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1930-2012
Ted C. Kennedy
Theodore (Ted) Clifford Kennedy, co-founder of BE&K, Inc. and charter member of the National Academy of Construction, passed away on May 8, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama. The eldest of two sons, he was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on May 26, 1930.
Ted grew up in the construction business, moving from job to job with his family. His dad was an ironworker foreman for Rust Engineering Company and Ted, as a young boy, worked on construction sites as “water boy” alongside his dad until he became old enough to be on the payroll and handle more challenging jobs.
Ted graduated from high school in Front Royal, Virginia, and continued his studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where in 1952 he was a Tau Beta Phi graduate in civil engineering. Following graduation he joined Rust Engineering Company, interrupting his career to serve two years in the U.S. Navy Seabees. Ted resigned from Rust in 1972 as vice president of operations to form BE&K, Inc. along with the late C. Peter Bolvig and the late William F. Edmonds. BE&K was to become one of the nation’s largest privately held engineering and construction firms.
On the national construction stage, Ted earned a reputation as an industry innovator and campaigned for modern, flexible craftworker training and safe worker-friendly construction work sites. He was a proponent of merit shop construction, which employs and trains union and independent construction craftworkers together with the goal of increasing opportunities for employment and making construction projects more efficient and open to innovation. Engineering News-Record magazine named him one of the top 125 leaders in the past 125 years.
Ted and BE&K became known as one of America’s most “family friendly” companies because of innovations such as placing the first childcare facilities on construction sites, thus making it easier for women to enter the construction trades and gain skills. Fortune magazine listed BE&K as the first construction company to be named one of the “100 Best Place to Work in America.” Kennedy was also presented the Crystal Vision Award and was recognized as Employer of the Year by the National Association of Women in Construction for furthering the roles of women in the construction industry.
Within BE&K, Ted guided disciplined safety programs, demonstrating to the industry a commitment to employee safety that improved quality and performance. Under Kennedy’s leadership, BE&K was the first merit shop construction company to earn STAR safety designations under the U.S. Department of Labor Voluntary Protection Program. Kennedy also led the construction industry in developing drug-free worksites, earning White House recognition and the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award.
Ted help found the Alabama Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. He went on to serve as national ABC president, where he promoted construction education and laid the groundwork for the modernization of craftworker education through the “Wheels of Learning” training programs. The Wheels of Learning became the foundation of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. Ted was also a trustee of the Merit Shop Foundation. He would also serve as chairman of the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and as president of the National Academy of Construction. In addition, Ted served for 14 years on the Contractors Advisory Committee of the Business Roundtable and was an active member of the Construction Users Roundtable.
In addition to receiving Duke University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Theodore C. Kennedy Professorship was established in 2005 to support engineering faculty in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.
Other honors and awards include: Finnish Decoration of the Knight, First Class, Order of the Lion of Finland; Paper Industry International Hall of Fame; member of the National Academy of Engineering; Newcomen Society Honoree; Carroll H. Dunn Award of Excellence by CII; Walter A. Nashert Constructor Award by the American Institute of Constructors; Alabama Academy of Honor, Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame; and the Cornerstone Award by the Associated Builders and Contractors.
Ted received about every award the construction industry can bestow. Perhaps his crowning recognition was the National Academy of Construction naming its highest award the Ted C. Kennedy Medal and awarding the medal in 2011 to Ted as its first recipient. The criterion for the Kennedy medal is based on Ted’s attributes and his many contributions to our industry: obsession with safety, integrity, and ethics; champion of innovation; lifetime of achievement; supporter of the greater community; breadth of sector experience; industry organization leadership; generosity; and commitment to people.
Ted was a civic leader in his adopted hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. His interest in education continued as he served on the Alabama Commission on School Performance and Accountability and as CEO of the State Department of Education’s 21st Century Project. He was a board member of the A+ Education Foundation, national board chairman of INROADS, Inc., and served as chair of A+ College Ready board, a statewide initiative to establish advanced placement programs in Alabama public schools.
In community affairs, Ted served as a board member of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; as board chair of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama; and as a commissioner with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District.
He also is known for his work with Leadership Birmingham, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and Children’s of Alabama Hospital, where he established a fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology.
Ted is survived by two sons, Theodore C. Kennedy, Jr. (Kim Ly) and Cameron Vaughn Kennedy; four daughters, Kathryne Page Barker, Carolyn Elizabeth Munn (Bill), Julia Nelson Kennedy, and Ann Keith Kennedy Kirk (Rob); and grandchildren Graham Barker, Jack Munn, Mason Fletcher, and Lucy Catherine Kirk. Ted is also survived by Lucy Hall Kennedy and Rita Vaughn Kennedy.
Ted loved his family. He was particularly proud of his children and what each had accomplished. He was fond of saying that Clipper could “out fix” anything that he could fix. He was proud of how Page handled the loss of Wally with great dignity, compassion, and courage. He was a little worried about Ann-Keith when she decided to go to architecture school, but he got over that. He loved that Julia was close in Atlanta and he could call on her for advice and conversation. He proudly sent Carolyn’s Almond Horns for Christmas presents every year, and I am sure many of you can attest that they were delicious. He would proudly boast how Cameron could fix any computer in the office. I know he was also proud when Cameron was accepted into the Duke Talent Identification Program for the summer.
Ted was an extraordinary person. First and foremost, he was a people person. He was one of those rare individuals who was equally at ease with a laborer on a construction site and a CEO in the board room. I suspect it was because he came from such a humble background. Ted understood the value that each employee brought to the job. He often said our assets walk out the door every night, and we hope they come back the next morning.
Ted touched all of us and he will be deeply missed, but we were all blessed to have known and worked with Ted.
Thank you, Ted Kennedy, and may God bless you.
-Mike Goodrich, 2012
Ted grew up in the construction business, moving from job to job with his family. His dad was an ironworker foreman for Rust Engineering Company and Ted, as a young boy, worked on construction sites as “water boy” alongside his dad until he became old enough to be on the payroll and handle more challenging jobs.
Ted graduated from high school in Front Royal, Virginia, and continued his studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where in 1952 he was a Tau Beta Phi graduate in civil engineering. Following graduation he joined Rust Engineering Company, interrupting his career to serve two years in the U.S. Navy Seabees. Ted resigned from Rust in 1972 as vice president of operations to form BE&K, Inc. along with the late C. Peter Bolvig and the late William F. Edmonds. BE&K was to become one of the nation’s largest privately held engineering and construction firms.
On the national construction stage, Ted earned a reputation as an industry innovator and campaigned for modern, flexible craftworker training and safe worker-friendly construction work sites. He was a proponent of merit shop construction, which employs and trains union and independent construction craftworkers together with the goal of increasing opportunities for employment and making construction projects more efficient and open to innovation. Engineering News-Record magazine named him one of the top 125 leaders in the past 125 years.
Ted and BE&K became known as one of America’s most “family friendly” companies because of innovations such as placing the first childcare facilities on construction sites, thus making it easier for women to enter the construction trades and gain skills. Fortune magazine listed BE&K as the first construction company to be named one of the “100 Best Place to Work in America.” Kennedy was also presented the Crystal Vision Award and was recognized as Employer of the Year by the National Association of Women in Construction for furthering the roles of women in the construction industry.
Within BE&K, Ted guided disciplined safety programs, demonstrating to the industry a commitment to employee safety that improved quality and performance. Under Kennedy’s leadership, BE&K was the first merit shop construction company to earn STAR safety designations under the U.S. Department of Labor Voluntary Protection Program. Kennedy also led the construction industry in developing drug-free worksites, earning White House recognition and the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award.
Ted help found the Alabama Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. He went on to serve as national ABC president, where he promoted construction education and laid the groundwork for the modernization of craftworker education through the “Wheels of Learning” training programs. The Wheels of Learning became the foundation of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. Ted was also a trustee of the Merit Shop Foundation. He would also serve as chairman of the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and as president of the National Academy of Construction. In addition, Ted served for 14 years on the Contractors Advisory Committee of the Business Roundtable and was an active member of the Construction Users Roundtable.
In addition to receiving Duke University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Theodore C. Kennedy Professorship was established in 2005 to support engineering faculty in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.
Other honors and awards include: Finnish Decoration of the Knight, First Class, Order of the Lion of Finland; Paper Industry International Hall of Fame; member of the National Academy of Engineering; Newcomen Society Honoree; Carroll H. Dunn Award of Excellence by CII; Walter A. Nashert Constructor Award by the American Institute of Constructors; Alabama Academy of Honor, Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame; and the Cornerstone Award by the Associated Builders and Contractors.
Ted received about every award the construction industry can bestow. Perhaps his crowning recognition was the National Academy of Construction naming its highest award the Ted C. Kennedy Medal and awarding the medal in 2011 to Ted as its first recipient. The criterion for the Kennedy medal is based on Ted’s attributes and his many contributions to our industry: obsession with safety, integrity, and ethics; champion of innovation; lifetime of achievement; supporter of the greater community; breadth of sector experience; industry organization leadership; generosity; and commitment to people.
Ted was a civic leader in his adopted hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. His interest in education continued as he served on the Alabama Commission on School Performance and Accountability and as CEO of the State Department of Education’s 21st Century Project. He was a board member of the A+ Education Foundation, national board chairman of INROADS, Inc., and served as chair of A+ College Ready board, a statewide initiative to establish advanced placement programs in Alabama public schools.
In community affairs, Ted served as a board member of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; as board chair of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama; and as a commissioner with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District.
He also is known for his work with Leadership Birmingham, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and Children’s of Alabama Hospital, where he established a fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology.
Ted is survived by two sons, Theodore C. Kennedy, Jr. (Kim Ly) and Cameron Vaughn Kennedy; four daughters, Kathryne Page Barker, Carolyn Elizabeth Munn (Bill), Julia Nelson Kennedy, and Ann Keith Kennedy Kirk (Rob); and grandchildren Graham Barker, Jack Munn, Mason Fletcher, and Lucy Catherine Kirk. Ted is also survived by Lucy Hall Kennedy and Rita Vaughn Kennedy.
Ted loved his family. He was particularly proud of his children and what each had accomplished. He was fond of saying that Clipper could “out fix” anything that he could fix. He was proud of how Page handled the loss of Wally with great dignity, compassion, and courage. He was a little worried about Ann-Keith when she decided to go to architecture school, but he got over that. He loved that Julia was close in Atlanta and he could call on her for advice and conversation. He proudly sent Carolyn’s Almond Horns for Christmas presents every year, and I am sure many of you can attest that they were delicious. He would proudly boast how Cameron could fix any computer in the office. I know he was also proud when Cameron was accepted into the Duke Talent Identification Program for the summer.
Ted was an extraordinary person. First and foremost, he was a people person. He was one of those rare individuals who was equally at ease with a laborer on a construction site and a CEO in the board room. I suspect it was because he came from such a humble background. Ted understood the value that each employee brought to the job. He often said our assets walk out the door every night, and we hope they come back the next morning.
Ted touched all of us and he will be deeply missed, but we were all blessed to have known and worked with Ted.
Thank you, Ted Kennedy, and may God bless you.
-Mike Goodrich, 2012
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