Peter J. Quigley ’84, ’88MS, Distinguished Alum 2023

Mr. Peter J. Quigley, PE
MS, Civil Engineering, 1988  
BS, Civil Engineering, 1984 
Principal, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. 

While in graduate school, Peter Quigley was a teaching assistant to his advisor Professor Alexander Chajes. When it was time to find post-graduate employment, Professor Chajes recommended him to Weidlinger Associates. Peter was hired by Weidlinger in 1987 and an early achievement was assisting with the structural design of the William D. Mullins Memorial Center Arena here at UMass. He became a Principal of the firm in 2008. 

In 2016, Weidlinger merged with Thornton Tomasetti, providing Peter an opportunity to expand the office’s services and collaborate with colleagues world-wide. Over the years, Peter has managed a wide range of complex projects involving structural analysis and design, renovation and expansion, design-build, seismic analysis and protective design. His extensive portfolio includes institutional, commercial, historic and industrial buildings as well as highways, tunnels, mass transit and physical security projects. Peter brings a creative approach to developing cost-effective and architecturally-sensitive solutions leads to the success of many small-scale projects as well as the realization of innovative architecture. Notable projects include work with Pritzker-award-winning architects Fumihiko Maki, for MIT’s Media Lab, and Norman Foster’s renovation and expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  

Currently, Peter is working with Commonwealth Fusion Systems in collaboration with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center to build SPARC, a prototype Tokamak Fusion Energy Facility. He enjoys visiting his wife’s large extended family in Galway Ireland, restoring and driving his classic British roadster, and proudly observing their son Connor’s design of new fly fishing rods for use by anglers all over the world.