The Virginia- and Kentucky-based AE firm Mason & Hanger has promoted Benjamin A. Lilly, PE, a 23-year company veteran, to the position of President.
Lilly, 46, replaces Mike Matthews, whom the company named President in July 2016 after it had acquired the AE firm Hankins & Anderson, which Matthews had helmed for 18 years.
Prior to assuming his new role, Lilly was Mason & Hanger’s Vice President of International Federal Programs. He has traveled to over 31 countries, and has managed AE services for international construction projects with a combined value of more than $4 billion.
Mason & Hanger is a Day & Zimmermann company whose origins date back to 1827. It is one of the industry’s oldest architectural and engineering services firms, and has worked on projects in 48 U.S. states and 163 countries.
Currently, international work represents a bit more than half of Mason & Hanger’s total portfolio. But Lilly tells BD+C that the firm will continue to invest “in all of our services and consider them to be equally essential” to the company’s growth and mission.
The firm has three offices spanning Lexington, Ky., and two in Virginia (Glen Allen and Hampton Roads), supporting both domestic and international projects with equal importance to the U.S. government.
As a federally focused firm whose primary clients are the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, Mason & Hanger will continue to invest in such growth sectors of energy, sustainability, and security design services, says Lilly. Its strategic focus includes adding other government agencies “where we believe we can provide unique value.”
Mason & Hanger will continue to focus on expanding its business with federal agencies. Image: Mason & Hanger
To achieve its objectives, Mason & Hanger will need to find qualified and capable people to support its work in complex environments and various geographies. “This is a good challenge to have and one I am most excited about,” says Lilly.
He is not averse to expansion via acquisition, either. After acquiring Hankins & Anderson last year, he says “we are always open to the right new growth opportunities that fit within our overall strategy.”
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Lilly is past president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies, which in 2015 bestowed on Mason & Hanger its Virginia Engineering Excellence Grand Award for design of the Innovation Center in Helsinki, Finland. The previous year, Mason & Hanger received ACEC’s Virginia Engineering Excellence Pinnacle Award for design of the U.S. embassy in Monrovia, Liberia.
In his spare time, Lilly is an avid golfer and, as an Eagle Scout, has been an active leader with the Boy Scouts of America.
Related Stories
| Feb 22, 2011
HDR Architecture names four healthcare directors
Four senior professionals in HDR Architecture’s healthcare program have been named Healthcare directors.
| Feb 15, 2011
Iconic TWA terminal may reopen as a boutique hotel
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hopes to squeeze a hotel with about 150 rooms in the space between the old TWA terminal and the new JetBlue building. The old TWA terminal would serve as an entry to the hotel and hotel lobby, which would also contain restaurants and shops.
| Feb 15, 2011
New Orleans' rebuilt public housing architecture gets mixed reviews
The architecture of New Orleans’ new public housing is awash with optimism about how urban-design will improve residents' lives—but the changes are based on the idealism of an earlier era that’s being erased and revised.
| Feb 15, 2011
LAUSD commissions innovative prefab prototypes for future building
The LA Unified School District, under the leadership of a new facilities director, reversed course regarding prototypes for its new schools and engaged architects to create compelling kit-of-parts schemes that are largely prefabricated.
| Feb 15, 2011
New 2030 Challenge to include carbon footprint of building materials and products
Architecture 2030 has just broadened the scope of its 2030 Challenge, issuing an additional challenge regarding the climate impact of building products. The 2030 Challenge for Products aims to reduce the embodied carbon (meaning the carbon emissions equivalent) of building products 50% by 2030.
| Feb 15, 2011
New Urbanist Andrés Duany: We need a LEED Brown rating
Andrés Duany advocates a "LEED Brown" rating that would give contractors credit for using traditional but low cost measures that are not easy to quantify or certify. He described these steps as "the original green," and "what we did when we didn't have money." Ostensibly, LEED Brown would be in addition to the current Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings.
| Feb 15, 2011
AIA on President Obama's proposed $1 billion investment in energy conservation
The President’s budget increases the value of investment in energy conservation in commercial buildings by roughly $1 billion, reports AIA 2011 President Clark Manus, FAIA. The significant increase from the current tax deduction of $1.80 per sq. ft. now on the books is an increase for which the AIA has been advocating in order to encourage energy conservation.
