Black & Veatch Corp.

Cindy Wallis-Lage is an Executive Director at Black & Veatch. A 35-year veteran, Wallis-Lage served as president of Black & Veatch’s water business and is a member of the board. An active champion of water’s true value and its impact on sustainable communities, she will be focused on enterprise-wide client sustainability and resilience.

Wallis-Lage joined the company in 1986 and is well known in the industry for her expertise in the treatment and reuse of water and wastewater resources, and she is a champion for water’s true value and its impact on sustainable communities. Wallis-Lage has been involved in more than 100 projects globally in both the municipal and industrial sectors. She joined the Black & Veatch Board of Directors in 2012 and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Water Alliance and on the Leadership Council for Water For People. Wallis-Lage earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University and her master’s degree in environmental health engineering from the University of Kansas. She also serves on the Engineering Advisory Council at Kansas State University.

Hoe Wai Cheong is named president of the Asia-Pacific and India regional market. With Southeast Asia as Black & Veatch’s second largest market, this team will focus on providing market-specific solutions to clients in the region, capitalizing on the company’s integrated solutions across the full portfolio. Cheong, who joined Black & Veatch in 2007, previously served as president of Black & Veatch’s gas, fuels and chemicals business, responsible for global strategy, business development, and project acquisition and execution.

Irvin Bishop, Jr. is Chief Information Officer for Black & Veatch. He leads the Information Technology (IT) services team which provides the company’s global workforce with the tools and technologies needed to offer world-class solutions and services to clients.

Bishop is a proven innovator in the development and execution of analytics, client experience and digital transformation strategies. He brings a unique blend of technology and marketing expertise including demonstrated success in digital strategy development, social, mobile and web content programs and delivery. Bishop has successfully driven business performance and growth in both start-up and Fortune 50 corporate environments through digital strategies and omni-channel programs.

Bishop earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Alabama A&M University and a Master of Science in Marketing from Georgia State University. He also holds Master’s Certifications in Project Management and Brand & Customer Management, as well as a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification from the Project Management Institute.

John Janchar is the president of strategic growth, a new organization that will focus on strategy and solution innovation, client services and communications. Janchar, who joined Black & Veatch in 1990, has been president of the company’s telecommunications business, including public and private networks, connected communities and transformative technologies lines. He joined Black & Veatch in 1990 and was one of the first professionals assigned to the telecom business at its inception in 1994. Janchar is an expert in the management of complex telecom network infrastructure projects across client segments and has served in multiple roles including Business Line Director, Project Director, Regional Manager, Project Manager and more. He holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering management with an emphasis in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla.

In 2020 Janchar was named to the board of directors for the Gold Shovel Association, an organization committed to improving public and workforce safety by focusing on the protection of underground infrastructure.

Ken Williams is Chief Financial Officer for Black & Veatch. He is responsible for establishing corporate financial policies and for leading the company’s global financial operations, including treasury, tax, accounting, financial reporting, budgeting and financial systems.

 An engineer and financial leader with deep business development, strategy and risk management expertise, Williams has experience from several roles with the global engineering and construction company Fluor, where he led Corporate Development and was CFO of its government services business unit.

 Williams earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas and received an Executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.

Martin Travers is an Executive Director at Black & Veatch. A 42-year Black & Veatch veteran and member of the company’s board of directors since 2012, Travers has led the company’s telecommunications, federal, data centers and management consulting business lines. He will be focused on enterprise-wide client and market growth.

Travers earned his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in 1979 from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He joined Black & Veatch that same year, serving as Project Planner, Project Control Manager, Project Manager and in Business Development/Sales roles. He has developed an extensive background in the management of engineering and construction projects. Travers also serves on the March of Dimes National Volunteer Leadership Council, and he is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Wireless Safety Alliance.

Steve Edwards is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Black & Veatch. Edwards assumed this position in November 2013 and has overall responsibility for the company's engineering, consulting, construction and related infrastructure businesses in the power, oil and gas, water, telecommunications, and security markets worldwide. With revenues of $3 billion, Black & Veatch is consistently ranked in the Top 10 categories for power generation, power delivery, water infrastructure development and telecommunications in Engineering News-Record magazine and is ranked in the Top 150 of the Forbes list of Largest Private Companies. The company is the 12th largest employee-owned corporation in the United States, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership.

Since joining Black & Veatch in 1978, Edwards has been responsible for a variety of global projects and business lines. He was named Chief Operating Officer in March 2013 in a transition role before becoming Chairman and CEO. He was appointed to the Black & Veatch Board of Directors in 2012. Edwards is a registered professional engineer and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri.

Tim Triplett joined Black & Veatch in 2008. He serves as General Counsel, President of the Legal, Risk Management and Government Affairs Division and as Secretary of the Black & Veatch Board of Directors. In these roles, he guides all legal, risk management, enterprise risk management and Government Affairs services on a wide variety of commercial matters. Triplett also serves as Chief Compliance Officer for the Company's Global Ethics & Compliance Program. He received his bachelor's degree from Southwest Baptist College and his juris doctor from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Triplett is a regular speaker at domestic and international construction law seminars and the author of numerous professional publications. In the community, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Truman Presidential Library, Co-Chair of the KC Rising Design + Construct Committee, and serves on the Steering Committee Business Council for the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.

Mario Azar is President of the Energy & Process Industries global market sector, a new business sector that integrates Black & Veatch’s energy and industrial-oriented business portfolio to serve power, oil and gas, mining, and other process industry clients such as pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and food and beverage with integrated solutions. With more than 30 years of industry experience, Azar joined the company in 2018 as President of its global power business, guiding it through a strategic repositioning towards growth in renewable electricity generation, grid modernization, and resiliency. He serves on the company’s Executive Committee and joined the Board of Directors in 2021.

Prior to joining Black & Veatch, Azar held several other diverse energy positions, including being the founder of ALP Citadel Business Management Consulting & Services, where he offered strategic guidance to companies in the global energy market. He also served as CEO of Siemens Oil & Gas and Marine, an engineered solutions and integration business unit operating globally in over 21 countries. Azar has also served in other senior level positions during his career at Siemens and previously Westinghouse. His decades of global leadership experience in the power and oil and gas markets position him to help clients adapt to the transformational shifts impacting the production, delivery, and storage of electricity as he works with a team of thousands of Black & Veatch professionals to build the new, innovative, and more efficient energy infrastructure of the future. Azar also serves as a member of the Solar Energy Industries Association Board of Directors. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Patty Corcoran is the Chief Human Resources Officer. She is responsible for leading all elements of Human Resources and managing talent and organizational capability for the company. Corcoran began at Black & Veatch more than a decade ago as director of HR strategy and senior advisor to the CEO, which entailed working on special projects related to strategy and providing executive leadership coaching. In addition, she spent five years as vice president of innovation and strategy with the company’s innovation incubator, the Growth Accelerator. 

Among her various accomplishments, she is credited with helping to launch the company’s ASPiRE program, which focuses on fostering positive cultural and organizational change within the company. She also led the effort to analyze opportunities for increased revenue and market growth that eventually led to the creation of the company’s Growth Accelerator, which focuses on company-wide strategic planning and innovation. Corcoran helped lead the effort to shift from annualized strategic planning to a continual strategic planning approach, and an effort to optimize professional talent and provide career growth and opportunity.

Prior to joining Black & Veatch, Corcoran spent most of her career with civil engineering company OLSSON (formerly Olsson Associates), where she served as executive vice president for five years and two years as president.