HOUSTON — Karen Bray has been promoted to general manager for the South Central Region of Burns & McDonnell in Houston, Texas, effective Jan 1, 2025. In this role, Bray will lead a workforce of more than 900 professionals in Houston, Austin and Oklahoma City who provide engineering, procurement, construction, environmental and consulting services to clients throughout the region. Bray succeeds Allen Xi, who was promoted to lead the Americas South Region, consisting of the South Central, North Texas, Southeast, and Florida regions.

“We are incredibly excited to see Karen fulfill this leadership role and continue our company’s streak of success in the region,” Xi says. “Karen brings a highly organized and detailed approach to managing some of our region’s most complex projects. Karen’s business acumen, knowledge of our clients and industries, passion for the development of our staff, and forward-thinking will position us for incredible success now and into the future.”

Since joining Burns & McDonnell in 2002, Bray has worked primarily with clients in the refining and chemicals sectors, taking on roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, she has served as vice president responsible for the firm’s Oil, Gas & Chemical Group in the South Central region.

“It is an honor to lead our talented teams and build upon our successes in the South Central region,” Bray says. “Our employee-owners across the region are deeply committed to addressing the region's most pressing challenges, and I am eager to see how we will continue making a positive impact in our communities.”

Bray holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas. She is a registered professional engineer (PE) in Kansas. She is active in numerous industry associations and serves on the executive advisory board for the ECC Association, which works to advance leadership in engineering and construction of capital projects worldwide.

Engineering News-Record ranks Burns & McDonnell as the No. 2 design firm in the Texas & Louisiana region, as well as No. 1 overall in Power, and No. 7 among the Top 500 Design Firms.

About Burns & McDonnell

Working from more than 75 offices around the world, Burns & McDonnell designs and builds critical infrastructure. Our family of companies — driven by engineers, construction professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists — delivers projects grounded in safety and a desire to make a difference as we make our clients successful. Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn more.