Foundation Promotes Construction Innovation

The board of Charles Pankow Builders, Ltd., a design-build general contractor and precast/prestressed producer based in Altadena, Calif., has launched

The board of Charles Pankow Builders, Ltd., a design-build general contractor and precast/prestressed producer based in Altadena, Calif., has launched the Charles Pankow Foundation (CPF) to advance design and construction innovations and improve quality, efficiency and value of buildings for the public. The foundation will continue the legacy of Charles Pankow (1923-2004) of innovation by funding research, development and adoption of new ideas and products promoting efficiency and cost-competitiveness in construction. Supporting university education programs that foster innovative thinking by future professionals, particularly in the practice of integrated design and construction, ranks among the foundation’s primary objectives.

Charles Pankow was always troubled by the fact that U.S. construction companies typically don’t fund substantive research programs, which underlies the dearth of innovative advances in building technology, says CPF President and Pankow Builders CEO Rik Kunnath. It was his passion to lead and inspire new and better ways to build. Mr. Pankow desired, through this foundation, to assure future funding to promote market-driven building innovations.

Joining Kunnath on the founding board of directors are Judy Vawter, vice president, and Timothy Murphy, secretary and chief financial officer. The CPF board of directors appointed Robert Tener, Ph.D., P.E., executive director earlier this year. A nationally respected leader and educator in the field of engineered construction, Tener served on the faculty in Purdue University’s School of Civil Engineering, where he taught undergraduate and graduate civil and construction engineering, directed the nationally acclaimed Construction Internship Program, and was honored four times as Professor of the Year.

The foundation is supported by an endowment that will provide significant annual research funding for the foreseeable future. Incorporated as a nonprofit, public benefit, charitable corporation with 501(c)(3) status, the Charles Pankow Foundation operates independently of the Pankow Companies. More information can be obtained at the foundation’s web site, www.pankowfoundation.org