JAMES L. LAMMIE (1931-2022)

BY WILLIAM H. HANSMIRE

JAMES LOUIS LAMMIE was a world-renowned, passionate advocate for advancing the engineering profession. He died Nov. 9, 2022, at the age of 91 at home in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Following a two-decade career in the U.S. Army, Jim’s leadership at Parsons Brinckerhoff advanced a dramatic expansion of the global business. With a specific focus on transportation, he nearly doubled the organization’s revenues, pushing the firm into its position as a global changemaker. He was a dynamic and charismatic speaker on any topic, and especially so on professional and personal ethics. With dedication and zeal, he made a significant positive impact in many communities worldwide.

One of two siblings, Jim was born Sept. 19, 1931, into a working-class Catholic family in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a steel town in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. His father, James Lammie, was a steel worker, and his mother, Elizabeth Rusch, a nurse. Both are buried in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Jim grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. He was known to say that his conservatism had its roots in the “Depression Mentality.”

Early in Jim’s life, the family lived in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, then moved to Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, where the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company plant had been operating since the early 1900s. For a short time in 1943, when Jim was almost a teenager, the family moved to California and lived in the Los Angeles County city of Upland. In nearby Fontana, California, Henry J. Kaiser had founded a steel mill in 1941 to meet the global steel demands prior to the U.S. entering World War II. Jim’s father had taken a job with Kaiser Steel. However, Jim’s mother did not like it in Upland, and they moved back to Aliquippa in 1944. When the family returned to Pennsylvania, Jim completed junior high school and high school at St. Veronica Catholic school in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, a city across the Ohio River from Aliquippa.

At St. Veronica High School from 1945 to 1949, Jim participated in almost every school activity: debate, speech, athletics (varsity basketball), and student council. He served as editor of the school newspaper The Veronique. During his four years in high school, Jim headed the honor roll for the entire school and served as president of the National Honor Society. He graduated as class of 1949 valedictorian.

Pittsburgh was the quintessential steel town and the “City of Bridges.” Growing up with bridges all around him, Jim wanted to study engineering after high school. He ranked first in the Duquesne competitive examinations and won a full four-year scholarship to Duquesne University, but the university did not have an engineering program. His mother suggested that he consider a military career. She wrote to the local congressman, and Jim scored high on a competitive test, resulting in his being offered enrollment at both West Point and Annapolis. He chose the Army, as reported in the press: “Congressman Louis E. Graham announced in December 1948 the appointment of James L. Lammie, a senior in St. Veronica’s High School, Ambridge, to the United States Military Academy, West Point, on the basis of an examination taken last summer by the high school students of his district.”

The varied 21-year career of Jim Lammie as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer took him to Philadelphia, Korea, Colorado, Virginia, Germany, Kansas, Vietnam, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. His many assignments, roles, and responsibilities offered Jim the experiences of many lifetimes. He saw both peacetime and wartime duty overseas. Soon after graduation from West Point in June 1953, he was sent to South Korea, just after cessation of hostilities and the start of peacetime rebuilding of the country. In the Cold War era he served for several years in Germany, and in 1967 he volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam, where he commanded the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion.

Jim Lammie’s final tour with the U.S. Army in 1972 was the crowning assignment as district engineer for the San Francisco District of the Corps of Engineers. In that role, he pioneered aggressive controls of industrial pollution of San Francisco Bay. Under his command, many regulatory actions were implemented for permits and studies for which the COE was responsible. The family enjoyed living in the historic Presidio housing until Jim’s Army retirement in 1974.

Advanced education and teaching were significant and notable parts throughout his military career. He received a master’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University, a master’s degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, and a master’s degree in business from George Washington University while he attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF). He taught military science at the Colorado School of Mines. After attending the ICAF, he stayed on to teach management and organization theory for two years. He lectured on a range of topics at Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Arizona State University, among others. It is no wonder that Jim Lammie was to have such success in his next career in business with Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Jim Lammie entered the private sector after retiring in 1974 as a colonel from the Army. He joined Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1976 to start a second career that spanned an initial role as Project Manager, serving as its CEO, and later serving as its chairman.

As Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Project Manager, Jim led the joint venture, serving as the general engineering consultant to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). From 1976 to 1982, he oversaw major milestones, including the completion of Atlanta’s downtown Peachtree Center Station and the MARTA system’s 1979 opening. When he took command of the MARTA project, he commented on how much fun it was to watch a project grow. Growth was a central theme throughout Jim’s tenure with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Jim’s team-building skills were on full display in his MARTA Monday morning sunrise sessions, where plans for the week were finalized, followed on Saturday morning by his team progress walks around the construction sites. While Jim led from the front, he empowered his team to think, act, and execute the mission.

He transferred to Parsons Brinckerhoff’s New York headquarters in 1982 to lead Parsons Brinckerhoff’s U.S. engineering business. He quickly focused on growing the business, putting in place one of the industry’s first dedicated business development teams, challenging them to “grow or die.” The firm’s rapid growth led to Jim’s selection as its CEO at the holding company level, where the emphasis on growth was now complemented by increased diversification in markets, geography, and services. He led the transformation of Parsons Brinckerhoff into a strong global brand, recognized for high-quality and innovative solutions around the world. Known for his tireless commitment to work and family, Jim’s indivisible personal and professional lives reflected the highest standards of integrity and ethics for others to follow.

Parsons Brinckerhoff’s successful growth was enhanced by the personal credibility and commitment that he brought to the firm’s largest projects. Domestically and internationally, he was the driving force behind many world-class projects. Jim served as principal-in-charge for many of these projects in the United States, including the first modern-era transit line in Los Angeles, the downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach Light Rail Line; the Boston North Station Reconstruction and Green Line (Light Rail) relocation; the Boston I-90 - 1-93 Central Artery and Immersed Tube (Ted Williams) Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”); the Superconducting Super Collider Facilities Construction Contract; the Dallas Area Rapid transit, Texas’ first urban rail system; the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Transit (BART) Extension Projects (four lines); the Pittsburgh Light Rail Project; and New York City Transit Authority’s R-62, R-62A, and R-68A vehicle procurement program for long-awaited and sorely needed new subway cars. Around the globe, he was key to Parsons Brinckerhoff’s selection for world-class projects such as Taiwan’s High Speed Rail and the Taipei transit system, the U.K.’s West Coast Route Modernization Project, and transit systems in Hong Kong and Singapore. On these major infrastructure projects, Jim contributed to the engineering team structure, reporting systems, and major technical issue resolution.

While the word “leadership” might best describe Jim’s strength, at his core he had a strong ethical compass and a passion to develop his colleagues and staff, challenging them to think about how they would feel if their actions were reported on the “front page of The New York Times.” One of his favorite reminders was, “If you have to think twice about it, don’t!”

He valued the professional talent of the many people he worked with. He was a strong advocate and supporter of women in both technical and managerial leadership roles in the firm. He always found the time to engage and support the often strong and passionate personalities that would be found in some of the firm’s most talented professionals. Jim remarked that “it was ok to be a prima donna, as long as you could sing!”

Jim stepped down as CEO and director of Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1996, taking on special projects. By 2006, he had retired as a full-time employee of the company and joined the Board of Directors, going on to serve as the non-executive chairperson of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He fully retired when the firm was acquired by Balfour Beatty.

Jim Lammie’s achievements in the business world of engineering are well known. His success reflected the rich experience of his youth and his first career in the U.S. military, as well as his natural intellect, strong family values, faith, and good nature.

After retirement from business, he returned to West Point as the first Class of 1953 Endowed Chair of Civil Engineering to teach management and ethics from 2005-07. He was chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory Board at West Point from 2005-08.

Jim received accolades throughout his distinguished career. Purdue University recognized him as distinguished alumnus with an honorary doctorate in 1997. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 and the National Academy of Construction in 2001. He received the Outstanding Projects and Leaders Award for Management (OPAL) (2001) from the American Society of Civil Engineers; the Golden Eagle Award from the Society of American Military Engineers; the American Public Transit Association Hall of Fame Award (2002); and the James Laurie Prize (2004). He was also a fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers and a member of the American Public Transit Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, Chi Epsilon, and The MOLES, a distinguished fraternal organization of the heavy construction industry.

Jim was married for 65 years to Shirley Donovan Lammie, who preceded him in death in 2018. Over their long marriage, Jim and Shirley were a constant source of love and support for their growing family and inspired them with their volunteerism and strong Catholic faith. Jim leaves behind three children and their spouses, Dr. John and Nancy Lammie, Dr. Patrick Lammie and Maureen Braun, and Michele (Lammie) Moores and her husband, Dr. Russell Moores. “Toro” (the affectionate nickname the grandchildren knew him as) is survived by seven devoted grandchildren and their spouses, and 18 great-grandchildren. Jim was preceded in death by his sister, Elizabeth Karas, and his grandson, Patrick Lammie. The family extends special thanks to his sister-in-law, Marge Schneider, and nephew, Craig Schneider, for their unending love over the past years.