CROSS-US Expert Panel

A consulting structural engineer, Glenn spent 45 years at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, 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 has a career-long passion for learning from failures. He 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, a Board Member of the Charles Pankow Foundation, and Visiting Scholar, University of Bath, UK.

Stan has 50 years of experience in structural analysis, design, and project management, first in the oil and gas industry and then in general building and bridge engineering. He has held senior leadership positions in several structural and civil engineering firms. Currently, Stan is engaged as a sole-proprietor, working as a consultant to attorneys and insurance companies on construction litigation issues related to structural distress and failure. He is a highly sought-after expert that often shares lessons learned through presentations and articles on failure issues.

John is a Senior Principal at Wiss Janney Elstner Associates, where he specializes in the assessment of structural distress and serviceability problems in buildings, bridges, and other structures. In his 40-year career, he has analyzed numerous conventional structures as well as several unique building systems, addressing general code conformance and related topics such as deflection, cracking, vibration, and lateral stability. Mr. Duntemann also performs a variety of consulting activities related to new and existing construction.

John has published more than 40 papers and has lectured extensively on the performance and assessment of structures, structural failures, structural rehabilitation and design and construction codes and standards. He is a contributing author to the Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook (2000, 2010) and the Handbook of Temporary Structures in Construction (1996, 2012). Mr. Duntemann is a past President of the Structural Engineering Association of Illinois, a former member of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying Structural Exam Committee (2004–2010), and a member of the Main Committee of ASCE 7 since 1995.

Craig is an Assistant Vice President and Technical Director with Zurich North America – Insurance and Risk Management.  He has over 31 years of experience in design, construction management and insurance risk management of multiple general building projects in North America.  In his current role as a Principal Risk Engineer, Craig provides technical guidance and recommendations as a subject matter expert to customers and business partners in support of Zurich’s construction professional liability book of business.  He assists in new/existing customer underwriting assessments, as well as the resolution of complex customer claims.

Craig is currently an Associate Member of the ASCE 7-22 committee, and also leads an industry task force within the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Erectors Committee in authoring a technical white paper on the problems and associated risks with improper structural grouting of precast concrete load bearing elements.

Dan is the Chief Structural Engineer of the New York City Department of Buildings. In this capacity he organized its Forensic Engineering unit and was involved in numerous investigations of building and retaining wall collapses. Some of his findings and statistics related to construction accidents (excavation, demolition, underpinning, cranes) were published and provided the basis for improvements to the NYC Building Code. His prior experience includes design of high-rise office buildings and of installations for petrochemical and nuclear plants.

Dan is a Director of the Structural Engineering Certification Board and a member of several ASCE standard committees including Structural Design for Fire Conditions, Design Loads on Structures during Construction and Structural Condition Assessment of Buildings. Dan also organized the engineering response at WTC for 9-11.

Eric is a Structural Bridge Engineer at Kiewit Infrastructure Engineers, where he has designed and analyzed bridges of varying complexity and size across the country for both preliminary and final designs. As his design experience is rooted in the design-build delivery method, he has an enhanced perspective on constructability considerations and concerns during the design process.

Eric has also served in leadership roles in SEI Colorado, is a member of the SEI Young Professionals Committee, and co-authored the bridges chapter of the 2020 ASCE Colorado Infrastructure Report Card.

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.

Tara is General Counsel of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Virginia bar. She is legal advisor to CROSS-US. Her responsibilities for ASCE include legal consultation in the areas of employment, tax, corporate, contract, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust, intellectual property, real estate, and construction law.

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.

Dr. Paul Mlakar recently retired after 40 years of service to U. S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After beginning his ERDC career as a research engineer investigating the mechanics of structural elements and going on to service in various leadership roles, Mlakar's career culminated with his appointment as the Army's senior research scientist for weapons effects and structural dynamics, a position he held from 2003-2015. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Mlakar also served as the Class of 1953 Distinguished Chair in Civil Engineering for the storied organization from 2010-2014; he facilitated countless interactions between ERDC and West Point and an official Educational Partnership Agreement between the two was recently signed.

Paul is notable for his work on investigation of a number of catastrophes, including the 9-11 Pentagon crash, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the breach of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Samuel J. Muir is a trial attorney in the firm’s Oakland and Orange County offices. He practices primarily in the area of construction litigation with an emphasis on the representation of design professionals. It was over 40 years ago when he was first attracted to helping design professionals because of their tremendous creativity, substantial benefit to society, and commitment to their clients. This initial interest has led him through jury trials, bench trials, binding arbitrations and mediations that are too numerous to count. As lead trial counsel and appellate attorney for the design professional in the landmark decision of Markborough California, Inc. v. Superior Court (1991) 227 Cal.App.3d 705, Mr. Muir argued successfully to uphold the law authorizing limitation of liability clauses in construction contracts.

Mr. Muir enjoys giving back to both his professional and personal communities in many ways. On the professional side, he is a frequent speaker to architectural associations such as the local chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He continues to speak at meetings of numerous engineering associations such as American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), and the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC California).

Kevin is a Professor of Architectural Engineering at Penn State University, where he has been on the faculty for over 39 years and served as AE Department Interim Head for 2 years. He has received numerous teaching and advising awards including being named a Penn State Teaching Fellow.  Professor Parfitt teaches courses in structural engineering, engineering capstone, and building failures and forensics. His areas of expertise include building performance and evaluation, building damage assessment, building collapse, architectural systems failures, forensic engineering, site specific snow studies and disaster recovery. Prior to joining the PSU faculty Kevin worked for a number of prominent architectural and engineering firms. Kevin also serves as an independent industry consultant in investigating and evaluating structural distress and failure.

Kevin is active in ASCE including the Forensic Engineering Division. He is a founding member of the Architectural Engineering Institute and served as Editor of the Journal of Architectural Engineering for a number of years. Kevin has followed CROSS since its inception in the UK and has advocated for it in industry and amongst his students.

John G. Tawresey, is recognized as a structural masonry and risk management pioneer. Tawresey is a forerunner in the research, testing and development of new building exterior wall systems including panelized reinforced brick masonry; brick veneer/steel stud, thin-stone and aluminum/glass walls. He was one of the drivers behind the formation of The Masonry Society (TMS) in the late 1970s and has served in numerous positions since its inception including president. He has been teaching a structural masonry course at the University of Washington since 1984. More than any other structural engineering leader, Tawresey served to help structural engineers manage risk.

He led the Structural Engineers Risk Management Council (SERMC) where he participated in numerous activities including president and he was one of the drivers behind the formation of ASCE’s Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) where he served as president from 2001 to 2003. Currently, he is the force behind the ASCE Committee on Claims Reduction and Management, which initiates educational sessions as well as other activities where structural engineers can share their professional negligence claims experiences.

Tawresey’s career includes 40 years of achievement at KPFF Consulting Engineers as their CFO. Under Tawresey’s unique business leadership, which emphasized that the purpose of the business was to support the practice of engineering (the Supportive Business Organization) KPFF grew from 50 to 950 people.

Tawresey is an honorary member of The Masonry Society where he twice received the President’s Award and Haller Award. He was named Professional Engineer of the Year by the Washington Society of Professional Engineers in 2011, and received ASCE’s SEI Dennis Tewksbury Award and in 2017 was recognized as a Distinguished Member of ASCE.