When American engineering companies and customers needed more than technical answers after the outbreak of COVID-19, Robin Greenleaf came together as president-elect of the American Council of Engineering Companies, an American advocacy group. He represented ACEC members through the pandemic and the social and political flashpoints that followed. “We quickly learned that if it wasn’t a clear business-related problem for the engineering community, we were going to have half our members happy and half our members angry no matter what we did,” says Greenleaf, the group’s first female president.
With travel halted and uncertainty creeping through project pipelines, Greenleaf helped ACEC move toward rapid knowledge sharing. “We needed to provide our members with as much information as possible about what was going on in the industry,” he says, which was accomplished through national surveys through ACEC’s Research Institute and “monthly meetings for all the leaders of every organization in every chapter.”
The goal was to make sure companies weren’t “operating in a vacuum,” a stance that defined his career-long focus on collaboration, clarity, and improving how engineering works. Linda Darr, president and CEO of ACEC, says Greenleaf “asked the right questions … listened passionately” and remained “steady, grounded and calm.” In 2021, IMEG acquired Architectural Engineers. Greenleaf remained until October 2025 before retiring as executive vice president of architectural relations and strategic partnerships.
Working at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the “project of a lifetime” for Greenleaf.
Photo courtesy of NBBJ
digging
Greenleaf grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, the daughter of a mechanical engineer. His father, the late Sidney Greenleaf, taught at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He dug pits and built retaining walls in the backyard and was at the table when his father often brought his friends over for dinner. Greenleaf absorbed “talk about how architects and engineers are supposed to work together,” he says.
Her late mother, Carole Greenleaf, pushed her toward a profession and modeled civic engagement. “She always told me, ‘Be professional,'” Greenleaf says, noting that her mother later transitioned from volunteer work to government and defense. This mix—technical curiosity and a sense of public purpose—appeared early. Greenleaf earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Oregon State University, where she met her husband, Joel Goodmonson, a structural engineer. He later earned a master’s degree in structural engineering from Drexel University and worked for Bechtel. In the mid-1980s, the couple returned to Boston to start a mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering business with their father. Architectural Engineers Inc. specialized in historical preservation. As other lines of business grew, Robin Greenleaf focused on business development and leadership. “I really liked the financial aspect of running a business,” he says.
In 1991, Greenleaf joined ACEC Massachusetts and “plugged” into a collegiate network that helped her improve her management and strategic planning skills. He also signed up for leadership training classes, including one where the instructor had everyone get on a soapbox and say why they signed up. “I was terrified,” Greenleaf says. “I said, ‘I want to change the way my industry does business.'”
At the time, architects and engineers fought over low-bid public projects with “unfair” contract terms “that didn’t allow for any creativity,” he says. Greenleaf began building coalitions through ACEC that partnered with agencies such as the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and the Massachusetts Port Authority to foster collaboration. “Those relationships are still active today, which I’m proud of,” says Greenleaf.
“I said, ‘I want to change the way the industry does business.'”
—Robin Greenleaf
Qualifying as a women-owned business also helped architectural engineers grow. But the firm also used the strategy to serve as a lead engineer hiring other women-owned and minority-owned consultancies without counting to meet MWBE’s goals. The tactic often helped win public works over larger companies. “It was satisfying to realize that we could achieve this kind of work by having a good strategy,” he says.
But working as a subconsultant at the New Orleans Veterans Affairs Hospital after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 still proved to be the “project of a lifetime” for Greenleaf, who designed the plumbing and medical gas layout for the million-dollar effort. The project took what was at the time a novel approach, installing critical mechanical infrastructure higher in the building to prevent flooding of ground floor systems. But it also required long-term water and sanitary storage in a restricted location. “There was nowhere to put it,” he says.
The team installed a 60,000-gallon domestic groundwater tank with a seven-day supply that was to be treated in a protected underground area. Members also designed generators to run the system along with HVAC and electrical systems. “Everything ended up underground and under a garage,” he says. “Nobody knew how to do it, but we figured out how. This has been working for years.”
When Sidney Greenleaf retired from the company, his daughter became CEO and hired Susan Wisler, a mechanical engineer, who eventually became the company’s president. Greenleaf became concerned about neglecting her corporate duties when she became ACEC president-elect in 2020. She served as president for the next two years, and Wisler eagerly assumed more responsibility. “You start thinking they can’t live without me, and then you find out they can’t wait to live without you,” Greenleaf quips. “Everything is fine. It’s probably as it should be.”
Unable to conduct the ACEC Chair’s traditional in-person listening sessions due to COVID, Greenleaf led remotely, representing a diverse membership in an often turbulent period. ACEC’s research group played a key role in providing members with as much information as possible, while links with ACEC’s international counterpart, FIDIC, helped Greenleaf amplify its message. “We need to be part of a bigger solution to solve a big problem, and if we don’t use our technical skills for that, why are we here?” she says The diversity committees created by Greenleaf are among ACEC’s most active, the former president adds.
In retirement, Greenleaf and Goodmonson funded a scholarship in the architecture and engineering program at Oregon State. Serving on a university steering committee has been “satisfying,” he says. Greenleaf remains connected to ACEC through a Research Institute board role he holds until April. He also serves as an advisor to the board of design firm BL Cos. Greenleaf, who learned to figure skate as an adult and was part of a team that won two national championships, is also a USA Figure Skating judge.
