Building Design+Construction Reveals '40 Under 40' Winners.

Young Building Industry Stars Share Their 'Secret Lives' at http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6410015.html

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- What do an avocado rancher, an Ironman triathlete and a college quarterback have in common? They are among the 40 brightest stars of the $501 billion commercial design and construction industry--and they're all under age 40.

These 40 have been chosen by the editors of Building Design+Construction from among 244 entrants in the publication's second annual "40 under 40" competition. All excel in their professional roles while contributing time to their communities and professional societies. And all have secret lives.

Take Leigh Stringer, 35, a vice-president with architecture firm HOK in Washington, D.C. By day, she's the lead facility planner for the U.S. Capitol; by night, she runs an online dating service with her husband, whom she met online. Her secret life? She's related to Pocahontas on both sides of her family.

Michael Jansen, 37, who runs an architectural support firm in New Delhi, India, has studied landscape painting in Beijing and designed furniture that has been exhibited at London's Victoria and Albert Hall--and he can play six different kinds of guitars.

There are 37 other wunderkind, like D. Reid Middlebrooks, 31, a forensic engineer with Apollo BBC of Texas, whose family held the Guinness World Record for the largest watermelon (195 pounds) for 44 years.

The quarterback? Steve Schnur, 32, senior vice president of Duke Realty Corp., who led the Northwestern University Wildcats to the 1996 Rose Bowl. The avocado rancher? Robert Lavey, 37, an architect with Perkins+Will in Los Angeles. The triathlete? Ken Osmun, 38, president of Wight Construction, Illinois, who placed 170th out of 2,439 athletes in an Ironman triathlon.

The youngest member of this elite club is Wes Rimes, 25, who started with construction firm BE&K of Alabama, as a high school intern and now manages the firm's work at the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Chemical Demilitarization Plant.

To learn more about these 40 intriguing professionals, visit http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6410015.html.

About Building Design+Construction

Building Design+Construction (www.bdcnetwork.com) magazine reaches more than 75,000 architects, engineers, contractors, building owners, and real estate developers. It is published by Reed Business Information, a leading business-to-business publisher and a part of Reed Elsevier (NYSE: RUK and ENL) - a world-leading information provider in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors.