Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) is pleased to announce David E. Eckmann, SE, PE, FAIA, has been named President. Since joining MKA in 2005, Dave has represented MKA on over 160 projects—100 of which he served in a leadership role. In addition to his new role as President, Dave is the Managing Principal of the firm’s Chicago office and serves on MKA’s board of directors.
As a licensed architect and structural engineer, Dave is uniquely able to collaborate with architectural clients in ways that blend art and science to create “first-ever” projects that combine architecture and structure. His portfolio of work can be seen across the United States, and his ability to coalesce structural expression and efficiencies with architectural beauty and function has resulted in notable projects in the Midwest, such as Aqua Tower, River Point Tower, Salesforce Tower, Wolf Point East, City Hyde Park, Lincoln Park Zoo Education Pavilion, Wabash Building at Roosevelt University, The University of Chicago’s Gerald Ratner Athletics Center, and O’Hare International Terminal 5 in Chicago.
In addition, Dave led the structural design for the American headquarters of CoStar and Dominion Energy in Richmond, Virginia; the Mutual of Omaha and Applied Underwriters headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska; Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago, Illinois; Northwestern Mutual Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Epic Systems’ 800-acre campus in Verona, Wisconsin.
Dave’s projects have earned awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies, American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Architectural Record, Building Design+Construction, Engineering News-Record, Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI), Urban Land Institute (ULI), and other organizations.
Dave was honored with the 2021 John F. Parmer Award—one of the most significant awards presented to structural engineers in the state of Illinois—given in recognition of outstanding and lifelong contributions in the field of structural engineering. He was elevated to AIA Fellow in 2017 and was the recipient of the distinguished Francis J. Plym Traveling Fellowship in Architecture (2000–2001). Beyond honors, Dave has been active with AIA Chicago since 1995, serving on the board of directors and executive committee. His involvement with AISC, which dates back more than 25 years, includes leadership roles as the Vice Chair of the North American Steel Construction Conference (NASCC) Planning Committee, the Chair of the NASCC Architectural Planning Committee, and the primary author of AISC’s book Designing with Structural Steel: A Guide for Architects. At the University of Illinois, Dave is a member of the School of Architecture’s Tang Committee and formerly served on the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Structural Engineering Conference Committee. He also is a member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and previously served as Chair of the Chicago Committee on High Rise Buildings (CCHRB) and on SEAOI’s board of directors.
Dave often is invited to share his insights on the innovative collaboration between architecture and structural engineering for organizations such as Build Boston, the McGill School of Architecture (Canada), the University of Stuttgart (Germany), the University of Notre Dame, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, and the University of Illinois. He is passionate about the future of the industry, offering lectures and presentations at the University of Illinois and his peers at CCHRB, AIA’s National Convention, and NASCC.
“I am honored and excited to serve as MKA’s next President,” Dave said. “I look forward to expanded responsibilities in continuing MKA’s commitment to providing consistent, reliable, and creative designs for our clients.”
A Chicago native, Dave is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and a Master of Architecture in the Professional Options of Structures.
Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) is an award-winning, 195-person structural and civil engineering firm founded in 1920 with offices in Seattle, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois. Serving clients worldwide, MKA has worked on projects in 48 states and 62 countries and individual projects in excess of $2 billion. MKA’s passion is creating structural systems for buildings of all shapes, sizes, and complexities, and civil site and infrastructure designs for architectural projects.
