Robert B. Uhler to Serve the Company as Executive Chairman
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 2, 2011 — MWH Global announced today that its board of directors unanimously elected Alan J. Krause as president and chief executive officer of the company. Krause, formerly president and chief operating officer of MWH, succeeds Robert B. Uhler in the CEO role in a planned transition announced in early 2011. At the same board meeting, Uhler, most recently chairman and chief executive officer of MWH, was elected executive chairman of the global wet infrastructure-focused company. Krause, 57, and Uhler, 65, will begin their new roles immediately.
“I am really pleased that Alan has been appointed to this new role to further grow and guide MWH in serving our clients and employees around the world,” Uhler said. “Over the past 14 years, Alan has held roles within MWH that have proven his leadership and strategic skills. Through his ability to bridge cultural differences, help solve environmental and engineering-related issues, and seamlessly integrate companies following a merger or acquisition, Alan has demonstrated his wide knowledge of our clients and employees as well as our company’s direction. I am confident in Alan’s ability to take MWH to a new level.”
“I am really fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Bob Uhler as a mentor and as a leader,” said Krause. “During his tenure as the company’s CEO for 10 years, Bob guided the organization, developing a strong global firm that provides engineering and construction, consulting and technology to clients in 35 countries. With Bob’s appointment as executive chairman, I look forward to our continued work to deliver on our strategy to maintain our leadership in the wet infrastructure sector.”
Uhler’s career with MWH spans 35 years, during which he was instrumental in charting the private company’s growth and expansion, focusing on a single water-related sector with a purpose of “Building a Better World.” Since Uhler’s appointment as CEO, MWH revenues increased 66 percent to the current revenue of $1.5 billion. Uhler joined MWH as a water and wastewater treatment design engineer in the company’s former Pasadena, Calif., headquarters in 1976 after a 12-year career in the Army that included graduation from the U.S. Military Academy and decorated combat command in Vietnam. After earning a master of engineering degree at the University of Florida, he held a succession of management positions at MWH. In 2001, Uhler assumed the CEO role. He became chairman of the engineering and construction firm in 2009.
A geotechnical engineer focused in natural resources and environmental engineering throughout 30 years of his practice, Krause has been responsible for global operations of MWH since his promotion to president and chief operating officer in 2007. During his tenure with MWH, Krause has also served as the president of the natural resources, industrial and infrastructure unit, which included the integration of the 2001 merger of Montgomery Watson with Harza Engineering to form MWH. Krause joined MWH in 1997, when TerraMatrix, the company he created, merged with MWH. He holds a master of geological engineering degree from the University of Nevada Mackay School Of Mines and has completed the Harvard Business School Owners/Presidents Management Program.
About MWH
MWH Global has been consistently ranked in the top three companies worldwide as a management, engineering and construction firm, focusing on wet infrastructure. The wet infrastructure sector encompasses a full range of water-related projects and programs from water supply, treatment and storage, hydropower and dams, water management for the natural resources industry and coastal restoration to renewable power and environmental services. MWH Global is a private, employee-owned firm with offices in 35 countries on six continents.
The roots of MWH go back to the 1840s in England to one of the first water consultancies. Thomas Hawksley is credited as solving the cholera epidemics under Queen Victoria’s reign through the advocacy of pressurized water systems. More than 150 years later, MWH continued its pioneering spirit when it created a true global confederation of indigenous businesses in countries all over the globe, linked together by world class knowledge management systems. The scale and focus of MWH in water and sustainable practices on a worldwide basis are unparalleled. For more information, visit the website at http://www.mwhglobal.com/.
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MWH Global, Inc.
Meg VanderLaan, 303-410-4017
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