Article by ASCE Awards Committee and ASCE Blog Editor
Bill Gross, P.E. is the recipient of the 2015 ASCE-Pittsburgh Engineer of the Year Award. “Any successes of which I’ve been a part are the result of working for a company that tries to do the right thing – and of working within a western Pennsylvania Engineering community rich with talented and dedicated engineers who continue to accomplish great things!” says Bill. “I’m truly humbled that ASCE considered my contributions worthy of such an honor.”
Bill Gross is a Vice President and Transportation Section Manager at the Pittsburgh office of HDR. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 1984, he began his career in the New York/New Jersey area before returning to his western Pennsylvania roots in 1988 to take on many challenging opportunities with HDR where he’s remained for the last 28 years. “Managing HDR’s transportation section allows me to work closely within an exceptional team to meet our clients’ needs – while providing staff members with opportunities to achieve their personal goals and expand horizons,” Bill explains.
Bill’s other professional endeavors include having dedicated many years of service to ASCE and other professional societies toward the advancement of the Pennsylvania transportation industry. Bill recently completed 8 years in leadership roles of the Pittsburgh Section of ASCE, including President of the Section, 2012-13, during which time he prioritized the expansion of the Section’s Program of Educational Outreach to school students. He received the Section’s Service to People Award in 2008.
“Bill has always been the consummate professional in all of his endeavors, whether in his role as a Section Manager, or in leadership roles with ASCE or other professional organizations,” says Ralph Gilbert, friend and colleague for over 25 years. “The best thing about working with Bill is that you know he is going to do the right thing in every situation and that he can be depended upon to get the job done right, no matter what it takes.”
Bill has been active in leadership roles in a number of other professional societies including Director and President of the Pittsburgh and Southwest Penn Sections of ASHE and Director of ACEC. He has also been very involved in the Western Pennsylvania Coordinator for the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition, a group which greatly contributed to the successful passage of the Act 89 Transportation Funding Bill in 2013.
Bill is a native Pittsburgher, having grown up in the Hazelwood section of the city. “My favorite part of growing up in Pittsburgh is the warm and friendly – yet strong-willed and determined people who inhabit this little corner of Pennsylvania!” he says.
He is an active member of St. Teresa of Avila Parish, where he coached the grade school junior varsity program. As the father of three daughters, Bill found his love for coaching youth sports far more rewarding as a family activity when he had to opportunity to manage his daughters’ fast-pitch softball teams for a decade.
Bill is also an avid runner who logs twenty to twenty-five miles per week (or as many as PennDOT’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project will allow!), and enjoys trying to eclipse his personal bests in the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon and other annual events. Bill has resided in an early 19th century Ross Township farmhouse for the past 25 years and is the very proud father of Ally (25), Katie (22), and Kimmie (20).
