How CROSS-US is structured

The CROSS-US Executive Committee (ExCom) is responsible for setting CROSS-US’s strategy. The CROSS-US ExCom works with the CROSS-US Expert Panel to implement the strategy.

CROSS-US reports to the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) Board of Governors. SEI is an Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCE is a New York not-for-profit corporation exempt from Federal income tax under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Code.

CROSS-US Executive Committee

Glenn Bell

PE, SE, CEng (UK), F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE, FIStructE, FICE

Director, CROSS-US

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Glenn Bell is a Research Civil Engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he co-leads NIST’s investigation of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium in Surfside, Florida.

Glenn has had a career-long passion for learning from failures. He spent 45 years at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger (SGH), where he engaged in the design, investigation and rehabilitation of building structures, building envelopes and other structures. He was SGH’s CEO from 1995 through 2016 and its Board Chair from 2016 through 2018.

Glenn was Co-Founder of the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (now the ASCE Forensic Engineering Division). He is Past President of SEI, a past Director of IStructE and a Board Member of the Charles Pankow Foundation.

Craig Durgarian

PE, M.ASCE, M.SEI

Principal Risk Engineer / AVP, Zurich North America - Insurance and Risk Management

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Craig is a Principal Risk Engineer / AVP with Zurich North America – Insurance and Risk Management. He has over 32 years of experience in design, construction management and insurance risk assessment of multiple general building projects in North America.

In his current role as Western U.S. Regional Manager, Craig leads a team of risk engineers specializing in construction professional liability and builders risk insurance assessments, claim reconciliation and claim prevention consulting services for design professionals, contractors, subcontractors and owners. In his previous role, Craig provided technical guidance and recommendations as a subject matter expert to customers and business partners in support of Zurich’s professional liability book of business. He was instrumental in the resolution of several highly complex, multi-million dollar customer claims.

Craig recently completed service as an Associate Member of the ASCE 7-22 committee, and also lead an industry task force within the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Erectors Committee in authoring a PCI Journal article on the problems and associated risks with improper structural grouting of precast concrete load bearing elements.

Jennifer Goupil

P.E., F.SEI, F.ASCE

Chief Resilience Officer, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Managing Director, Structural Engineering Institute

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With deep knowledge and experience in the buildings industry, Jennifer is a passionate leader and a licensed engineer with more than three decades of experience in advancing the profession of structural and civil engineering through standards development and adoptions, educational program creation and growth, and advocacy.

Currently serving as Chief Resilience Officer for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Managing Director of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), Jennifer’s reputation for collaboration and consensus building, transparency, and effectiveness makes her a strong advocate and sought-after industry partner to allied organizations, associations, and federal agencies.

Her experience as a design practitioner at several premier engineering consulting firms, as the editor of Structural Engineer magazine, as well as past Director of Codes, Standards, and Technical Initiatives for the SEI — where her purview included leading the development of ASCE/SEI 7 Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures for more than a decade — has positioned her well to lead ASCE’s efforts to advance resilience in the built environment. As Managing Director, Jennifer also has purview over ASCE’s Construction Institute, Architectural Engineering Institute, and Infrastructure Resilience Division.

In addition, Jennifer works tirelessly to advance performance-based design, as well as climate resilient design, sustainability, and carbon reductions. She is passionate about structural engineering education and developing future leaders. A former board member of the National Institute of Building Science’s Building Seismic Safety Council, she serves on many committees — including many at SEI and at the International Code Council.

Jennifer has written numerous articles, was an author on the Prestandard for Performance Based Wind Design and an editor of the Sustainability Guidelines for the Structural Engineer, and has spoken frequently on the topics of environmental hazards, design standards, and building code development.

Jennifer earned her master’s degree in civil engineering at Cornell University and her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. She is a fellow of ASCE and SEI, a member of the Structural Engineer’s Association of Colorado and of Washington and is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado.

Andrew Herrmann

P.E., F. SEI, PRES 12. ASCE

Director, CROSS-US

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Andrew is a specialist on fixed and movable bridges and is an advocate for improving our nation’s infrastructure. He is a past President of ASCE and SEI.

Herrmann is Partner Emeritus of Hardesty & Hanover, a transportation consulting engineering firm headquartered in NYC specializing in fixed and movable bridges. He is a Fellow of both the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and ASCE and served as ASCE’s President for 2012, SEI’s President in 2017, and Chair of ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure Advisory Committee in 2009.

An advocate for improving our nation’s infrastructure, he has testified several times before Congress and been interviewed many times by the media, most notably appearing on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Registered as a Professional Engineer in multiple states, he graduated from Valparaiso University with a BSCE and NYU POLY with a MSCE.

Norma Jean Mattei

PH.D., P.E., Pres. 17 ASCE, F.SEI

Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Orleans

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Norma Jean is Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Orleans. President Biden recently appointed her to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC).

Norma Jean completed ten years as one of two civilian civil engineer Commissioners on the Mississippi River Commission (MRC), nominated by President Obama. She was 2017 President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), chairing that organization’s Board of Direction that year.

Norma Jean is currently on the Executive Committee of CROSS-US, on the Board of Governors of COPRI and locally serves on the ASCE New Orleans’ Chapter of the Structural Engineering Institute as well as several non-profit organizations such as the Water Institute of the Gulf, SciHigh and GNOSTEM. She also has served in the past on several National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) committees and task forces, most recently serving as chair of the Board-level NCEES Education Committee and is an Emeritus Member of NCEES.

Norma Jean was named by the Governor of Louisiana to LAPELS, Louisiana’s licensing board for professional engineers, serving as Chairman of the LAPELS Board in 2011-12. She, her husband, two engineer daughters and engineer son-in-law all reside in New Orleans.

Judith Mitrani-Reiser

PhD, M. ASCE, M.SEI

Associate Chief of the Materials and Structural Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

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Judy provides leadership in the development and coordination of statutory processes for making buildings safer and previously was the Director NIST’s Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program.

Judy is the Associate Chief of the Materials and Structural Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She provides leadership in the development and coordination of statutory processes for making buildings safer and oversees the National Construction Safety Team (NCST), National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP).

Before her role in the Division Office, Judy was the Director NIST’s Disaster and Failure Studies (DFS) Program, where she led a multidisciplinary staff responsible for conducting fact-finding investigations focused on: building and infrastructure failures; successful building and infrastructure performance; evacuation and emergency response systems; and disaster recovery and community resilience.

Judy is a Director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), on the Executive Committee and Expert Panel of CROSS-US and co-founded SEI’s Committee on Multi-Hazard Mitigation.

Alastair Soane

BSc PhD CEng FICE FIStructE Hon FIFireE

Principal Consultant, CROSS

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Alastair is a founding member of CROSS where he is now a Consultant and member of the CROSS Technical Board. He was responsible for setting up CROSS-UK and for introducing CROSS in Australasia and the USA.

Alastair was a founding member and Director of CROSS, and then Structural-Safety, from 2005 to 2021. In 2021, he became a Consultant and a member of the CROSS Technical Board.

Previously CEO of a consulting firm, he has extensive experience in the design and constuction of major building and structural projects in the UK and internationally. He has had a long interest in safety and forensic engineering, and has a Sir Arnold Walters Medal, a Lewis Kent Award and a President’s Award from the Institution of Structural Engineers. The American Society of Civil Engineers presented him with their Forensic Engineering Award for 2021 and, in the same year, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Author of numerous publications, for many years he was visiting professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Liverpool, and is a Past President of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers.