Choose to Challenge: Amy Javernick-Will

Amy Javernick-Will’s journey to becoming an extraordinary, well-rounded researcher in civil engineering started with her combined interest in math, science, and international business throughout her early education. 

Her interest in construction engineering and management as a field of study began with an Introduction to Construction class in her undergraduate years, where she was encouraged to explore the application of business and management in engineering through construction and pursue additional course offerings in real estate development in the business school.

The exciting prospect presented by this application of engineering skills, in combination with finance and management, motivated her to keep exploring new opportunities in construction through internships and eventually industry positions, she said. Throughout her industry career, Amy worked for Turner Construction Company, Neenan Company, and Opus Northwest, gaining valuable experiences in construction management and real estate development. She was exposed to work environments that combined the lifecycle of a project with finance, engineering, design elements, and management of people. 

Impressed by the creative aspect of management across the lifecycle and design of a project, Javernick-Will worked six years overseeing a dynamic variety of tasks from permit tracking to client engagements in design and construction processes. She described this work environment as what invigorated her to become a researcher in engineering and to get her PhD in Construction Engineering and Management at Stanford University. 

Combining her initial passion for international business with her newfound excitement for research, she focused her dissertation work on the internationalization strategies of firms in different contextual environments. In doing so, she got to travel around the world and work with numerous companies obtaining invaluable perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of global work. 

The next step was to move her research into a path that she truly cherished: applying her construction management and engineering skills to improve the sustainability and resiliency of communities, particularly resource-limited communities. Ignited by the disastrous Haiti earthquake that coincided with the start of her assistant professorship at CU Boulder, she leveraged her experience in working with global companies into her current research in disaster risk reduction and recovery and sustainable service delivery, including water and sanitation. 

Javernick-Will’s current research strives to determine strategies and processes that will reduce the risk of future disasters and will help communities recover from disasters, combining technical, social, and managerial aspects of construction. Reflecting on her professional history, her interests in international business with construction and engineering firms, management, human behavior, sociology, and integration of the technical engineering infrastructure with the social aspects of communities congregate fully, creating the thread of her entire career. 

As a woman in engineering, Javernick-Will has been a great role model and mentor to many other extraordinary women, including the author of this biographical story. In addition to providing mentorship in her own research group and leadership in department-wide diversity and inclusion efforts, she has undertaken ample initiatives to support a more inclusive environment in the CU Boulder engineering community and to build reliable networks of people to carry us forward into a more diverse and inclusive future. 

Nevertheless, such success did not come without its challenges. In her own words, Amy described the main challenges she has faced as having “to figure out your own identity and maintain it in a field that mostly looks different from you. It is challenging to feel like an outsider and not let that affect your self-view.” 

She encourages women to check their insecurities, not be afraid to make mistakes, and feel comfortable in positions that are well-deserved and rightfully earned. 

About the Author

I am Elif Erkal, and I am a second-year PhD student in the Construction Engineering and Management program advised by Keith Molenaar and Matthew Hallowell. Even before coming to CU Boulder as a graduate student, Amy Javernick-Will was a legend to me. I was very passionate about her earlier interdisciplinary work on organizational business and construction management. She played a huge role in swinging my decision to continue my studies in CU Boulder, setting the perfect example of an amazing role model and mentor. What inspires me most about her is that she has always been a great and dependable resource when I needed support as a young scholar. I could always feel that she sincerely cared and wanted to help.