Four Populous Senior Principals Named to SBJ’s 2020 Power Players List

Four Populous senior principals, Bruce Miller, Chris Carver, Jonathan Mallie, and Jeff Keas have been named to Sports Business Journal’s 2020 list of Power Players: Leaders and Innovators in Design and Development.

The individuals and firms selected for the 2020 class of the Sports Business Journal’s prestigious list represent the forward thinkers in sports facility architecture, design, construction and development and illustrate creativity, leadership and innovation in shaping the sports venues today and of the future. In 2016, Populous’ Earl Santee, Scott Radecic, Brad Clark and Sherri Privitera received this honor.

Bruce Miller, managing director Americas, has a quarter of a century of design experience for a portfolio of high-impact sports projects across the United States which includes Target Field in St. Paul, Minn., First Tennessee Park in Nashville, Tenn., and Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Most recently, Miller led the design of Minnesota United FC’s Allianz Field in Minneapolis, a stunning soccer-specific stadium that raised the bar of the Major League Soccer match day experience.

Miller has a keen ability to motivate staff to excellence, both as a mentor to others and as a member of Populous’ regional and global leadership teams. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Missouri Council of Architects and is a LEED Accredited Professional. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati.

Chris Carver is a founding senior principal of Populous and design director for the firm’s sports and public assembly facilities. Carver, who has been instrumental in the firm’s growth, leads extraordinary designs for major arenas around the globe, including T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and 02 Arenas in London and Berlin. His range is extensive; he has been involved with programming, site studies, master planning, design, production of contract documents, contract administration and post- occupancy evaluation for large-scale NBA and NHL arenas such UBS Arena in Queens, Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Carver received a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Kansas.

Jonathan Mallie is the leader of Populous’ New York City office and a member of its Global Holdings Board. For over two decades, he has pushed the boundaries of design while consistently leveraging cutting-edge design technologies. He is currently leading Populous’ design for a new state-of-the-art headquarters and training facility for the Carolina Panthers and FC Cincinnati’s new West End Stadium.

Mallie has met the challenges inherent in a wide range of project types, including sports and entertainment venues located across the U.S., as well as commercial, residential, academic, and mixed-use complexes in New York, Miami, Kenya, Botswana, Singapore and India. He has worked with the leaders and project teams of clients such as Forest City Ratner Companies, Tishman Speyer, The Brooklyn Nets, The Cleveland Cavaliers, the Government of Kenya and Google. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Design from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

For more than 25 years, Jeff Keas has been focused on designing, planning and executing buildings and events for the world’s stage, most notably for several Olympics experiences as well as the FIFA World Cup.

As an overlay expert, Jeff’s responsibilities have centered on coordinating all the temporary elements that supplemented existing buildings, putting the infrastructure in place to enable the operation of major sporting events such as World Cups, Olympic Games and Super Bowls. He manages overlay design for competition and non-competition venues and the many ways they can be transitioned for use post-event.  Most recently, Keas has led a focused team for the Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Keas holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kansas State University.

See the full list of the 2020 Sports Business Journal’s Power Players: Leaders and Innovators in Design and Development (paywall).