The American Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin (ACEC WI) recently awarded MSA Professional Services, Inc.’s former CEO Gil Hantzsch with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mr. Hantzsch served as CEO until Jan. 1, 2025, at MSA, a full-service multidisciplinary consulting firm with 17 offices across Illinois, Iowa (including Bettendorf), Minnesota and Wisconsin. He was succeeded by Nick Wagner.
The ACEC WI award recognizes individuals with exemplary contributions to the organization and honors the legacy of those who have made a profound impact on the engineering profession.
Mr. Hantzsch began his career at MSA in 1992 and assumed the role of president and CEO in 2013. Throughout his tenure, he was actively involved in ACEC committees, campaigns, and mentoring efforts, lending his service and skills to organizational goals as well as to various civic and public service pursuits, according to an MSA news release.
With ACEC WI, the professional engineer served as both member and chair of the organization’s board of directors, served two years as class advisor to the Leadership Institute, helped to create the Emerging Professionals Committee, and testified on matters important to the industry. He has served as a member of multiple other ACEC WI and ACEC National committees, boards, and task forces. He earned the ACEC WI Chairman’s Award in 2004 and was inducted into the ACEC National College of Fellows in 2019.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this recognition,” Mr. Hantzsch, who currently chief strategy officer for the Baraboo, Wisconsin-based MSA. “It is humbling because I have received more from my association with ACEC than I have given it over the years.”
He was formally recognized Friday, May 2, during the Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet at the American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin.
During his time as CEO, Mr. Hantzsch led the firm through impactful organizational initiatives, three successful acquisitions, consistent revenue growth, geographic expansion and many regional and national accolades. He also led the efforts for MSA to become a 100% employee-owned company in 2017.
