WSP USA's Gary Hamilton Elected to National Society of Black Engineers' Leadership Role
Motivated by disparities in COVID-19’s impact on communities of color, WSP USA senior vice president will serve as deputy director for nonprofit’s national healthcare innovation board.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 6, 2021 / 3BL Media/ — The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has elected WSP USA’s Gary Hamilton to serve as deputy director of its Healthcare Innovation Special Interest Group (HISIG) board.
Hamilton, senior vice president and Northeast region healthcare practice lead at WSP, a leading engineering and professional services consultancy, is a long-time member of NSBE, a non-profit organization with more than 600 chapters and 24,000 active members in the U.S. and abroad.
“Last year we saw how disproportionately communities of color were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hamilton said of his motivation to volunteer for the leadership role. “HISIG is doing a terrific job to promote the development and implementation of innovations that will improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries, illness and disease among black and brown people. This is in line with the impact I am trying to have within the healthcare industry.”
“Gary is an outstanding and respected healthcare engineer within the Washington, D.C. region and across the U.S.,” said Rick Rome, executive vice president and national health care practice director at WSP. “As a recognized advocate for advancing opportunities for people of color, he was a perfect choice for this position. Gary’s leadership role with NSBE is an extension of what WSP is doing to challenge racial inequality in the U.S. and exemplifies the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives.”
NSBE’s mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community. The percentage of African American graduates among engineering degree candidates remains well below the 13.2 percent that represents parity. NSBE’s Game Change 2025 initiative has set a goal of graduating 10,000 black engineers in the U.S. annually by 2025.
Hamilton has led several of the firm’s key healthcare projects on the East Coast, and currently serves as principal-in-charge for Universal Health Services’ new $375 million St. Elizabeths East hospital in Washington, D.C. WSP is providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing, low voltage, acoustic and enclosures design services for a 136-bed facility that includes maternal health, newborn delivery services, a verified trauma center, ambulatory office building for outpatient and community health services, and a 500-space parking garage. When completed in late 2024, the hospital will bring healthcare services to a historically underserved area of D.C. He also serves as project manager for Wexford Hospital in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a 344,000-square-foot 160-bed medical facility where WSP is providing mechanical-electrical-plumbing-fire protection engineering services to develop an energy-conscious facility.
Hamilton was a 2015 recipient of Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s 40 Under 40 award and is a Fellow of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE). He is also a founder of ASHE’s Capital Region chapter. He won two first place technology awards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ National Chapter and Region III.
Hamilton earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, and completed his master’s degree in energy engineering at Southbank University in London. He is a certified evidence-based design professional with the Center for Health Design. He is the founder of the nonprofit Dreams to Reality Foundation (DTR), a broad-based community initiative that assists low-income children to help them complete their education and achieve economic self-sufficiency through sports.
About WSP USA
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 12,000 employees in 200 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper. wsp.com
