Glenn Resigns as President of Fluor Engineering Unit

In the first step in a reorganization of its upper management team, Fluor Corp. on Monday announced the departure of Gerald M. Glenn, a group president of the company’s core engineering and construction unit, Fluor Daniel.

Glenn, 51, one of two who shared the top position at the subsidiary, resigned from his post, as well as from Fluor’s board, “to look for other opportunities,” said Leslie G. McCraw, Fluor chairman and chief executive.

The company also announced the promotion of two top executives to vice chairmen of the board: Vincent L. Kontny, 56, president and chief operating officer of Fluor, and Hugh K. Coble, 59, the second group president of Fluor Daniel.

“These changes are not indicative of any problems at the company,” said John Simon, an analyst with Seidler Cos., a brokerage in Los Angeles. “Fluor is just wondering what it wants to do with the rest of its life. How does it expand without repeating mistakes of the past?”

In the early and mid-1980s, Fluor suffered a series of losses after straying from its core interests to invest in such businesses as real estate and gold mining. The company recovered after a reorganization in 1986.

Fluor’s revenue last year was $7.9 billion, more than twice what it reported for 1987. Today it has a long list of impressive projects, including the cleanup of a closed uranium plant in Ohio--a $2.2-billion federal contract for the largest environmental remediation project to date. In recent weeks, Fluor’s stock has traded at more than $50 a share--compared to $15 a share in 1987. In New York Stock Exchange trading Monday, Fluor shares fell $1.125 to $51.75.

McCraw said the changes are part of an effort to reduce the company’s hierarchy and give younger executives more responsibility and exposure to the board.