King Husein is an Indian-American engineer and the founder and CEO of Span Construction and Engineering (Span), one of the country's largest metal building construction companies based in

Madera, California Madera (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lumber") is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, Madera County, located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Founded in 1876 as a timber town at the terminus of a major logging f ...

. Husein was born in Mumbai, India into a Muslim family.Benson, Lee
"No-Sunday stance has not slowed success of Costco builder"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

'', 30 October 2010. Retrieved on 27 March 2020. His father died when he was 11, and his mother raised the four children on money she earned teaching embroidery on foot-powered Singer sewing machines. He completed his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

.Watts, Jordyn Crowley
"King & Diane Husein donate $5M to BYU College of Engineering; support ethics and integrity initiatives, student development"
''BYU Engineering'', 6 January 2020. Retrieved on 27 March 2020. Originally, he was slated to attend

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, but based on the recommendation of a friend, he diverted to Provo, Utah, and enrolled at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU)."King Husein: On the back of a simple concept, Husein has built a business that has transformed an industry"
''Metal Construction News'', 31 October 2014. Retrieved on 27 March 2020. He obtained a master's in structural engineering in 1971 from BYU. Husein started his career in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and was hired by Priggen Steel Buildings, affiliated with Varco Pruden Buildings, and then moved west to work for a builder in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, in 1977.

Span Construction and Engineering

Span was founded in 1980.Hoppe-Spiers, Janice
"Span Construction & Engineering Inc."
''Best Construction Practices'', 21 October 2019. Retrieved on 27 March 2020. Husein developed a suspension safety net system called SkyWeb. The company's culture includes the principle, “Keep our commitments – at all cost”. Span will also never do work on Sundays. As of January 1, 2018, 100% of the company's stock was sold to its employees through an

Employee Stock Ownership Plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

(ESOP). As of 2020, Span has built over 187 million square feet of buildings. For more than 20 years, Span has been rated the largest metal building contracting company in the country.

Costco

In 1988, Husein met with Doug Mulvanny, MulvannyG2 Architects, which was responsible for

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

construction. Husein related the pivotal meeting, "He asked me a question that was a turning point. The building is 500,000 square feet and 52 feet high. He asked me how would I devise a bracing without any interior bracing that would restrict the movements inside. I said I would provide straps on top of the structure that would take all the forces outside to the walls. His eyes lit and he ended up putting us on the bidding list. That was a game changer." In October 1989, Mulvanny hired Span for its first Costco project in Redding, California. Husein related, "Once we did that project, Doug took the executive vice president of Costco and showed him how a standing seam roof system worked. On the way down from the roof, the executive vice president said, 'Mulvanny, let's switch all our building to steel.'" Span has built Costco stores throughout North America, including several stores in Canada and Mexico, as well as the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Australia.

Personal life

Husein is married to Diane Clark, from Star Valley, Wyoming, and they have four children. Husein is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Husein donated $5 million to the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering in 2020 and funded the King and Diane Husein Endowed Professorship in Civil & Environmental Engineering since 2002. Husein served as the Volunteer Fundraising Committee chair for the new $80 million BYU Engineering Building.Prescott, Marianne Holman
"Groundbreaking Ceremony Launches Construction on the BYU Engineering Building"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (formerly ''LDS Church News'') is a multi-platform supplement and subdivision of the ''Deseret News'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally, the LDS Church). ...

'', 11 May 2016. Retrieved on 27 March 2020. In 2021, Husein donated 50 acres of land, "valued at nearly $9 million", to the Madera Unified School District. A K-8 school named The King Husein School is expected to open on the site in Augusut 2026.

References

External links

Span Construction and Engineering
Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Husein, King Living people Brigham Young University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)