Kobelco Construction Machinery USA, a company that produces a full range of crawler excavators for construction, is pleased to announce the appointment of Randy Hall as vice president of operations. Hall has more than 35 years of experience in the equipment industry and a proven track record in building and managing key relationships with equipment dealerships, national accounts and finance partners.
St. Louis-based Tarlton Corp., a general contracting and construction management firm, has hired Jeffery Clark as project manager for the firm’s Concrete Group. Prior to joining Tarlton, Clark worked as superintendent on multiple large-scale projects and as concrete superintendent on several projects at Washington University in St. Louis, including the university’s Danforth Center, Engineering Building and Central Underground Garage.
J.K. Yates has become the first woman to head a college or university construction management department in the U.S., working at Western Carolina University. Yates has been named the Joe W. Kimmel Distinguished Professor of Construction Management at Western Carolina University, prior to which she served as chair and professor in the department of construction management and engineering at North Dakota State University.
Susan Hunter has been selected as the first female president of the University of Maine system. Hunter will serve a two-year appointment only, and plans to retire in 2016. Hunter became a full-time University of Maine faculty member in 1991 and has served in various roles, including assistant director in the College of Natural Sciences and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.
JG Innovations Inc., a leading provider of steel soffit concealment systems, has named Allen Stowers as the firm’s new president. Stowers most recently served as vice president for JG Innovations Inc. and began his career with the company as a marketing director.
The University of Dayton has named Eddy Rojas as its new engineering school dean. Rojas currently serves as director of the Charles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and will begin the new role on July 1. As dean, Rojas will oversee the university’s 2,600 engineering students. Rojas has experience in administration, teaching and research, and has also overseen strategic plan development and other initiatives.
Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has hired William S. McMullen, CFM, LEED AP, as the business unit manager for its newly formed energy solutions group. Based in Dewberry’s Raleigh, N.C. office, McMullen will be responsible for all facets of the group’s client and project development. McMullen has more than 25 years of experience in building operations, facility engineering and commissioning, and energy engineering.
Elizabeth K. Meyer has been appointed to a two-year term as dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Meyer, the Merrill D. Peterson Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University, begins serving in the new role July 15. An internationally renowned design theorist and critic, Meyer will continue teaching during the two-year appointment, and plans to return full-time to that role at the conclusion of her term.
The Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers has named Joseph G. Burns, a managing principal at Thornton Tomasetti, an SEI Fellow. Burns joined Thornton Tomasetti in 1995, and has more than 30 years experience in building design and renovation.
Ann Poppen has been promoted to preconstruction manager for the California district of Sundt Construction Inc. Poppen joined Sundt in December 2013 as a preconstruction project manager on the San José State University Campus Village Phase II student housing project before being promoted to her new position.
