Sarah Wilson elected board chair at McMillen Jacobs

 

The McMillen Jacobs Associates board of directors has elected Sarah Wilson as board chair. Wilson is a vice president at McMillen Jacobs, where she has worked in tunnel design and construction management for more than 19 years, and she has spent the past five years in board service for the firm.
 
According to a recent study by Heidrick & Struggles, the appointment of women to board-of-director positions is hitting an all-time high in 2018. But a recent ENR study found that to be strategic on current and emerging issues, engineering and construction boards must better embrace a diversity of experience and perspectives. When asked to comment on her appointment, Wilson said, “I’m proud that McMillen Jacobs is on the cutting edge of the industry with a woman board chair. My 8-year-old daughter is so aware of girls and women as powerful forces in the world, and I hope to set a good example for my 1-year-old son. We also have two outside directors that enrich our collective experience on a very active board. I see the board chair’s responsibility as driving communication between the board and company management, and I’m lucky to be working with some extremely talented people.”

Wilson’s leadership experience and technical expertise stem from final design roles on transit, dam and water conveyance facilities, and construction management experience on numerous underground contracts in both soft ground and rock. Wilson received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia and was featured on the school’s “40 under 40” list in 2015.  She earned her M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. She has authored numerous professional papers and articles on geotechnical and construction management topics and is a past president of the American Rock Mechanics Association. She is a CMAA certified construction manager and a registered professional civil engineer in California.
 

Based in Seattle, Washington, McMillen Jacobs Associates is an employee-owned environmental, engineering, and construction company providing technical services to the heavy civil, underground, and water resources markets. The firm has offices around the country and in Canada, Australia, and New England. For more information, visit www.mcmjac.com.