Movses “Bedros” Agopovich, who managed San Francisco’s BART and several other transit megaprojects around the world as well as major highway projects as a senior vice president at the firms that today are AECOM and WSP, has died. He was 84.
Agopovich, P.E., M.ASCE, was known for the passion he brought to managing large public works programs, and his dedication to his staff.
Among his assignments were the initial segment of San Francisco’s BART; senior engineering positions on the Baltimore Metro, MARTA, Taipei Underground Metro, Taipei Light Rail, WMATA, Vancouver BC Skytrain, and Singapore Metro; and principal in charge of the Oceanside to San Diego Commuter Rail Line. Despite such achievements, he was most proud of successfully transitioning a peacekeeper rail garrison project office into a viable regional office in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
Agopovich earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from Stanford University in 1960. His career began at John A. Blume & Associates, in San Francisco, and it was in their employ that he was the first U.S.-based engineer onsite after a devastating 1963 earthquake in Skopje, Northern Macedonia. He became senior vice president and regional manager of both Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall (now part of AECOM) and Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas (now part of WSP).
Agopovich lent his leadership to many large highway/road projects, including Segment 3 of Interstate 210 in Los Angeles County and the Orange Show Road Extension in San Bernardino. He was a registered professional engineer in multiple states and enjoyed mentoring engineers.
He was active in the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce, supported numerous professional organizations, and was a life member of ASCE.
“Some people are simply bigger than life, legends in their own time – that is Bedros,” once commented Pat Bywater, CEO of Integris Management Group Inc., which Agopovich served on the board of directors. “Always interested in what we were working on and what we were challenged by.”
