Ellen Long, President & Founder
With heavy hearts, we share the passing of our firm’s founder and president, Ellen Long who died suddenly of an unexpected cardiac event on July 5, 2019. Everyone at Long Engineering is deeply saddened by this loss. Ellen’s impact and presence was felt throughout the AEC community and she will be greatly missed.
Ellen was born on April 7, 1961 to Jane and George Scott in Athens, Georgia. Her father was in the textile industry, so the family relocated from Georgia to New Hampshire to Alabama before returning to Georgia for Ellen’s last two years at Gainesville High School where she graduated in 1979.
At the urging of her mother, she attended Vanderbilt and studied civil engineering where she received her Bachelors of Civil Engineering in 1983 before moving back to Atlanta with her best friend Amy Pudvin. After working for several Atlanta civil engineering firms, she was hired at W. L. Jorden & Co. by Shepherd (Shep) Long. The two of them worked together for several years before she moved on to Greenberg Farrow.
Ellen and Shep married in 1995 then had Madeline in 1996, the absolute love and focus of her life. When Chick-fil-A called on her to assist with their national expansion program, she jumped at the chance to continue working with the much-needed flexibility to raise Madeline. This culminated in the founding of Long Engineering in 1997. From that point forward, she would love and nurture her daughter, attend the many school and music events, and dream up excuses to be with her whenever possible, all while balancing the growth and success of her company.
Over the past 22 years, Shep, Ellen and Madeline traveled together extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Africa. Concurrently, Long Engineering flourished, being named one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Engineering Firms in the United States 9 times, Best Places to Work the past two years, and one of the 25 Largest Engineering Firms in Atlanta this past year. Ellen was named one of the 100 Influential Women to Know by Engineering Georgia magazine in 2018.
She was an incredible mother, the best wife and friend a husband could ever hope for, a talented leader and mentor to people in her industry, and a joy to all those that met her.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Ellen’s memory to support Kennesaw State University’s CARE Services for homeless students. It was something very dear to her heart, and she served on the board until her passing.
If you wish to contribute, please make checks payable to the Kennesaw State University Foundation, noting that the gift is for the Ellen Long Endowed Scholarship and mail to: KSU Foundation, 1000 Chastain Rd NW, MD 9102, Kennesaw, GA 30144
Donations may be made online at www.kennesaw.edu/give.php. Click on GIVE NOW and choose OTHER to write in “Ellen Long Endowed Scholarship.”
Please direct any questions to info@longeng.com