Swanson School of Engineering Recognizes Charles Niederriter as Its 2026 Distinguished Alumnus in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Above (L - R): Michele Manuel, Charles Niederriter, and Vikas Khanna
On March 25, the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering held its Distinguished Alumni Banquet at the University Club. Charles Niederriter, BSCE ‘82, was recognized as the 2026 Distinguished Alumnus in Civil & Environmental Engineering.
“Chuck began his Pitt journey at Pitt Titusville, which didn’t have a computer that ran Fortran programs. Chuck and his classmates would type code into their punchcards and then drive ten miles to Oil City to access a computer,” said Vikas Khanna, Professor and Interim Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “When errors occurred, they had to drive back and forth until everything was correct. The experience instilled in Chuck a commitment to getting it right the first time, which has defined his career.”
“I am grateful to Chuck for his involvement with our IRISE Consortium — the Impactful Resilient Infrastructure Science and Engineering research consortium," Khanna added. "When we approached him in 2018, he eagerly signed on and has remained active ever since, helping us solve problems and advance infrastructure in our region.”
About Charles Niederriter
Charles Niederriter (BSCE ’82) is Chief Operating Officer at Golden Triangle Construction Company. Over the past 40 years at Golden Triangle, he has had the opportunity to help grow a small family-owned heavy / civil construction company from 30 employees to over 350 today, with revenues of over $150M per year. Prior to his role as COO, Niederriter served as Vice President of Construction, General Superintendent, Project Manager, and Project Engineer. Niederriter’s work includes many interstate highway and bridge construction projects in Western Pennsylvania. He has also been involved with almost every airfield reconstruction project at Pittsburgh International Airport over the past 20 years, including the complete replacement of Runway 14/32. Throughout his years completing design and build projects across this region, Niederriter credits his time studying engineering at Pitt as a key to their success.
In 2018, Niederiter was approached by the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in the Swanson School of Engineering to help establish the Impactful Resilient Infrastructure Science and Engineering (IRISE) research consortium. He eagerly signed on to the consortium and has remained active ever since. Niederriter shared, “IRISE provides a novel approach for solving infrastructure problems and for promoting innovation by capitalizing on the knowledge and ingenuity of private industry, academia, and owners’ representatives as a team.”
In addition to his contributions to IRISE, Niederriter has served as president of the Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania (2010 – 2011) and of the Associated Pennsylvania Contractors (2019 – 2021). He was also the chairman of the American Concrete Pavement Association Pennsylvania Chapter (2012 – 2017) and of its national chapter (2018).
Niederriter and his wife, Kerry, live in Renfrew, PA. They have three grown children: Evelyn, Andrew, and Mary Kate.