Swanson School Honors Tom Zagorski as Distinguished Alumnus in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Above: Tom Zagorski (center) with Department Chair Radisav Vidic (left) and Interim U.S. Steel Dean Sanjeev Shroff.
The University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering feted its 2024 class of Distinguished Alumni on Wednesday, April 10 at the University Club. Recognized among this year's honorees was Thomas “Tom” Zagorski, PE, BSCE ‘86 as the Distinguished Alumnus in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“Building upon this framework of what makes a successful engineer, another attribute is service-understanding that sharing decades of knowledge and experience to young minds ensures the success of the next generation of engineering,” said Radisav Vidic, Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor and Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “Tom in particular continues that dedication without our department. Like thousands of civil engineers since our program’s founding in 1844, Tom is a Pittsburgher through and through.”
About Tom Zagorski
Tom Zagorski is a worldwide leader in civil infrastructure. As the former Senior Vice President and National Practice Lead at Michael Baker International, he was responsible for overseeing the building of the Program Management and Construction Services business line. He provided strategic vision, high profile business development successes, notable revenue growth, and the advancement of technology and innovation. Additionally, he was influential in the development of staff within operational management; program; and projects delivery levels. He provided critical oversight and direction, ensuring that the firm’s projects were commendably executed with qualified programmatic and construction professionals and with a focus on safety, quality, budget, and client satisfaction, all the while obtaining positive public perception on bettering quality of life.
Since graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1986, Tom has become an accomplished professional engineer and leader who possesses more than 38 years of industry experience spanning projects across the transportation, freight rail, transit, water, aviation, federal, facilities, civil and environmental markets for government agencies and private clients. He is familiar with alternate project delivery methods, construction operations, scheduling, cost estimations, claims avoidance/mitigation, risk management, safety and partnering.
Early in his career at Michael Baker International, he obtained a Master of Engineering Management with a focus on construction management from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. From that point on, Tom’s focus was to build a construction services business that could rival the largest of civil engineering firms in the business. Currently ranked number 18 on the top 100 Construction Management firms listed by Engineering News Record, he has his sights on being in the top 10.
Tom is a native Pittsburgher. He honorably separated from the U.S. Air Force and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds professional civil engineering licenses in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He is active with various associations including Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), AASHTO, AREMA, ESWP and the Master Builders’ Association.
Tom and his wife, Joann, live in Franklin Park, PA and have raised four children, two who have earned degrees from Pitt. He continues to be involved with Pitt serving on the Construction Management Department advisory board and participates regularly with Pitt’s IRISE program as a founding member.