to handle change. Team members
must also take pride in doing
whatever is necessary to achieve
our goals.
Q. When did you start with UT
Austin? Did you start in the
same position you’re in now?
A. I was hired as UT Austin’s
director of utilities and energy
management 11 years ago. About
one year ago I was promoted to
executive director of utilities and
energy management.
who are not afraid to make decisions. Facility and utility operations are extremely complex to
manage, so I have also learned to
surround myself with people
smarter than I am. There is no
way I can be expert at everything. To inspire employees to
have confidence in me, I have
also had to communicate clearly
that I will always try to do the
right thing in my decision making.
Q. What did you do prior to
working at UT Austin?
A. I was previously employed
for seven years as the director
of facilities at UT El Paso, a sister
school within The University of
Texas system, which comprises
nine universities and six health
care institutions. At UT El Paso,
I was responsible for the operation of the entire physical plant,
which served a 3 million-sq-ft
campus.
I have been involved in facility design,
construction, master planning and operations for about 25 years, so I have a
varied background in refinery and general
construction, ASME pressure vessel design
and fabrication, estimating and HVAC
operations and maintenance. I received
my professional engineering license 27
years ago.
Q. Please share with us something about the people who
have served as your mentors
or who have had a great influence on your career. Why did
they make a difference?
A. Bob Sadler was the general
manager for Dynaspan at the
White Sands Missile Range when
I was hired as a design engineer
there in 1982. The company was
working on a five-year, $200 mil-
lion contract. I really do not
know what Bob saw in me, but a
few weeks after I was hired, he placed
me in charge of the design group. One
year later he put me in charge of starting
up a military weapons test facility that
utilized an early version of a real-time
digital control system involving large
chiller equipment. The government had
unsuccessfully tried to start it up for
two years. I was able to do it in one year.
Another year after that, he promoted me
to chief engineer for the company, and I
became responsible for about 200
employees. Bob taught me to trust in
myself and that I could do pretty much
anything I set my mind to do. I owe a
great deal to Bob.
New IDEA Chair Juan Ontiveros introduced his theme “Creating an energy-efficient future” at the closing gala during the annual conference.
Photo Event
Digital Photography Inc.
Q. What do you like most about work-
ing on a university campus? How does it
differ from systems run by your private-
sector counterparts?
A. I enjoy getting to play a role in the
long history of the campus, in helping
produce exceptional students and conduct
world-class research that have a role in
changing the world. The university’s
motto, in fact, is “What Starts Here
Changes the World.”
Despite the job’s rewards, it can be
very challenging to work for a public
university. Budgets are tight, purchasing
rules can be challenging, and we operate
using a zero-based budget. This means
that we are not profit-based. Since we are
not profit-based, dealing with personnel
can be more difficult: Our salaries are
lower, and there are no bonuses; so we
have to offer job security, decent benefits
and an opportunity to take pride in what
we do.
At the university, decisions relating
to capital project investments are also
made on a much longer basis than in the
private sector. Our project paybacks are
based on 20 to 30 years, which allows us
to play a role in the long-term future of
campus operations. Our successors can
benefit or be hurt by the decisions we
make now.
Q. What personal or professional
experiences have most influenced your
career path?
A. I have always been placed in positions
and asked to do tasks that I had never
been done before. It has been no different at UT Austin. The first time I ever
stepped into a power plant was during
my job interview here, so I had to learn
on the job.
For most of my career, I have supervised employees who are older than I am
and have had more experience. This has
taught me to carefully evaluate talent and
to identify, empower and promote people
Q. What is your greatest source of
professional pride?
A. That the organization I inherited at
UT Austin is more capable now than when
I started here 11 years ago. The team
assembled here is the most talented I
have ever worked with in my career. Day
in and day out, they prove to the campus
that their efforts and our plant improvements have paid their way. One does not
reconfigure plants and related systems
without involvement from the entire
