Pierson named PB CEO

Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed President and Chief Operating Officer-PB Americas George J. Pierson as Chief Executive Officer effective Jan. 1, 2010. Pierson, who will retain his PB Americas post, succeeds Keith J. Hawksworth, who becomes Chairman. He will report to Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tyler (PB was acquired by Balfour Beatty in October 2009 and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of that firm).

Pierson, a licensed engineer and lawyer, joined PB as General Counsel and Secretary in February 2006. He was appointed COO of the Americas division in January 2008, and was responsible for overseeing the efforts of more than 5,000 PB employees who work on transportation and other infrastructure projects in the U.S., Canada, and South America. Prior to joining PB, he was Partner and Director of the International Construction Practice Group of Peckar & Abramson, PC, a national construction law firm. Pierson has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an MBA from St. Mary’s College of California, an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.S. in civil engineering from Bucknell University.

Hawksworth has been with PB for 33 years. He was named CEO in January 2008, and led a two-year strategic planning process that resulted in a merger with Balfour Beatty. He succeeds James L. Lammie, who served as PB’s Chairman from March 2008 to October 2009 and was a Director of the company from 1983 through 1999 and 2006 to 2007. Lammie was the PB’s CEO from 1990 to 1996 and President and COO of the Americas infrastructure company from 1982 to 1990. He retired as a PB employee in 2006 after 30 years.