Karen Bray

Senior Vice President
South Central Region General Manager
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Karen Bray relentlessly focuses on delivering value-driven solutions, bringing projects to life from early concept through a full engineer-procure-construct (EPC) approach.

Karen Bray is senior vice president and general manager of the South Central Region at Burns & McDonnell. She joined Burns & McDonnell in 2002 after receiving a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas. She began her career in the Oil, Gas & Chemical Group (OGC), focusing on delivering innovative solutions for clients. Bray has also led process engineering, project management, department leadership and project development efforts, seeing through seamless project delivery. In addition to the focus in OGC for the region, she also supports high voltage power, environmental, power generation, solar and battery storage, consulting, and construction of our projects.  She is active in numerous industry associations and now serves on the executive advisory board for the ECC Association, which works to advance leadership in engineering and construction of capital projects worldwide. 

In the community:

Karen is an active supporter of her community, often participating in the Greater Houston Partnership and multiple charities in the Houston region, including:

  • United Way
  • Kids’ Meals
  • Casa de Esparanza
What inspired you to pursue your career?

I did not know what career to pursue as a child, but I was always strong in math. The courses I took led me to engineering, and I had a friend in the chemical discipline, so I chose that as my option. I took to it quickly and am glad I became a chemical engineer! Sometimes things happen the way they should, regardless of whether you plan for them.

What is the coolest part of your job?

I love seeing our designs take shape in the field. To dream up and design a project, and then gather up the components, build it — on time and within budget — and produce a product is incredibly satisfying! Working with our extensively knowledgeable teams and clients to do this is one of the coolest parts of my job. I also thrive on helping our employees find and execute the skill they are world-class at.

What excites you most when you look at the future of infrastructure? The industries we support? Our company?

I love how nimble we are in the industries we support — always moving to what is needed. This creates an environment of innovation, problem-solving and creativity that is fun to be a part of. We are truly making the world a better place.