As president and CEO of The Christman Company for nearly 25 years, Bud left a legacy of creating opportunities for the next generation of construction managers. In 1964 he helped establish the Michigan AGC summer internship program. He also helped The Christman Company become a leader in pioneering the 'construction management' method of service delivery in the Michigan construction industry in the mid-to-late 1970s. 

Bud served on the board of directors for Michigan National Bank, first for the Lansing area and later for the Detroit area. His calm, steady leadership assisted the institution's leaders in guiding the bank through one of its most challenging periods in the 1970s. He also served the Associated General Contractors of America both as a Michigan chapter president and as national director. 

Even with all of Bud's successes, he never forgot the true heart and soul of The Christman Company - the individuals who worked so hard to make it successful. His reputation among his employees is one that every corporate leader should strive toward. He made people proud to work at Christman. In his early years, Bud received two very important pieces of advice. His father urged him to pursue an engineering degree and The Christman Company's vice president at that time urged him to learn a construction skill through an apprenticeship. Following the course each man had suggested, he earned both an engineering degree and a bricklayer's card, which taught him a valuable lesson in seeing things from both a management and worker's perspective. This advice served him well throughout his career. 'Bud' Conrad served The Christman Company for nearly half a century, with half of that time at the helm as the company's president. Known for his sound judgment and patient leadership, honed through many years of working through the major challenges of field construction, he remained passionate not only about Christman but about the industry he loved so well.