William Dasher, P.E., S.E., senior vice president of Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., the international engineering firm, has been elected Regent of the California Architectural Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) California Council.

The Foundation aspires to enhance the standards of architectural education, training and practice through education and public awareness activities.

Bob Kain, president of HMC Architects and a member of the State of California’s Building Safety Board, nominated Mr. Dasher to serve a three-year term on the 34-member Board of Regents. Dasher is the first structural engineer to be elected to this position.

Dasher co-founded DASSE Design (the San Francisco Bay Area predecessor to Thornton Tomasetti) and has served as principal-in-charge and project manager for hundreds of projects. He has more than 30 years of technical engineering and project management experience, leading both in-house design teams and A/E teams. His major project experience includes health care, civic, commercial, higher education and institutional work for new facilities as well as the retrofit of existing structures.

“I am honored to have been chosen as the first structural engineer to serve as a Regent of the California Architectural Foundation,” Dasher said. “I look forward to contributing to the strategic planning process that provides such a tremendous opportunity to engage the design and construction community in discussions that affect the communities where we live, work and play.”

Dasher’s recent health care projects include the El Camino Replacement Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., the Vaca Valley Hospital expansion in Vacaville, Calif., and the Mercy General Hospital Alex Spanos Heart Center in Sacramento, Calif. His government project experience includes three California Department of Corrections prison expansions; seismic evaluation and retrofit of the California State Office Building in Santa Ana, Calif.; and the structural upgrade and functional renovation of the Treasure Island Naval Station, Hangar Building 2. Dasher’s commercial project experience includes tenant improvements at the Broadway Kaiser Office Building in Oakland, Calif.; the seismic renovation of 111 Sutter Street in San Francisco, Calif.; the Emery Bay Public Market and Office Tower in Emeryville, Calif.; and the Jack London Square expansion in Oakland, Calif.