John Henderson has become the ninth CEO in global architecture and engineering firm HDR’s 107-year history.
Global architecture and engineering firm, HDR, has named John Henderson as its new chief executive officer to succeed chairman and CEO Eric Keen, who will continue as chairman of the company’s board of directors. Replacing Henderson as president and COO is Neil Graff, who previously served as the firm’s director of US and North America operations.
The planned transition is set to maintain HDR’s success in delivering multidisciplinary design services for clients and communities throughout the world. Dick Bell, former chairman, CEO and current board member at HDR, said: “Eric’s deep commitment to employees, clients and our industry has strengthened the company’s stature and with John’s appointment, HDR has another leader who has the skills, experience and personal qualities to keep our company a driving force to maintain HDR’s outstanding success.”
Keen hands over the CEO role after six years at the helm after holding numerous positions at the company for the past 30 years. As CEO, he led the company through eight acquisitions, overseeing continuous revenue growth and the addition of over 2,600 employees.
Henderson, who becomes just the ninth CEO in the company’s 107-year history, said: “It is an honour to build on the legacy of HDR. While many companies say they are unique, our broad-based employee ownership structure is the foundation of HDR’s competitive advantage. Together, HDR will find solutions to our communities’ greatest challenges.”
Henderson has had a distinguished career in leading wide-ranging programmes for the US Department of Defense and at HDR. He served in command and staff positions in the US Army and the Army Corps of Engineers and later, he was appointed to serve as the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy. He brings nearly three decades of experience in operations, engineering, military construction, infrastructure investment, water resources management and environmental programmes.
He takes over at the helm of an organisation with more than 12,000 employees in more than 200 locations around the world.
