At Michael Baker International, we embrace a Wolf Pack philosophy and believe that we are stronger together. Under the leadership of our Chairman, Thomas J. Campbell, we take tremendous pride in our company and our Wolf Pack colleagues as we execute our purpose – to Make a Difference. In 2018, we established the Chairman’s Award – our company’s highest honor – to recognize the employees who exemplify our Wolf Pack Philosophy and who have significantly impacted our company over the last few years.
Today, as we Reimagine Michael Baker International, we are honoring our colleagues who consistently deliver excellence in all aspects of their work, a foundational component of our Culture of Excellence. Meet the 2021 and 2020 Chairman’s Award winners below!
2021 Winners
Steve Gravlin, P.E., P.S.
Office Executive - Detroit
Detroit, MI
Steve is a strategic risk taker who has aggressively grown Michael Baker’s Detroit office from a start-up operation to 30 employees in just a few years. He accomplished this by networking effectively across the company to develop beneficial workshare arrangements to establish his team and then shared work as he won major projects. His key win with the I-69 Design-Build project allowed him to significantly contribute to workshare in numerous Michael Baker offices. He also played a key role in securing other projects including: MDOT I-94 Conrail Bridges Replacement; M-14 Corridor Reconstruction; and the I-696 3D Bridge Design Contract. As a leader, Steve gives credit where credit is due, acknowledges his team for their contributions and skills and focuses on building a culture of collaboration and delivering quality work.
Dale Gray
Office Executive - Federal/Alexandria
Alexandria, VA
Dale takes our Chairman’s mantra of “No Complacency” to heart. He successfully drives our work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), one of the company’s major growth engines, and is strategically expanding it into other Michael Baker practices. Dale and his team have won every one of our company strategic must-win contracts and the recompete for the Customer and Data Services contract. He also has grown our national Call Centers from one to two. Dale is actively involved in the business community and is a trusted advisor who has grown a team of leaders – many of whom are current clients and FEMA leaders and have been mentored by Dale. He also is passionate about creating opportunities for his team so they can continue to make a difference.
Aaron Stover, P.E., S.E.
Regional Practice Lead, Bridge Great Lakes Region
Louisville, KY
Aaron is known for his Bridge technical expertise and constant problem-solving on behalf of Michael Baker clients. Since stepping into the role of Regional Practice Lead in March 2020, he has leveraged his skills in support of clients throughout the region and played a major role on two emergency repair projects: the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Hernando de Soto Bridge in Memphis, Tennessee. Under Aaron’s leadership, the Brent Spence Bridge was able to safely reopen in just 42 days and the Hernando de Soto Bridge repairs were completed in 83 days after the fracture was discovered. For both projects, he set the tone for the team to deliver work that met the highest thresholds for quality. He is an engaged leader who empowers his team, champions their career growth and connects them to projects where they can make the greatest contributions.
2020 Winners
Joe Chaffin, AIA
Practice Executive, Architecture - Pittsburgh/Federal
Pittsburgh, PA
Joe oversees all services performed by Pittsburgh’s Architecture practice and has a reputation for being highly engaged and delivering results. He excels at supporting our Federal work and in three years has grown his team from 60 to more than 100 employees to meet the challenge of building Michael Baker’s Architecture presence in Pittsburgh. Joe has helped to secure, manage and successfully deliver a number of significant projects over the last two years, including the Bahraini Air Force F-16V Program at the ISA Air Base in Bahrain and the unprecedented winning of four Hurricane Florence Recovery Program Design-Build projects. Joe was also Project Manager for the award-winning Navy Gateway Inn & Suites project at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, which earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).
Lydia Grose
Office Executive - Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Lydia is driving growth in Michael Baker’s Philadelphia office by engaging clients, fostering relationships, selling Michael Baker’s broader expertise and empowering her team. She has secured some of the largest contracts in the history of the office and invests time to nurture her client relationships so they are grounded in confidence and trust – a trait that has become her hallmark and one of her greatest assets. Lydia believes that her team and the company are stronger when they work together and she partners with offices throughout the Northeast Region to secure and grow projects. As a caring and approachable leader, Lydia is passionate about her team and puts their needs at the forefront of her decisions. Under Lydia’s leadership, the Philadelphia office was recently recognized by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) as the 2021 WTS Employer of the year.
Randy Nelson, P.E., PMP
Director, Architectural Engineering - Pittsburgh/Federal
Salt Lake City, Utah
Randy’s superpowers are his focus on growth, exceptional operational skills and willingness to jump in and embrace challenges. These traits have enabled him to triple the size of our Salt Lake City Federal AE team from 16 employees to 50 since 2019 and lead a multi-office growth strategy to expand the Salt Lake City Federal Architecture team into the Denver office and then into Phoenix and California. Randy is responsible for coordinating workload and resource management within the office and among multiple Federal Centers of Excellence (FCOE). He also engages our National Market Leaders and key local Design-Build partners, which has resulted in numerous project wins including: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) South West; F-35 Beddown Program at Hill AFB; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Center Modernization; and Hill Air Force Base (AFB) B40/B42. His mission is to match the members of his team with the right projects and drive collaboration across all regions of the company and the FCOEs.
Congratulations to all our Chairman’s Award winners!
View our Chairman’s Award page to learn more about the Chairman’s Award winners, past and present: mbakerintl.com/content-archive/chairmans-award-2020
