McKissack

Deryl McKissack is president and CEO of McKissack & McKissack. She earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Howard University. The architectural, engineering, and construction firm she founded in 1990 now manages $15 billion in projects nationwide. McKissack & McKissack is the outgrowth of the nation’s oldest African-American architectural firm and traces its beginnings to Moses McKissack, a master builder who was also a slave.

Deryl has managed such landmark projects as the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Obama Presidential Center, and the Navy Pier Centennial Projects in Chicago. The firm also led the construction and served as architectural firm of record for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C. She offers internships to high school and college students in the D.C., Chicago, and L.A. offices. Among the many boards she has served on are National Building Museum Board of Trustees and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. A licensed Professional Engineer, she was named the Engineer of the Year by the District of Columbia Society of Professional Engineers in 2013. Deryl also has been honored by Howard University with the engineering department’s Centennial Professional Excellence Award.