Claude A. "Skip" Berry III, BSCE 1973
Inducted in 2019
For over 50 years, Skip Berry has poured his skill, talent and heart into the mission of Wehr Constructors, Inc., located in Louisville, Kentucky. For over 20 years, he served as president and chairman of the board. Today, he remains chairman of the Wehr Advisory Board of Directors. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1973 from the University of Kentucky.
Wehr Constructors, Inc., has been rated the largest Louisville area general contractor for 20 of the last 24 years by Louisville Business First. The firm has completed high-profile projects in Louisville such as the Humana Headquarters Building; KentuckyOne Health Jewish Hospital Rudd Heart and Lung Center and Frazier Rehab Institute; Kleinert Kutz Hand Care Center; KentuckyOne Health University of Louisville Hospital; KentuckyOne Health Jewish Medical Center East; Humana Waterfront Building; Speed Art Museum and Presbyterian Church USA World Headquarters, as well as the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky and the medical center in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In his 41 years as Wehr Constructors’ executive vice president and then president and chairman of the board, Berry has been personally responsible for over $1 billion in construction management projects, leading Wehr Constructors to a place in Engineering News-Record’s top 100 construction management firms and top 400 construction firms in the nation.
Berry began his career at Wehr Constructors in 1968. As he earned his degree from the University of Kentucky he worked as a layout engineer. In 1973, Berry took the position of project superintendent and he was promoted to project manager in 1976. After only two years, Wehr Constructors promoted Berry to executive vice president, a role he excelled in for over 20 years before becoming president and chairman.
Berry is a registered professional engineer in four states, and a registered land surveyor in the state of Kentucky. Berry has served on the advisory council of the Construction Management Association of America, and in 2008 was selected to serve on their Board of Governors.
Berry serves on the University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee and is chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Department of Civil Engineering at UK, and is a UK Henry Stites Barker Fellow.
Berry is a member, elder and chairman of the Elders and Ministers board at Henry Christian Church.
Berry lives in Eminence, Kentucky with his wife, Joyce. They have three children and nine grandchildren.