Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Wayzata, Minnesota
Engineering Physics,
David E. Christensen earned an MBA from the University of Missouri in 1976 after graduating from South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University. His management assignments at Burns & McDonell included vice president of human resources and vice president of administration. In these positions Christianson was the company officer responsible for establishment and administration of the company's ESOP. This program extended the benefits of employee ownership of a national consulting firm to 1,700 engineers, scientists, technicians and support personnel. His final assignment with Burns & McDonnell was vice president of the management services division. In this position, he was responsible for providing strategic planning, management and administrative services to the firm's clients.
Christianson's experience at Burns & McDonnell was bracketed by service in the U.S. Air Force as a Minuteman Missile Combat crew commander and as vice president of operations for a national litigation document management firm. After 30 years in management and consulting, Christianson provided independent strategic consulting services. The majority of his experience was developed at Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company where his initial consulting assignments focused on economic issues for consumer-owned electric utilities. Christianson was active in the ESOP community serving as the founding president of the Heart of America Chapter of the ESOP Association. He has also contributed to engineering education, serving on industrial advisory boards to engineering schools in Kansas and Missouri as well as SDSU. His wife Barb is a 1972 SDSU graduate.