Myers-Lawson School of Construction celebrates alumni and students

As Virginia Tech graduates another class of students, the Myers-Lawson School of Construction honored its alumni and recent graduates at the school’s annual awards banquet in May 2024. With six recipients, each alumnus was honored for their contributions to the school and industry.

“The awards are instrumental in honoring the people who go above and beyond in both their careers and in their time in giving back to the school,” said department head Brian Kleiner.

Myers-Lawson Award - Kirsten Leckszas ‘88

The biggest honor of the night went to Kirsten Leckszas, a long-time and continuously active member of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction Industry Council. As a building construction graduate, Leckszas began her career at Gilbane Construction where she was an instrumental part of helping the company receive the Builder of the Year Award in 2004. She continued her construction journey with building construction graduates Kyu Jung and Mark Ilich through their company Procon Consulting. In 2024, she began working with Turner & Townsend Heery.

Throughout Leckszas’ career she has continued to exhibit Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) by serving on the building construction and school’s industry council — all while raising a family. Her leadership also inspired her son, Alek Leckszas ‘14, to serve on the same council.

Last year’s recipient of the Myers-Lawson Award, and one of her classmates, Steve Daves ‘89, presented the award.

“I have known Kirsten since we were in building construction together and have worked alongside her on the industry council since the early 2000’s. I find her to be one of the most grounded people I know in our industry. She has an unwavering commitment to her family and her values and moral compass are as solid as a rock. She thrives on being a mentor and an example for others to follow, especially young women in the construction industry,” said Daves. 

Alumni and Young Alumni Awards

Building Construction Outstanding Alumnus - Joshua Bailey ‘09

Building Construction Outstanding Young Alumna - Cayla Thomas ‘16

Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Alumnus - Joshua Zilke ‘13

Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Young Alumnus – Palmer Peery ‘19

Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Alumnus - Brian Henschel ‘07

Student Awards

The school also honored a few of its many stellar students, each of whom went above and beyond in and out of the classroom.

Building Construction Outstanding Senior - Zack Feldman

Building Construction Outstanding Service - Connor Hetman

Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Senior - Jessica Fikac

Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Service - Abbie Vancini

Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Graduate Student – Charlotte Clyde

Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Graduate Student – Yueyan Gu

Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Graduate Student – Avinash Aruon

Vecellio Construction Engineering and Management Outstanding Graduate Student – Sherlock Banks

The building construction department also celebrated the students who published a paper in the past year including:  

• Hossein Naderi Aghbash
• Vida Babajaniniashirvani
• Jonathan Bluey 
• Niloufar Ghazanfari
• Sadegh Haghighat
• Ashit Harode
• Mohammad Hossein Heydari 
• Antonio Lee 
• Akinwale Okunola
• Hang Ren
• Jeremy Withers
• Ping Xu
• Akhileswar Yanamala 
• Xiaoying Yang
• Anthony Yusuf
• Haolan Zhang

Additional Honors  

The school also honored students who received scholarships and fellowships and participated in competitions and events throughout the year. All photos from the evening can be viewed on our Facebook page.