Purdue Awards Honorary Doctorate to Bechtel CEO Bill Dudley

Bechtel CEO Bill Dudley has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Purdue University, his alma mater.

Purdue bestowed the honor on Dudley, who became CEO at Bechtel in 2014 after serving in a variety of engineering, project management, and executive management positions during his 34-year career with the company.

Dudley, who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Houston, had served previously as Bechtel’s president and chief operating officer, overseeing all of the global company’s operations, a position he held since 2008.He has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 2000.

“Having spent four great years as an undergrad at the school, I can’t fully express how much it means to have received this honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the university,” Dudley said. “At Bechtel, my name is one of many on a long list of Purdue alumni. We’re always keeping our eyes open for engineering talent from top programs like Purdue’s.”

Dudley’s leadership roles at Bechtel span numerous divisions of the company and across continents.  He was appointed president of the Oil, Gas & Chemicals business unit in Houston in 2001 and assumed sponsorship of the Mining & Metals business unit’s Latin America and Oceania regions in 2003, adding sponsorship of Asia in 2004. Earlier, Dudley was located in London, UK, where he served as president of Bechtel’s Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Southwest Asia organization, responsible for all Bechtel business lines in the EAMS geographic region. Other roles in his early career at Bechtel included serving  as the company’s general manager for Southeast Asia and country manager for Thailand. He also was general manager of the company’s pipeline business in Asia.

Dudley currently serves on the board of the Engineering Advisory Council at Purdue. He is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Business Roundtable and actively participates in numerous charitable organizations.