Adam Matthiesen Named General Manager of Burns & McDonnell Midwest Region

Date Posted: June 16, 2026

Posted In: Organizations, People,

Burns & McDonnell has named Adam Matthiesen as general manager of its Midwest Region, succeeding Senior Vice President Breck Washam, who plans to retire in early 2027 after nearly two decades of leadership. Matthiesen will assume the role July 1.

The Midwest Region includes more than 500 employee-owners across offices in St. Louis, O’Fallon, Illinois, and Akron and Columbus, Ohio. In his new position, Matthiesen will oversee operations serving clients throughout the Central and Upper Midwest, delivering engineering, construction and consulting services for critical infrastructure projects in the energy, water, power, environmental, industrial and manufacturing sectors.

“Adam’s leadership, operational experience and commitment to our employee-owner culture make him exceptionally well positioned to lead the Midwest Region into its next chapter,” said Jerry Fan, executive vice president and general manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Americas North Region. “As he steps into this role, we are confident he will continue advancing the culture, client relationships and success that Breck helped build over nearly two decades of leadership.”

Was Midwest Operations Director

Matthiesen joined Burns & McDonnell in 2009 and brings more than 15 years of experience leading engineering and construction projects across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Most recently, he served as operations director for the Midwest Region and was promoted to vice president in 2025. Prior to joining the Midwest Region in 2021 to lead the firm’s Transmission & Distribution Group, Matthiesen spent more than a decade in Burns & McDonnell’s Houston office managing multidisciplinary engineering and construction teams on projects nationwide.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering as well as an MBA from Texas A&M University and is a licensed professional engineer.

“I am excited and humbled to become only the third general manager of the office since it opened almost four decades ago,” Matthiesen said. “Under Breck’s leadership, we have experienced phenomenal growth, and I look forward to continuing the legacy of unparalleled service to our clients.”

Fivefold Growth During Washam Tenure

During Washam’s tenure, Burns & McDonnell’s Midwest Region grew more than fivefold, expanding from approximately 100 to more than 500 employee-owners. Washam will continue to play a prominent role in the engineering profession, with plans to be installed as president of the National Society of Professional Engineers at the organization’s annual meeting in New York this August.

Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a 100% employee-owned engineering, architecture, construction and consulting firm with more than 75 offices worldwide.