James A. Broaddus, Ph.D., PE, and president and chief executive officer of Austin-based Broaddus & Associates Inc., was recently appointed by President George W. Bush to the board of directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences in Washington, D.C.

NIBS is directed by a 21-member board, 15 that are elected and six of whom are appointed by the President. Dr. Broaddus' appointment to a three-year term on the board was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May following a Senate subcommittee hearing.

Authorized in 1974. the institute's public interest mission is to improve the building regulatory environment, facilitate the introduction of new and existing products and technology into the building process and disseminate nationally recognized technical and regulatory information.

Rick Johnson was recently named president and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based Centex Construction Group, succeeding Robert C. Van Cleave, who was named company chairman.

Johnson has 20 years of experience in the construction industry and was most recently senior vice president of operations for Centex. In his new role, Johnson will oversee the business strategy, relationship focus and corporate culture for the company.

He is a construction technology graduate from the University of Southern Mississippi and holds memberships in the Design-Build Institute of America, the Construction Management Association of America and the Legislative Committee of the Associated Builders and Contractors of America.

Charles Sweeney was recently appointed senior vice president, commercial operations for Foster Wheeler USA Corp.'s Southwest Operations in Houston.

Sweeney has 23 years of experience in the industry, 13 of which have been with Foster Wheeler. He has been involved in the execution of a variety of projects throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including offshore oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals and chemicals.

Prior to this appointment, he held global responsibility for Foster Wheeler's chemicals business.

Sweeney is a chemical engineering graduate of Leeds University and holds an MBA from Webster University in Leiden, The Netherlands. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Lori Elise was recently named director of corporate communications for Dallas-based Austin Industries Inc. She replaces David Vance, who retired June 30 after more than 27 years with the company.

Elise has been with Austin since 1993 and has served in such roles as communications generalist, diversity development coordinator, open door facilitator and leadership development facilitator.

She is a broadcast radio, television and film graduate of the University of North Texas.

John Bethancourt was named executive vice president in charge of technology and services for ChevronTexaco, effective July 1. Bethancourt replaces Darry Callahan, executive vice president of power, chemicals and technology, who retired June 30.
In his new role, Bethancourt will continue to be the reporting officer for Health, Environment and Safety, and becomes the reporting officer for project resources, additives and coal operations.

Bethancourt joined Texaco Inc. in 1984 when it merged with Getty Oil Co. In 2000, he was named vice president of Texaco and president of the company's worldwide production operations. He was most recently vice president of human resources, assuming that position upon the formation of ChevronTexaco Corp. in October 2001.

He is a native of Dallas and is a petroleum engineering graduate of Texas A&M University. Bethancourt is a member of the board of directors of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc. and the petroleum advisory board at Texas A&M.

Charles M. Penland, PE, was recently named executive director of Civil Engineering Services for the Infrastructure Division of Houston-based Walter P. Moore & Associates, overseeing civil engineering operations in Houston, Kansas City and Dallas.

A principal of the firm since 1983, Penland will also maintain his position as managing director of Civil Engineering operations in Houston.

Kevin Wooster and Rick Klar of San Antonio-based Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc. recently have been certified by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists as professional geoscientists in Texas.

Licensing places a degree of legal accountability on those who engage in the public practice of geoscience.

Firms or corporations who engage in the public practice of geoscience must have their geoscientific work performed by or under the supervision of a licensed geoscientist who is responsible for such work.

Philip Suder was recently promoted to lead estimator for the Texas Division of McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. in Dallas.

In his new position, Suder will be responsible for complete construction project procurement, a task which includes conceptual estimating as well as review of project plans, soliciting bids, negotiating prices from subcontractors, coordinating preconstruction scheduling requirements, contract writing and review, completion of the bid process and project close-out.

During his two-year tenure at McCarthy, Suder has directed estimating and preconstruction activities for various projects at Knapp Medical Center, Baylor University, Valley Baptist Medical Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Children's Medical Center and Tulsa Heart Hospital.

He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

W.M. "Monty" Huffington was recently named vice president of finance for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based ECO-Block LLC.

Huffington will provide oversight for all finance, accounting and tax functions of the firm and its subsidiaries as well as oversee human resources, information systems and risk management functions.

He will also organize and execute the upcoming move of ECO-Block's finance and accounting functions to Dallas.

Huffington is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Brent Ivey was recently named Southwest Region Builder of the Year for 2002 by Houston-based Gilbane Building Co.

The company annually honors the project manager in each of its nine geographic regions and advanced technology sector that best demonstrates excellence for a project during the previous year.

Ivey was honored for his work managing the construction of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University and the 200,000-sq.-ft. underground central campus parking garage.

The Jones Graduate School earned a 2002 Best of Texas award for educational building projects from Texas Construction.

Ivey, who also won the Southwest Region Builder of the Year award in 1997, has more than 16 years of experience in the construction industry. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Newell Cheatheam, AIBD, CPBD, president of Katy-based Newell's Designs, was recently elected to serve on the Texas Institute of Building Design board of directors.
He will also serve as publicity chairman for the organization.

Cheatheam has more than 35 years of experience in commercial and residential building design. He majored in architecture and interior design at Midwestern State University and the University of Houston, and is a certified professional building designer and a Texas licensed registered interior designer.

He holds memberships in the Houston chapter of the Texas Institute of Building Design and the American Institute of Building Design.

Don S. Herbert was recently named sales manager/engineered solutions in the South Central region for Middletown, Ohio-based Contech Construction Products Inc., a civil engineering products and services company.

Herbert will be based in Irving.

He joined Contech in 1991 and holds a civil engineering degree from Manhattan College and a master's degree in construction management from Texas A&M University.

Curt Hageland, CSI, of Houston-based FKP Architects Inc. recently received certification as a certified construction contract administrator.

The CCCA designation is awarded to candidates who demonstrate expertise in construction contract administration and in-depth knowledge of preconstruction activities and procedures as well as construction phase activities.

Hageland is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds membership in the Construction Specifications Institute.

David Horton and Lawrence Montemayor, service technicians for Houston-based Spectra Laser and Precision Instruments, recently completed Level Three training for Trimble GPS and Robotic Total Station products for the construction and survey markets.

Level Three is the highest form of training available for the products and consisted of classroom and field work at the Trimble facility in Dayton, Ohio.

Horton trained on the Trimble 5600 Total Station product while Montemayor is now certified for GPS models 4700, 4800 and 5700.

David Kirby was recently named dispatcher for the Arlington office of Phoenix-based Sandvick Equipment & Supply Co.

Kirby previously served as operations manager for Fort Worth-based NES Trench Shoring.