Parsons chief Pieroni dies on trade mission.

PASADENA - Parsons Corp. Chairman and CEO Leonard J. Pieroni checked in with his company last Tuesday by cellular phone. He said he was en route to the airport in Tuzla, Bosnia, to fly to Dubrovnik in Croatia.

It was the last contact Pieroni had with his Pasadena-based engineering and construction firm. He is presumed to have died in a crash of a T43 Air Force jet that also claimed the life of Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown and at least 31 others, 12 of whom were high-level construction and engineering executives like Pieroni. All were on a whirlwind commerce mission to the Balkans announced only 10 days ago.

"This is a reconstruction and development mission that in some ways is not unlike the strategy we have used in other trouble spots around the world that are attempting to move towards long-term peace and stability," Brown said at a March 29 press conference announcing the trip.

Among the California-based executives were Donald Terner, president of Bridge Housing Corp. in San Francisco, and Stuart Tholan, president of Bechtel Corp.'s Southwest Asia, European and Middle Eastern operations. Tholan was also based in San Francisco.

Pieroni was the only member of the delegation from Southern California. His company was selected "for its global expertise in replacing and reconstructing damaged infrastructure," according to a statement issued by Parsons on April 1, the day before the delegates embarked.

Parsons revamped

The ill-fated mission dovetailed with Pieroni's restructuring of the company completed just last January.

He told the Business Journal that dividing the firm into four divisions - transportation; electric power; petrochemical; and environmental and infrastructure work - would prepare it for an ambitious international expansion.

Bringing all of Parsons' separate subsidiaries together into one global force "was his vision ... and losing him at this point will be very difficult," said Susan Cole, assistant general counsel for Parsons.

A chemical engineer by training, the 57-year-old Pieroni joined Parsons in 1972 and was named chief executive officer in May 1990. Although he held such positions at Parsons as senior vice president of business development and executive vice president of corporate planning, and headed several Parsons subsidiaries, he preferred to refer to himself as an engineer.

Aside from the recent restructuring, Pieroni is credited with saving Parsons' Boston-based subsidiary Chas T. Main Inc. from bankruptcy in the 1980s. And he was also instrumental in securing a highly lucrative contract from Atlantic Richfield Co. to build oil and gas treatment facilities in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Other Parsons projects include the construction of hydroelectric power generation facilities at Niagra Falls; the overhaul of rail infrastructure between Boston and Washington, D.C., and environmental cleanup projects at Fernald, Ohio, and Oak Ridge, Tenn.

During Pieroni's tenure as chairman and CEO, Parsons' revenues grew from $1 billion in 1990 to $1.6 billion in 1995. Employment increased 18 percent, from 8,500 to 10,000.

Mike R. Bowlin, chairman and chief executive officer of L.A.-based Arco, said in a statement that "the entire Arco family is shocked and saddened by the tragic death of our friend and colleague Len Pieroni."

Cole said employees at Parsons offices in Pasadena and in Boston, where Pieroni worked for many years, "are sad and depressed."

Thoughtful and soft-spoken, Pieroni was often called "Len" by his colleagues, and was described as genuinely concerned for his employees' well-being.

Firm in his belief that most business problems are caused by managers who don't communicate their needs to employees, Pieroni conducted the firm's first-ever employee survey shortly after he took over, querying them on how they would improve the company. He launched in-house newsletters to improve morale, and beefed up the basic employee benefits package.

Sleepless nights

Three months after Pieroni became CEO, Iraq invaded Kuwait, where about 100 Parsons employees were working. Frustrated by the situation, Pieroni spent many sleepless nights.

"I got into the habit of waking up every morning at 3:30 or 4 a.m. and watching CNN," he told the Business Journal in a 1992 interview. When the employees returned safely, he threw them a party.

"I would be up in his office talking to (Pieroni) ... and he didn't care how old you were or what your position was, he treated you like an equal," recalled a low-level employee of Parsons who asked not to be identified.

A resident of La Canada, Pieroni enjoyed boating, fishing, skiing and golf. He served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the executive board of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.

He is survived by his wife Marilyn, son Len and daughter Vicki.