About Us


Board Members

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Richard Kunnath

Chief Executive Director, Charles Pankow Builders, Ltd. Pasadena, CA

Rik Kunnath is the Chief Executive Officer for Pankow Operating, Inc., the holding company for the various entities that constitute the Pankow family of Companies. These entities include Charles Pankow Builders, Ltd., Pankow Special Projects, L.P. and Mid-State Precast, L.P., among others. Pankow is internationally recognized for its innovative concrete construction methods, and as one of the industry’s foremost practitioners of Design-Build as a project delivery technique. Projects include urban, high and mid-rise office buildings, hotels and residential, health care and academic facilities.

Rik joined Pankow in 1979 and has been in the construction industry for more than 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Detroit, and is a registered Civil Engineer and licensed contractor and real estate broker in numerous states.

As a frequent speaker to industry groups and academic institutions, his topics include trends affecting the design and construction industry, alternative delivery models and advances in concrete construction. Rik was recently named Engineering Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy, College of Engineering and Science. In 1993, Rik was among a handful of practitioners that founded the Design-Build Institute in Washington, DC. He served as its National Chairman in 1995 and is the current President of the Design Build Education and Research Foundation and President of the Board of Directors of the Charles Pankow Foundation. Additionally, Rik serves on the Board of Directors of SPUR (San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association) and the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition, and on the Advisory Council of the University of Detroit’s School of Engineering and Board of Advisors of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland. Rik is a Certified Arbitrator for the Large and Complex Case Panel of the American Arbitration Association of Northern California.

Experience includes:

  • 2004 to Present: President, Charles Pankow Foundation
  • 2003 to Present: Chief Executive Officer
  • 1999-2003: President and Chief Executive Officer
  • 1989-1999: Pankow Builders Executive Vice President and Northern California Regional Manager
  • 1988-1989: Pankow Builders – Vice President Business Development
  • 1983-1988: Pankow Builders – Project Sponsor
  • 1979-1983: Pankow Builders – Superintendent
  • 1975-1979: BASF Corp: Construction Manager, various chemical facilities in Northern New Jersey
  • 1971-1975: Mobil Oil Corp: Construction Engineer for various petrochemical facilities, Ohio and Michigan Industry

Associations:

  • President, Design Build Education and Research Foundation
  • American Arbitration Association, member of the Northern California panel of neutrals for large and complex cases
  • Member of the 1999 Capital Projects Task Force, University of California, Office of the President
  • American Concrete Institute
  • Recipient of the 1994 BICB Achievement Award. This award bestowed annually to an individual in the Bay Area deemed to have made a major contribution to the industry
  • 1995 National Chairman for the Design Build Institute of America, current member of the Board of Directors
  • Speaker at over 50 symposiums and conferences dealing with alternative project delivery and procurement, especially design-build
  • Registered Civil Engineer: Michigan, New Jersey and Hawaii
  • Licensed General Contractor: Florida, Nevada, and California
  • Licensed Real Estate Broker, California
  • Board of Directors: San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
  • Engineering Advisory Council, University of Detroit

Education:

  • University of Detroit, BS Civil Engineering
  • Cleveland State University, Graduate School of Business