ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Breck Washam, PE, F.NSPE, a 30-plus-year professional engineer, has been elected vice president of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Washam is senior vice president and general manager of the Midwest Region for Burns & McDonnell, a 100 percent employee-owned engineering, architecture and construction firm.
NSPE is a professional association representing and advocating for licensed professional engineers in the United States with more than 500 local chapters.
Washam started as a mechanical engineer with Burns & McDonnell in 1990 after graduating from Missouri University of Science and Technology. Taking the lead of the St. Louis office in 2007, he has grown the office from 100 employees to more than 350 employees and launched new offices in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, in 2017 and 2020, respectively.
The St. Louis office has been recognized as a Top Workplace, a Healthiest Employer, a leading philanthropic firm, and one of the largest engineering firms in St. Louis.
Washam has held numerous NSPE positions at the local and state levels, including president of the St. Louis Chapter from 2005 to 2006 and president of Missouri State Society from 2015 to 2016. His most recent national roles include serving as the NSPE Membership Committee chairperson since 2022 and the North Central regional director for the NSPE board of directors from 2020 to 2022.
In this new role, Washam will focus on advancing NSPE through increasing membership engagement at all levels and amplifying the public recognition of the value of competent and ethical engineering.