John Peronto

Managing Principal

John Peronto is Managing Principal and Chicago Office Co-Director at Thornton Tomasetti, and a leader in the firm's structural engineering practice. Since joining the company in 2004, he has designed a wide range of building types, including commercial, residential, cultural and aviation facilities, with expertise spanning long-span structures to megatall towers such as Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower, which at one kilometre in height is set to become the world's tallest building on completion. He also works with innovative materials such as mass timber, and applies his background in mechanical engineering and material science to projects like the TILT installation at 360 Chicago in the John Hancock Center, a mechanized steel-and-glass structure for which he is a patent inventor. Peronto holds leadership roles on technical committees including the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and represents Thornton Tomasetti on the Chicago Committee on High-Rise Buildings. He holds a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Cornell University and bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and mechanical engineering from Marquette University.