Meet Wayne Crew, the General Secretary of the National Academy of Construction!

What is one thing you can’t live without?

These days it is hard to live without dark chocolate (and maybe a reasonable cabernet).

What are your hopes for 2021?

While 2020 didn’t shut the design and construction industry down, it significantly changed our behaviour and the way we do business. It is my hope that as the world and industry emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic that we can take what we learned in 2020 and move forward in new and innovative ways to improve the safety, cost/schedule, quality of projects, and attractiveness of the industry.

What is one important skill that you think everyone should have or learn?

Written and verbal communications skills are skills everyone should learn/have. These skills are fundamental to the advancement of individuals, companies, and our industry.

What do you consider one of your greatest personal or professional achievements?

Here are 3 achievements that still amaze me:

• Becoming the 4th Director of the Construction Industry Institute
• Being the 2nd General Secretary of the National Academy of Construction
• Being happily married for 45 years

If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?

Hunger. If I could feed the world, I would.

What three words best describe your personal values?

My personal values are best described by the words Love, Faith, and Integrity

What does “innovation” mean to you?

Innovation is creating and/or capturing value by doing something new or in a different way.

What activity helps you relieve stress?

Three activities that take me away from stress are:

• Riding my bicycle
• Hitting golf balls (even though I am a terrible golfer)
• Playing with my granddaughter Caroline and grandson Henry. I just get lost in them.

What is your favourite inspirational quote, and who said it?

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
— John Wesley

What is the best advice you have been given?

I’ve received lots of words of wisdom in my life. Maybe the best is from an executive at the old Brown & Root who told me “Bloom where you are planted.”

About Wayne Crew

Wayne A. Crew is the general secretary of the National Academy of Construction. Prior to becoming General Secretary, he was the director of the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the renowned research center based at The University of Texas at Austin. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Houston. Crew’s 35 years’ of industry experience include executive positions at Technip USA and KBR. Prior to his executive positions, he served in project management and engineering positions for KBR, Amoco Chemical Corporation and Michigan Chemical Corporation.
Crew is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Michigan. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Austin, TX ACE Mentor Program. Committed to best practices, Crew worked with the Virginia Tech faculty in the aftermath of the tragic 2007 campus shooting to create and offer a graduate best practices class taught by industry lecturers and practitioners. This class is the forerunner to the CII Best Practices class of today.
Wayne has been married to his wife Rivanna for 45 years. They have two children and two grandchildren. He is a bicycle rider, and he and Rivanna enjoy an occasional round of golf.