HOUSTON, TX Burns & McDonnell has promoted two key officers in its largest regional office in Houston, Texas. Leslie Duke is now President of the 500-person office and continues to serve as General Manager of a broad region that includes offices in Austin, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Jeff Allen has been promoted to Vice President and now serves as Officer in Charge of the Construction/Design-Build Group in Houston.

Duke was the firm's second employee in Houston when she joined Burns & McDonnell in 1999 and has risen steadily through the organization ever since. She has been instrumental in expanding the firm's service offerings in the Southwest, from a base in the power industry to a broad range of sectors including Oil and Gas, Aerospace, Government, Manufacturing, Transportation and Water. She became General Manager of the entire Texas region in 2009 and in 2010 opened the firm's office in Dallas-Fort Worth. Duke earned her bachelor's degree in civil and structural engineering from Texas Tech University.

Allen joined Burns & McDonnell in 2011 in a move to expand the company's capabilities in engineer-procure-construct and program management projects. He will continue his focus on making Burns & McDonnell projects and operations among the safest in the industry. Allen received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and an MBA from the University of Kansas.