
Michael (Mike) Wallace is a Senior Vice President for the Resident Engineering and Inspection (REI) Business Unit at LiRo-Hill, a top ranked Construction Management firm in the Northeast Region since January 2024. Prior to joining LiRo-Hill, he dedicated his 34+ year career working in the public sector for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
While attending Cooper Union’s School of Engineering, Mike began his career in the Port Authority as a Summer Intern in their Materials Engineering Unit where his devotion to the public sector and construction management began. Upon graduating from Cooper Union in 1990 with a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and in 1991 with a Master’s in Civil Engineering, he joined the Port Authority’s Construction Management Division and built projects in many PA facilities including JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport, New York and New Jersey Marine Terminals, Hoboken Waterfront Development and many Regional Development facilities. Notably, after 9-11, Mike worked on the expedited construction of a temporary ferry terminal in Battery Park City to provide public transportation into Downtown Manhattan while clean up efforts at Ground Zero continued.
After more than 20 years of Port Authority Service, Mike became the first Deputy Chief of Construction before being promoted to Chief of Construction. As Chief of Construction, he was responsible for directing and managing all Construction work for Port Authority Capital and Operating projects that are under the authority of the Chief Engineer. Mike was also responsible for the oversight and administration of a large Engineering Division consisting of diverse professional and technical Construction staff, which was comprised of permanent staff and a large, consultant staff. Mike’s primary objective was timely and efficient project delivery to embrace the Port Authority’s motto of “Keep the Region Moving” which provided direct benefits to the public.
During his tenure as Chief of Construction, Mike was involved in many different efforts to mentor and build his staff as well as entities in the construction industry. He was an avid proponent of his young Engineering staff and created two mentoring groups, Future Leaders and Rising Leaders to help staff to develop the necessary managerial and soft skills to propel their careers. Mike also participated in the Port Authority’s Mentor-Protégé Program where smaller companies were paired with larger companies to learn and develop the business skills they needed to fuel their growth. Mike was the recipient of their 2023 Legacy Award for his support in building and developing protégé knowledge.

Mike’s devotion to the future of Engineering expands beyond his work with the Port Authority. Mike was a founding member of the ASCE’s Government Engineer’s Council whose primary objective was to elevate the dedicated work and careers of government/public engineers. He also participates as Resume Coach for ASCE’s Resume Workshop providing advice to engineers in different phases of their career looking for new opportunities.
Mike is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of New Jersey, a LEED Associate Professional and an Envision Sustainability Professional.
Michael Wallace is the 2025 recipient of the CUAA Peter Cooper Public Service Award.