Gary Drew Retires

December 31st, 2019 marked the retirement of Gray Drew, P.E, from his long tenured position as Branch Manager of Ardaman’s Ft. Myers office.

Gary received both his bachelor’s (1979) and master’s degrees (1984) in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska.  Prior to joining Ardaman, he worked from 1979 to 1983 as a Project Engineer with Nebraska Testing Laboratories in Omaha. After receiving his master’s degree, Gary began his career with Ardaman in 1984 as a Project Engineer in the Tallahassee office. In 1985, he transferred to the Ft. Myers office where he assumed the role of Branch Manager. Gary is licensed in Florida as both a Professional Engineer and Special Inspector of Threshold Buildings.

Throughout his career, Gary has been a mainstay of the technical and professional societies in Southwest Florida. He served as an officer of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers and was honored by that chapter as Engineer of the Year in 1994. He was also active in the Calusa Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society which recognized him as the Chapter’s Engineer of the Year in 1999.  Gary served on the board of the Geotechnical and Materials Engineering Council, a committee of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida.  He was also a long standing member and Board Director of the Construction Materials Engineering Council, and in 1998 was presented by the CMEC with the prestigious George E. Wingerter Award for extraordinary meritorious service to the engineering testing profession in Florida.

Gary plans to make his invaluable experience available to Ardaman on an as-needed basis. He is looking forward to spending time with his family, wife Susanne and sons Bradford and Ethan (both of whom are geotechnical engineers; Ethan works in Ardaman’s Ft. Myers office) and pursue his interests in tennis and snow skiing. All of us at Ardaman are indebted to Gary for his years of leadership and professional service, and wish him a long, healthy and fulfilling retirement.  

Gary is succeeded as Ft. Myers’ Branch Manager by Ivan Sokolic, P.E.