Ben was founder and first President of Human Energy. He was also co-founder and President of the Kacyra Family Foundation, which initiated the Human Energy pilot project until its independent spin-off in July 2021. In 2003 Ben co-led the establishment of another KFF pilot project, CyArk, to digitally record, archive and share the world’s most significant cultural heritage sites. CyArk was spun off from KFF in 2008 as an independent non-profit and Ben acted as its CEO and Chairman through 2016, then continued to serve on the CyArk Board of Directors.
Ben’s business career included co-founding, with his wife, Barbara, several corporations engaged in diverse businesses including high technology manufacturing and software, and real estate development and asset management. At that time of his passing, Ben was a principal in KGI Investments, a corporation engaged in asset management with operations in Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii.
As CEO and co-founder of Cyra Technologies, Ben, with his team, developed and produced the world’s first fully integrated portable laser 3D imaging, mapping, modeling, and CAD system and holds several patents relating to that development. Cyra Technologies was acquired by Leica Geosystems in 2001 and Ben remained on its Board of Directors through March of 2004.
Prior to Cyra Technologies, Ben was CEO of Cygna Corporation, an engineering and construction management firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area which he co-founded in 1973. Under his leadership, Cygna became one of the top engineering companies in the United States with 12 offices throughout the US and over 500 employees. In 1989 Cygna’s engineering business was acquired by a major AEC design and construction firm.
Ben’s activities also included serving on the University of Illinois President’s Council and on the Board of Trustees of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. With his wife, Barbara, Ben raised three now-adult children and enjoyed four beloved grandchildren.
Born, raised, and Jesuit-educated in Iraq, Ben Kacyra first encountered the work of the scientist and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as a young university student. The “third story” Teilhard provided - a way between the perceived conflicts of science and religion, accounting for both evolution and human purpose - changed Ben’s view of life and fueled his lifelong optimism. And ultimately, this early inspiration brought him full circle, as he invested his final years in establishing an organization for research, education, and dissemination of this worldview. Human Energy was Ben Kacyra’s final achievement. But his greatest legacy is the love, care, and passion that he brought to everything he did and shared generously with all who came to know him.
Help us perpetuate Ben’s impact through the Ben Kacyra Fund for Youth Initiatives:
The Ben Kacyra Fund for youth initiatives
