Global Insight U.S. Economic Forecasting Service and, with the Industry Practice, project manager for a wide range of cost escalation studies, including projects analyzing hazardous waste disposal, regional highway construction, rapid transit system construction, and international building costs.
In addition to his work with Global Insight clients, Mr. Mothersole has provided inflation analysis to the New York Times, Fortune, Bloomberg, Purchasing, the American Metal Market, Platts Metals Week and the Engineering-News Record. He has also provided commentary on inflation for ABC News, the Nightly Business Report, the Dow Jones New Service's morning newscast and USA Today's First Business report.
Mr. Mothersole joined Global Insight (DRI) in 1980 as an associate economist and has served in a number of positions within the Industry Practice. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland. Mr. Mothersole is a member of the National Association of Business Economists.
Robert Murray
Vice President, Economic Affairs
McGraw-Hill Construction
Robert Murray is Vice President of Economic Affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, the leading source of project news, product information, industry analysis and editorial coverage for design and construction professionals.
Murray joined McGraw-Hill Construction in 1980 as an economist, with a primary focus on analyzing construction industry trends. In the mid-1980s he directed a team of economists that developed the Construction Market Forecasting Service, providing five-year projections for 22 building types by nine regions of the U.S. This product has subsequently become the pre-eminent forecast of the nation's construction industry, and it serves as the foundation for other construction and real estate forecast products offered by the McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics Group.
Murray is the author of the Construction Outlook, and also coordinates the five-year industry forecast and the Construction Market Forecasting Service, which analyzes national and regional trends for building products.
Murray received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University, and holds both an M.B.A. and a Master 's degree in economics from Columbia University.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings & Emergency Management
Member, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is now in her tenth term as Congresswoman for the District of Columbia. She is chair of the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Emergency Management, and Public Buildings. Named by President Jimmy Carter as the first woman to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she came to Congress as a national figure who had been a civil rights and feminist leader, tenured law professor of law, and board member of three Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Norton also had been named one of the 100 most important American women in one survey and one of the most powerful women in Washington in another.
The Congresswoman's work for full congressional voting representation and for full democracy for the people of the District of Columbia continues her lifelong struggle for universal human rights. Congresswoman Norton has used her background in national affairs and in law to become a leader in the House in important posts. She has served in the Democratic Leadership group and as the Democratic Chair of the Women's Caucus, and she has been a member of the Committee on the Reorganization of the Congress. In 2007, she successfully completed a four-year campaign for the House vote when the House passed H.R. 1905, now pending in the Senate. Even without a vote, her success in writing bills and getting them enacted has made her one of the most effective members of the House in producing legislation. She has a full vote in House committees and she won a vote on the House Floor in the Committee of the Whole for the first time in the city's history. She serves on three rather than the usual two committees-the Committee on Homeland Security, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Her numerous accomplishments for her district also include other first time breakthroughs, among them a two day debate and the first vote on D.C. statehood and senatorial courtesy achieved for the first time during the Clinton administration in the selection of federal judges.
Congresswoman Norton's work in breaking barriers for her disempowered district is matched by her successful emphasis on bringing home unique economic benefits to her constituents. Among them are her bills that award $10,000 to all D.C. high school graduates to attend any public U.S. college or $2,500 to attend many private colleges because the District does not have a higher education system of state colleges; a unique D.C. $5,000 homebuyer tax credit that has increased sharply home ownership and has been a major factor in stabilizing the city's population; and several D.C.-- only business tax breaks including a significant tax credit for employing D.C. residents that has maintained businesses and residents in the District. Among her development initiatives and bills are the relocation of 6,000 jobs to the Navy Yard; private development of the 55 acre Southeast Federal Center to benefit the District; and her successful committee efforts that have brought build new headquarters for the Department of Transportation, Securities and Exchange Commission , the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Department of Homeland Security under construction, each important for jobs for residents and the D.C. federal and tourist based economy.
Congresswoman Norton ended the city's most serious financial crisis in a century by achieving a historic package that for the first time restructured the financial relationship between the Congress and the District by transferring $5 billion in unfunded pension liability and billions more in state costs to the federal government. Congresswoman Norton, who taught full time before being elected, continues as a tenured professor of law at Georgetown University, teaching a course there every year. After receiving her bachelors degree from Antioch College in Ohio, she simultaneously earned her law degree as well as a masters degree in American Studies from Yale. Yale Law School has awarded her the Citation of Merit as Outstanding Alumna of Yale Law School, and Yale Graduate School has awarded her the Yale Wilbur Cross Medal as outstanding Alumna of the Graduate School, the highest awards conferred by each on alumnae. She is the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees. Before being elected, Congresswoman Norton has served on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar Association, as well as the boards of civil rights, and other national organizations. The Congresswoman is a third generation Washingtonian and is the mother of John Holmes Norton and Katherine Felicia Norton.
George J. Pierson, PE, Esq.
Chief Operating Officer
Parsons Brinckerhoff
George J. Pierson is President and Chief Operating Officer of PB Americas, Inc., the American operations of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc, in New York, New York and is a member of the Board of Directors of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc.
Established more than 120 years ago, Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is one of the world's leading planning, engineering, and program and construction management organizations serving all facets of infrastructure projects. PB spans over 150 offices on 6 continents with over 12,000 employees engaged in some of the largest and most complex infrastructure development projects in the world.
Mr. Pierson leads all of PB’s operations in the Americas. Comprised of nearly 5,000 employees and spanning over 60 offices with revenues in excess of $1 billion, PB Americas provides engineering, construction management, and strategic consulting services to transportation, power and energy and general infrastructure clients.
Previously, Mr. Pierson served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. leading all legal, risk and insurance aspects of the global organization.
Mr. Pierson was also the Director of the International Construction Practice Group of Peckar & Abramson, P.C., a leading construction law firm, and prior to that served as Executive Vice President and Legal Director of Kvaerner E&C, the engineering, technology and construction arm of the international Anglo-Norwegian contracting company.
Mr. Pierson’s experience in the engineering and construction industry covers the full range of project types and delivery modes, both domestically and internationally. He has structured and negotiated multi-hundred million dollar projects in Thailand and the Philippines as well as projects in U.S., Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom and Australia. Mr. Pierson also has extensive experience in the resolution of complex international and domestic construction disputes. For instance, he represented US Airways on disputes arising out of the construction of the new international and domestic terminals at the Philadelphia International Airport and represented the Government of Turkey on disputes arising out of the design and construction of a $1.3 billion, 1,700 km crude oil pipeline.
He currently serves on the Board of the New York Building Congress as well as an outside advisor to the Obama-Biden Transition Project Obama-Biden Transition Project's Transportation Agency Review Team.
Mr. Pierson graduated summa cum laude from Bucknell University with a BS in Civil Engineering. He holds an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and received an M.B.A. with Honors from St. Mary’s College of California. Mr. Pierson is admitted to practice law in several states and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California.
He is a frequent lecturer on construction law, risk management and engineering/construction operations; was named by Chambers USA as one of the leading construction lawyers in New York; named to the Who’s Who of International Construction Lawyers and has been elected a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers.
David A. Wyss
Chief Economist
Standard & Poor's
David A. Wyss is chief economist at Standard & Poor's, based in New York. In this position, he is responsible for S&P's economic forecasts and publications, and co-authors the monthly Equity Insightand the weekly Financial Notes. He also manages research projects, especially in financial risk.
David joined Data Resources, Inc. in 1979 as an economist in the European Economic Service in London, which was acquired by McGraw-Hill. He came back to the United States in 1983 as Chief Financial Economist for DRI/McGraw-Hill, became chief economist for Standard & Poor's DRI in 1992, and chief economist for Standard & Poor's in 1999. Before joining DRI, Dr. Wyss was a Senior Staff Economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Board, and Economic Advisor to the Bank of England.
David holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. David testifies regularly before Congress, is quoted regularly in the press, and has appeared on many major television programs. He has written many articles for popular and professional publications.
Christian Zimmermann
President
Pike Industries
Christian Zimmermann is President of Pike Industries based in Belmont, New Hampshire. Pike Industries maintains road construction and aggregate manufacturing operations in the states of Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, and is a subsidiary of Oldcastle Materials.
Christian began working for Pike Industries in the summer of 1978, and has held various positions in the company, including Laborer, Project Manager, Regional Coordinator, and Construction Manager. In 2004, Christian became the President of Pike Industries, taking over for Randy Pike, the 5th generation Pike to run the business.
Christian graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, and he, his wife, Deb, and two children live in Gilford, NH.
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