Alumni Achievement Award

honors alumni who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in their career or area of professional life.

Jeff Raday ’78 earned his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Valparaiso University and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago in 1990. Jeff is a licensed Professional Engineer in Illinois. He started his career in 1978 with The Austin Company in DesPlaines, Illinois, and left in 1996 as Vice President to join McShane Construction Company in Rosemont, Ill. He has been President of McShane since 1998. He has overseen McShane’s growth from its Chicago roots to its current national reach with four regional offices and projects in 28 states. Under Jeff’s leadership, McShane has received much industry recognition. Engineering News-Record Magazine has consistently ranked McShane among the top U.S. construction companies. The Chicago Chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association voted McShane Contractor of the Year four years in a row – 2007 to 2010. In 2012, McShane was the recipient of the Hispanic-American Construction Industry Association’s Contractor of the Year Award. Jeff is a frequent public speaker on topics related to the construction industry, including design-build project delivery, construction market forecasting, and cost trends. Jeff has served on Valparaiso University’s College of Engineering National Council and has provided design-build construction services to various Valpo projects, including the new academic building for the College of Arts and Sciences. He and his wife Jane (Burmeister ’77) met while students at Valpo and have two sons, Matthew and Michael. They live in Hawthorn Woods, Ill.