Col. Nicholas “Nick” Desport, RA, LEED AP BD+C, F.SAME, USAF (Ret), is Director, Business Development, High Performance Facilities at Merrick & Company in Denver. Merrick is a full-service AE firm with over 850 employee owners in 26 offices globally. Prior to 2018, he served on the Society of American Military Engineers national staff as the Deputy Executive Director and Director of Programs, Membership & Post Operations, where he was responsible for all professional development SAME offered at events and managed membership and operations of the 105 SAME Posts. 

Before joining SAME, he served over 30 years in the US Air Force from 1982-2012 as an architect serving in the civil engineering career field. From 2009-2012 he was the Command Civil Engineer of Air Force Reserve Command, where he was responsible for a $350 million annual budget, and organizing, training and equipping a 5,900-person engineering force. He had additional senior level Air Force assignments that include Deputy Director of Installations & Mission Support, HQ Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.; Commander, Mission Support Group, 437th Air Mobility Wing, Charleston AFB, S.C.; and Chief, Program Development Branch/Programs and Analysis Branch, HQ USAF at the Pentagon.

Earlier in his career, he served as a Civil Engineer Commander three times and spent three years as a White House Social Aide under Presidents Bush and Clinton.

Desport graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Architecture and Environmental Design; and also holds a Master of Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering Management degree from the University of Maryland. He is a Registered Architect in the state of Virginia, a 2015 Inductee in his hometown combined High Schools’ Hall of Fame, a LEED BD+C accredited professional, and is a Fellow in SAME.  He is married to his wife Doreen and lives in Springfield, Va.