Donovan elected to College of Engineering Hall of Fame; Carlos, Flower, Bern honored at engineering alumni awards

Fred C. Donovan Sr.

BCE 1962

President and CEO, Baskerville-Donovan

Engineering Hall of Fame

Donovan is the president and CEO of Baskerville-Donovan, Inc., a 90-year-old regional engineering firm providing services in the fields of water/wastewater, civil, transportation, and military engineering in the southeastern United States and Latin America. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers selected the company as Firm of the Year for essential airfield work in Manta, Ecuador. BDI is also credited with securing the largest FEMA grant awarded in the state of Florida, which was used to relocate a 20 MGD wastewater treatment plant from a flood plain to an upland location 25 miles away — a $340 million effort. As a community leader, Donovan served on the board of Gulf Power Company, a subsidiary of the Southern Company. He also served as the chairman of the Baptist Health Care Board and chairman of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Board. Donovan and his wife, Susie, funded a civil engineering President’s Scholarship and the Hydraulic Teaching Laboratory in the Mason Building. Fred is a current member of the Hill Society, and he served as a member of the Class of 1962 50th Reunion Committee in 2012, which raised more than $28.5 million. He is a past trustee of the Alumni Association and emeritus member of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering External Advisory Board.

Jimmy A. Carlos

BCE 1976

Owner and Vice President of Risk Management, Republic National Distributing Company

Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni

Carlos is owner and vice president for risk management with Republic National Distributing Company. He began his career in Greenville, South Carolina, with J.E. Sirrine Co., an engineering company with specialties in pulp and paper. He became a registered professional engineer in 1980, and for the next 10 years, he worked with Milliken and Company, a leader in textiles and chemicals. From 1990 to 1994, Jimmy was a partner at a local construction company, where specialties included industrial construction, water and wastewater treatment plants. He has since returned to the family business, which had an interest in industrial laundry across four states in the Southeast (sold in 2000) and interest as a wholesaler for wine and spirits: National Distributing Company and Republic National Distributing Company. The company has business interests in more than 20 states across the nation, making it one of the country’s largest wholesale wine and spirits distributors. Jimmy and his wife, Helen, established the James A. Carlos Family Chair in Pediatric Technology, a partnership between Georgia Tech and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Paul H. Flower

BCE 1968

CEO, Woodward Design+Build and Woodward Interests

Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni

Flower serves as CEO of Woodward Design+Build, an integrated design and construction  firm  working in commercial, institutional, manufacturing, hospitality, and residential markets. He is also CEO of Woodward Interests, a real estate development firm involved in the multi­family and hospitality markets. Flower started his career as a structural engineer, construction estimator and project manager. Since he became president of Woodward in 1987, the firm has grown into the largest design and construction firm in Louisiana and the central Gulf Coast region.  Woodward Interests, founded in 1995, has been responsible for $125 million in development and has been a joint venture partner in an additional $280 million in development in the New Orleans area. Flower is presently part of the team developing the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences in downtown New Orleans. Flower also earned his master's degree in engineering from Tulane University. His contributions to Georgia Tech include support of the renovation of the Jesse W. Mason Building and sponsorship of the Corporate Affiliates Program. He serves on the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering External Advisory Board.

Jose M. Bern

BCE 1995

Vice President, Empresas Bern

Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni

Bern currently serves as vice president of Empresas Bern, a real estate development and construction company in Panama. The company participates in direct and joint venture developments of commercial and residential properties, executing in-house the complete package — architecture, foundations, structure, glazing, cabinet work and commercial placement of properties. Education is the cornerstone of his family's foundation, the Bern Foundation, which operates three nonprofit private schools for low-income families in Panama. Active with Georgia Tech, Bern holds an MBA from Georgetown University, and he currently serves on the External Advisory Board of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.