Tom Marquardt, SBID, IIDA, has recently been hired in HDR’s Chicago office as a design principal. A veteran in the industry with 29 years of experience, Marquardt comes to HDR after leading his own successful interdisciplinary design and branded environments studio in Chicago, which he founded in 1988. Prior to that, he worked for two firms designing corporate and commercial interior projects ranging from office test fit plans to high-end showrooms.
Dexter + Chaney has announces that Eric Newton will be the new senior vice president of sales and marketing. He will oversee the company’s strategic sales and marketing initiatives and marketing initiatives. He will focus on the growth of their Spectrum Construction Software as construction management software. Newton has experience in construction technology and was previously the senior vice president of vertical markets for Comdata Inc.
Mansfield, Texas-based Ramtech Building Systems, a design-build construction firm for relocatable modular buildings and prefabricated permanent facilities, has hired commercial MEP design veteran Robert Frick. Frick will join the company’s engineering group as mechanical, electrical, plumbing design manager.
Moses Ling, associate professor of architectural engineering at Penn State, has been elected president of the American Society of Civil Engineers Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI). Ling, who has served as president-elect of AEI since last October, will begin his one-year term Oct. 1. He first joined Penn State as an architectural engineering instructor in 1981, becoming an assistant professor in 1986.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Board of Directors announced that Mahesh Ramanujam, the organization’s current chief operating officer (COO), will assume the duties of chief executive officer at the end of 2016. Ramanujam joined USGBC in 2009 as senior vice president, technology before being named COO in September 2011. In December 2012, he was named president of the Green Building Certification Institute.
General Electric has announced the promotion of Beth Comstock to the new role of vice chair. Comstock is currently the head of General Electric’s business innovation unit and has brought LED lights and digitalization to the $2.5 billion lighting company. Comstock also leads GE Ventures and Licensing, corporate marketing, sales and communications. She will oversee the development of new customer business models. She first joined GE in 1986 through its acquisition of NBC.
Dexter + Chaney, providers of Spectrum Construction Software, announced the appointment of Brian Rice as the company’s new chief financial officer. Rice replaces retiring CFO John Ulacia, who is retiring after 20 years of steering the company’s financial and operational growth.
Jennifer Betancourt, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, has been promoted to associate in the Elgin, Ill. office of Dewberry. With more than 15 years of experience, she has broad expertise in the higher education, library, health care, campus planning, commercial, K-12 and aviation sectors. As a project manager, her skills range from programming and design development through construction administration. Betancourt earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Arizona.
Skanska hired Robert D. Flory as senior vice president/account manager for the company’s building business unit in its Oakland, Calif., office. Flory joins Skanska after a 23-year tenure with Vanir Construction Management Inc., a Sacramento, Calif.-based construction firm where he served as chief operating officer. He brings significant project experience in the public, health care, education, justice and water/wastewater sectors.
Professional services firm Dewberry has promoted Brian Kerner, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, to senior associate in the firm’s Elgin, Ill. office. Kerner has more than 20 years of experience and specializes in early childhood and K-12 facilities. He has completed 50 projects in the education market, performing program development, construction grant application and facility analyses as well as design and construction administration.
