Gresham Smith, a top-ranked architecture, engineering and consultancy services firm with more than $355 million in gross revenue, has named Rachel Westerfield P.E., CFM, as office leader for the firm’s Jackson, Mississippi, location. In her new role, Westerfield will be responsible for enhancing Gresham Smith’s award-winning employee culture, strengthening relationships with the business community, and supporting the firm’s involvement with nonprofit organizations, including Stewpot Community Services and Habitat for Humanity.
“I am excited to serve as office leader in Jackson,” said Westerfield. “Gresham Smith is a company that focuses on the growth of its people, and that trickles through everything we do, including caring deeply about our work and taking pride in serving our clients’ needs.”
Westerfield has been with Gresham Smith since 2020 and currently serves as the hydraulics practice leader in the firm’s Transportation market, providing hydraulic design services for MDOT, GDOT, KYTC and TDOT, as well as other municipalities across the Southeast. Prior to joining the firm, she spent 14 years at the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) in the Hydraulic Section of its Bridge Division. She was instrumental in advancing Mississippi’s hydraulic practice while serving as the state hydraulic engineer. Her project expertise includes hydrologic analysis and hydraulic design of highway drainage systems, bridge hydraulic design, and FEMA analysis and studies. Her current work encompasses the development of a comprehensive hydraulic manual—the first for MDOT to inform all aspects of transportation drainage across the state.
Westerfield is a licensed Professional Engineer in Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, is an ASFPM Certified Floodplain Manager, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biological engineering at Mississippi State University. Outside of the office, she is active with a number of industry groups, including the Association of State Floodplain Managers, the Mississippi chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar, and the Mississippi Engineering Society. She was recognized as a senior associate at Gresham Smith in 2024.
“Rachel is passionate, both when it comes to the projects she’s delivering and the people she’s partnering with,” said Gresham Smith CEO Rodney Chester. “She truly embodies our ‘servant leadership’ culture.”
Gresham Smith’s Jackson office provides a variety of services to departments of transportation in Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. The firm sees opportunities to bring its full breadth of global expertise to both public- and private-sector clients in Mississippi, including the aviation, building engineering, healthcare, industrial, land planning, life and work places, and water and environment market sectors. “I am thrilled by the opportunity to share Gresham Smith’s full-scale capabilities and strong culture with existing and new clients,” said Westerfield.
