Meet our leaders.

Anthony Karakatsanis, P.Eng., B.E.Sc., ICD.D

President and Chief Executive Officer

Anthony Karakatsanis joined Morrison Hershfield in 1989 and assumed the role of President & Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2010. As President & CEO, Anthony is accountable for protecting Morrison Hershfield’s reputation and core values and principles, investing in employee growth and development, delivering value to clients and communities, driving shareholder value, and dealing fairly and ethically with suppliers, while leading the firm towards its mission ‘To be the first call for engineering solutions that make a difference’. Under his leadership, Morrison Hershfield has grown significantly over the years, expanding offices across North America and in India. Recently, Anthony successfully led the transition of the firm from an employee ownership model to combining businesses with Stantec, a leading global engineering and design firm whose values and goals directly align with Morrison Hershfield and its employees. Prior to assuming the role of President & CEO, Anthony held various roles including: Senior Vice President Infrastructure, Transportation & Environmental Division; Senior Vice President Industrial Division; Vice President Telecommunications Division; and Director of Project Management.

Anthony is a Professional Engineer, earning a Bachelor of Engineering Science from Western University in 1985. A life-long learner, he completed an Executive Program at Queen’s University in 2004, and was a member of Vistage from 2009 through 2017. Anthony completed the Director Education Program in 2018 at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Anthony has garnered extensive experience in management throughout the years and has previously contributed to various industry organizations including the Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC), the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Ontario (ACEC – Ontario), and a member of the Advisory Board for the Toronto Metropolitan University Institute of Infrastructure (RIII). Anthony also served as a Director of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies Canada (ACEC – Canada), including as Chair from 2021 through 2022.

Catherine Karakatsanis, P.Eng., M.E.Sc., FCAE, ICD.D, LL.D

Chief Operating Officer

Catherine joined Morrison Hershfield as a structural engineer and her career progressed as she gained extensive engineering and management experience. As COO, Catherine is responsible for all aspects of the company operations including technical excellence, project delivery, technical development, profit and loss, and business development in Canada, the United States and internationally. She leads a multi-discipline team of over 900 professionals that provide services in the areas of infrastructure, energy, industrial, buildings, technology, telecommunications, transportation, environment, water and wastewater, and land development.

Catherine has consistently been recognized for her contributions to the professional, business and community contributions including having received Canada’s highest engineering distinctions being the Gold Medal from Engineers Canada and the Gold Medal and Order of Honour Companion Level from Professional Engineers Ontario; inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering as a Fellow; inducted into Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame; awarded the Ontario Women’s Directorate – ‘Leading Women Building Communities Award; awarded the Governor General of Canada Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers; recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine and the Hellenic Heritage Foundation, and has received Honorary Doctorates from Western University and from the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Catherine is currently the President/Chair of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), the global body of consulting engineers representing over 1.4 million engineering professionals in more than 100 countries. She is also the President of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a board member of The Canadian Council of Academies. In the past, she chaired the boards of Engineers Canada; Professional Engineers Ontario; Ontario Society of Professional Engineers; and was Vice Chair of Engineers Without Borders Canada. She also served on the boards of Hydro One and Western University, among others.

Catherine obtained a Bachelor’s and Masters Degree of Engineering Science from Western University.

Kent Becker

Senior Vice President, Integrated Engineering Design

Kevin Chouinard, P.Eng.

Senior Vice President, Building Specialty Services

Don McCallum, P.Eng., M.A.Sc.

Senior Vice President, Environment

Don leads Morrison Hershfield’s environmental consulting practice serving a wide range of clients in the infrastructure and natural resources sectors. With over 25 years of environmental consulting experience, Don is committed to helping clients reduce their environmental risk and capitalize on opportunities to address the most pressing local and global environmental challenges.  Don earned his BSc. In Chemical Engineering from Queens University, completed a Masters in Environmental Engineering from the University of BC, and is also a graduate of the ACEC Senior Executives Institute (Class 18).

Jim Weir, P.Eng.

Senior Vice President, Horizontal Infrastructure

Jim joined the firm in 1997 as a Transportation Engineer working on Morrison Hershfield’s first large project for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). The great work completed on this project led to Morrison Hershfield becoming a trusted, and “go to” provider of Engineering Services to MTO that continues to this day. As the leader of our Transportation business, Jim oversees our teams working on roads, highways and bridges. Jim is a graduate of the University of Ottawa. He has over 25 years experience leading design teams on highly complex transportation projects.

David Pavey, CPA, CA, HBA

Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President

David joined Morrison Hershfield in 2006 as Vice President, Finance & Corporate Services. As Chief Financial Officer, David leads a team of experts who provide financial, IT&S and facilities management support services to our growing multi-national consulting engineering firm. David’s financial and general management experience spans professional services, retail, distribution, technology and education industry sectors. David is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario – Richard Ivey School of Business.

Rob Selby, Ph.D., P.Eng., P.E.

Chief Technical & Risk Management Officer

Robert joined Morrison Hershfield in 1994 as a Structural Engineer. Robert holds multiple degrees from both the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. In 1999, Robert was awarded the American Concrete Institute’s Structural Engineering Award for a paper he co-authored which described analytical investigations into the failure of a concrete offshore platform.

Pelly Shafto

Vice President, Human Resources, Organizational Development and Safety

Loui Pappas, M.A.Sc., MBA, P.Eng.

Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Sales

As VP Corporate Marketing and Sales, Loui leads an exceptional team in providing key implementation and enablement support to the firm in the areas of marketing, sales, corporate communications and Environmental, Social and Governance initiatives.  With degrees from the University of Toronto and over three decades’ experience at Morrison Hershfield, Loui has honed his skills in engineering design and analysis, operations, project management, people management and business development. In recent years, he has successfully led some of the firm’s most important business development pursuits for our linear infrastructure services and clients. Beyond his professional achievements, Loui’s personal dedication to colleagues, clients and the unique Morrison Hershfield culture sets him apart. He is passionate about forging meaningful relationships and teams within the broader AEC industry and enjoys mentoring and supporting both those he works with and young professionals in his industry volunteer work. Loui’s dynamic approach and depth of knowledge make him a great business and team leader and a tremendous asset to the firm.