S. Richard Benton, FDBIA, P.E., F.ASCE (Instructors)

Rich Benton is a consultant to the engineering and construction industry providing consultant services and training to Owners, design professionals and contractors focusing on design-build best practices, acquisition strategy, proposal development, contracting for public works projects and leadership development programs.

Previously he was a Senior Vice President for the Pernix Group (formerly Telesource International, Inc.), an international construction company focusing on design-build projects for the U.S. State Department and other federal agencies. During his tenure they completed a $48 million design-build U.S. embassy project and pursued projects around the world. Previously he had served 10 years as a senior executive with Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc., a general contractor with over 45 offices across the United States, providing primarily job order contracting and design-build construction services nationwide. Rich’s responsibilities at Centennial included championing the utilization of design-build project delivery, leadership and management education, training and development, preparation of cost and price proposals, risk management, legal review, coordinating with sureties, managing the small business subcontracting support program, policy and procedure development, implementation and enhancement, and strategic planning. Prior to entering the private sector, Rich served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 23 years where he served in a multitude of positions, both domestically and internationally, in construction, combat engineering, contracting and teaching assignments. His facilities management experience includes cost effectively maintaining multi-million dollar construction and administrative support equipment.

He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a Past President of the National Capital Chapter of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and National Society of Professional Engineers. Rich is an adjunct professor on the faculty of George Mason University teaching courses in construction, project management and design-build. He’s also on the Board of the Civil Engineering Institute of George Mason University, which has a mission of supporting the expansion of civil engineering programs at the university. Rich is on the editorial board for the ASCE quarterly Journal of Management in Engineering and previously served on the founding editorial board of the ASCE quarterly Leadership and Management in Engineering. He also serves as chairman of the nationwide Leadership Committee for DBIA and on a committee of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) writing and testing professional engineer examination questions. Rich is a Life Member of the Society of American Military Engineers, Army Engineer Association, Disabled American Veterans and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. He also has been listed in numerous versions of Who’s Who in America since 1994.

He has a M.S. in civil engineering (construction engineering and management) and a M.S. in mechanical engineering (applied thermodynamics), both from Stanford University. His B.S. degree in engineering is from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is licensed as a professional engineer by the Commonwealth of Virginia and a Designated Design-Build Professional.