Pittsburg State University honored alumni Ivan Crossland Jr. with the Dr. Ralph J. Thomas Distinguished Service Award at the annual Apple Day ceremony March 5.
Crossland Jr. is chief executive officer of Crossland Construction in Columbus, Kan., one of the largest construction firms in the Midwest.
Growing up in Columbus, Crossland graduated from high school in 1977 then attended PSU for one semester before accepting a scholarship with the School of Architecture at the University of Kansas.
Crossland returned to Southeast Kansas after one year to work for his father's new construction business. He began taking classes at PSU after working a few years, finishing his degree in construction engineering in 1984. He received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award after graduating from PSU.
Crossland worked as a job superintendent for several years, then became president of the company in the early '90s. When his father passed in 2002, he became CEO.
Today, Crossland runs the 800 employee company with his five brothers. Married to Betty Lou Crossland (PSU '86), and father of Mattie May, 17, and Ivan, 14, Crossland has served as a PSU Alumni Association Board member, a Foundation Board trustee, and is a lifetime member of the President's Society. He serves on the College of Technology National Advisory Board, the PSU Construction Advisory Board Executive Committee, and with the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School (in Joplin, Mo.) Board of Trustees.
