December 20th, 2019

In the news: Greg Janey

Fifteen years after earning a bachelor’s degree at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Roxbury native Greg Janey has been elected chair of the university’s Board of Trustees — the top governing position at the school.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity to help spread the word about Wentworth and keep the university moving forward,” he said.

Wentworth is less than two miles from the neighborhood where Janey grew up riding his bicycle on summer days like any other kid from the block.

Janey, 57, the president and owner of Janey Construction Management and Consulting Inc., attributes his business success to hard work and his Wentworth education, which instilled in him a deep commitment to higher learning and determination to help others get into and graduate from the university.

Janey received an associate degree in architectural technology from the institute in ’82, stuck with his studies at Wentworth and launched his business with his cousin in Dorchester in 1984. Janey recalls that their office then was a kitchen table. Juggling work and school while keeping the new business afloat, he completed the requirements for his bachelor’s in construction management from Wentworth in 2004. In 2017, in a sign of how far he had come, the university asked Janey to give the keynote address at commencement and awarded him an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree.

Janey is the first African American to chair Wentworth’s board, which he joined in 2013 after serving a couple years as a corporator at the institute. He’s also served as an adjunct professor at Wentworth.

Janey has a master’s degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University. A past president of the Massachusetts division of the Construction Management Association of America and vice chair of CMAA’s national board, he has more than 30 years’ experience in his field, ranging from residential to commercial projects worth $5 million to $500 million.

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