Parsons Names James McNulty to Succeed Pieroni as Chief Executive

Parsons Corp. on Tuesday named one of its four division heads to be chief executive, succeeding Leonard J. Pieroni, who died with Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown and 33 others in an airplane crash last week.

James F. McNulty, 53, assumes the top post immediately. He had been president of Parsons’ infrastructure and technology group, one of four global business units of the Pasadena-based engineering giant. He initially joined Parsons in 1988.

Ray W. Judson, who had served as special assistant to Pieroni, was elected chairman of the board.

In unanimously choosing McNulty as CEO, the board passed over Thomas L. Langford, Parsons’ president. He had been running the company since it received word Wednesday morning that the jet carrying Pieroni, Brown and the others had crashed in Croatia.

Langford “was qualified” for the chief executive’s job “and considered by the board,” said Parsons spokesman Ronald Wildermuth, but he declined to elaborate on the board’s deliberations. Langford, 55, will remain as president.

Parsons is a leading provider of engineering and construction services for large-scale projects worldwide. Its annual revenue is $1.6 billion.