Hatch Mott MacDonalds DeNichilo receives ASCE OPAL Award

Iselin, N.J. — On March 26, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) presented Nicholas M. DeNichilo, President and CEO of Hatch Mott MacDonald, with its lifetime achievement honor, the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award.

In a short video honoring DeNichilo, ASCE called him “a Renaissance man for a Renaissance firm, the catalyst that took his company through a phenomenal period of growth and profitability…. Mr. DeNichilo’s touch saw Hatch Mott MacDonald, a full-service infrastructure, transportation, and environmental engineering company, triple in size in just over ten years, and achieve a sixfold increase in profitability.”

According to ASCE, “His brand of leadership can best be described as holistic as he has strived to maintain the One Firm approach, where each office practices a corporate culture of providing quality services, safety, ethics, professionalism, and innovative solutions. Embedding these values within the firm, coupled with Mr. DeNichilo’s personal tenacity and passion at the helm, is the fertile ground in which this firm has prospered and thrived.”

Accepting the award, DeNichilo recognized previous winners Frank Lombardi, Bo Temple, Mike Loose, and Rick Capka, with whom he has worked as a member of ASCE’s Industry Leaders Council. Thanking friends and colleagues at HMM, he singled out Maureen Whelan, his administrative assistant for more than 40 years, saying, “Being my assistant for all these years is clearly a lifetime achievement in itself.”

“Civil engineering to me was not only a solid career choice but a vocation with great purpose,” DeNichilo concluded. “There’s a great deal of important work that must be done and yes, it’s us, the engineers, who will be called upon to meet these challenges in the years ahead. It's an honor and privilege to be part of this great profession.”

DeNichilo has been licensed as a Professional Engineer in several states, and is a member of numerous engineering societies. He is a leading voice on behalf of safe engineering practices, technical innovation, and the importance of designing for resiliency in a time of increasingly severe climate conditions.