Richard D. MacDonald: Academy of Distinguished Engineers - 2015

Senior Vice President, Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford, New Jersey

Richard (“Rick”) MacDonald began his career with Morrison Knudsen Corporation, one of the top 10 contractors in the nation at the time. He rapidly advanced to project engineer, moving his family 12 times in 16 years so he could manage numerous multimillion-dollar marine engineering projects. MacDonald completed an executive education program at Harvard Business School in 1995. In 2000, he joined Weeks Marine as vice president of operations for the construction division, eventually earning a promotion to senior vice president. The company specializes in marine construction. He now oversees projects along the East Coast, Gulf Coast, Latin America, and the Caribbean Sea. Most notably, he is responsible for the construction of the first offshore wind farm in the United States, located in Nantucket Sound. MacDonald appreciates the problem-solving skills he learned at Oregon State. “I can’t tell you how many things we’ve done that have been one-off — you can’t go anywhere and find it in a book,” he said. “You can’t do my job without the foundation I got from college.” One of MacDonald’s passions is helping to develop young engineers. “It’s incredibly gratifying to watch someone who came into our company 10, 12 years ago, whose career you helped develop, and watch them run $80 million dollars worth of work,” he said. MacDonald is in line for the presidency of the Moles Organization, a fraternal organization associated with the heavy construction industry. Moles members are leaders in their profession who are dedicated to promoting the industry and supporting their colleagues.