In Memoriam: Kris R. Nielsen

Abstract

As chairman and president of Pegasus Global Holdings, Inc., Dr. Nielsen was a global leader in helping contractors and owners to define what makes a successful project. He helped them examine their operations and determine how to address subjects like risk management, execution, project controls, value engineering, corporate strategy, construction law, dispute resolution, and project sustainability. While on assignments, he worked with his clients to help select younger members of their organization to mentor in how to achieve project success. Dr. Nielsen derived great satisfaction in knowing there was a growing cadre of people who were learning and then practicing their newfound skills while striving for project success. In pursuit of increasing the number of successful construction projects, Dr. Nielsen coedited and authored a book entitled Managing Gigaprojects: Advice from Those Who’ve Been There, Done That published by ASCE Press in October 2012. He was retained as a keynote speaker and lectured and presented on topics including arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, risk management, governance, project and program management, and trends in the energy and infrastructure industries. He also, either in presentations or technical papers seen or read, had produced over 175 industrywide documents since 1971. Just before that time, our industry worked with just a handshake and a cost estimate written on the back on an envelope. In summary, he helped lead the change and was one of our industry’s leaders for two decades, helping to achieve best industry practices. Dr. Nielsen has made significant contributions to the construction industry in the area of risk management and best practices. He was an active member of ASCE and the Japan Society of Civil Engineers and spent his entire career working toward bettering the construction industry. He served on the Advisory Board of the Construction Industry Institute and on the ASCE Board of Directors of the Construction Institute, both organizations specifically concentrating on best practices in the construction industry. Dr. Nielsen was also a member of the RT260 CII research team for best practices on reimbursable contracting. He was also an advisor to the Asian Society for Social Management Systems and contributed significantly to the improvement of construction contracting, especially throughout Asia. His book entitled Endangered Species, the Japanese Construction Industry specially addresses the need to improve construction efficiency and instill the need for change management. Dr. Nielsen was elected to the Pan American Academy of Engineering in 2008 in recognition of his contributions in Latin America for risk management, both in engineering and construction practices. He spent the last 40 years raising the bar on risk management in megaproject construction. In 2011, he served as the chair of the Construction Review Board of the Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear power plants. He performed numerous engagements on engineering and construction projects in more than 60 countries, including some of the world’s largest megaprojects: the Edwardsport integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant, the largest coal gasification power plant in the world, the Panama Canal, the London Crossrail Project, Guri Dam in Venezuela, Melbourne City Link Project, Xialoangdi Dam in China, PEMEX-Combisa Project in Mexico, numerous nuclear power plants, Sound Transit Program in Seattle, and the Venice Lagoon Project, to name a few. Dr. Nielsen had extensive global executive, operations, and project management audit, evaluation, and consulting experience. This experience covered the owners and financiers (public and private) of power, oil and gas, infrastructure, transportation, resource, and defense, and engineers, contractors, and manufacturers who service these industries. Dr. Nielsen’s career included a variety of project and corporate management positions, including president and chairman of Pegasus Global Holdings, Inc.; arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA); managing partner of Unionville Ranch; and chairman of the Patricia Galloway and Kris Nielsen Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization. Dr. Nielsen previously served as partner in Unionville Vineyards; chairman of Unionville Aviation; chairman and principal of the NielsenWurster Group (now part of Marsh USA); chairman of NielsenWurster ESB, Inc., an international power and process plant management consulting and software company; and chairman of Nielsen-Wurster Asia-Pacific Pty. Ltd., an Asia-Pacific firm located in Melbourne, Australia, specializing in management consulting, risk management, and dispute resolution. Prior to founding Nielsen-Wurster in 1976, he served as the vice president of MBM, an international construction management firm, where he led the development of the U.S. government’s Construction Management and Control System (CMCS) and managed its global consulting division. Kris R. Nielsen