Iowa State University

Inside Iowa State
Dec. 6, 1996

Finalists for facilities post on campus this month

by Anne Dolan
Four finalists have been selected in the search for an associate vice president for facilities planning and management. They are Christopher Ahoy, assistant vice president for business and finance and director of facilities planning and management for the University of Nebraska system; Richard McDermott, director of facilities management at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Gary Reynolds, director of facilities management at Iowa State; and James Vespi, director of facilities operations at North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

Campus visits for the candidates have begun. During a two-day visit, each candidate is meeting with ISU administrators, faculty and staff, and city of Ames officials. Each finalist also is responding to questions during an open forum at 4 p.m. in 142 General Services on the first day of his campus visit. Ahoy was on campus Dec. 2-3 and McDermott is on campus Dec. 5-6.

Following is the remainder of the open forum schedule:

Ahoy has served in his current positions with the University of Nebraska system since 1994. An architect, he operated his own facilities management consulting business, Comprehensive Facilities Management, Berkeley, Calif., from 1987 to 1994. He served as statewide director of facilities planning and construction for the University of Alaska (1981-1987) and as assistant director of facilities management, campus architect and senior manager for technical services at the University of California, Berkeley (1974-1981). From 1965 to 1973, he worked as an architect and/or planner for three San Francisco firms.

Ahoy received B.A. (1964) and M.A. (1965) degrees in architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.

McDermott has led the facilities management operation at Nebraska since 1988. From 1980 to 1988, he worked at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, first as director of energy management and later as manager of planning and construction and assistant vice president for administrative services (responsible for facilities and operations). He was a project engineer/team leader with ARIX Corp., Greeley (1979 to 1980), and a mechanical design engineer with Davis, Fenton, Stange, Darling in Lincoln (1974-1979).

McDermott received B.S. degrees in physics (1973) from Kearney State College, Nebraska; and mechanical engineering (1974) from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Reynolds has served as director of facilities management at Iowa State since 1989. He has been employed by the university since 1981, as head of energy management (1981-1982), head of facilities engineering (1982-1984), assistant and associate director of project planning and management (1984-1987) and associate director of facilities planning and management (1987-1989). He was a design engineer for John Deere, Dubuque, from 1974 to 1977.

Reynolds received a B.S. degree in engineering science (1972) and an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering (1979), both from Iowa State.

Vespi has served in his current post at North Carolina State since 1993. From 1983 to 1993 he worked at the State University of New York, Syracuse, first as director of the physical plant for the Health Science Center (a teaching hospital and health college), and later as physical plant director for the 25,000-acre College of Environmental Science and Forestry. From 1972 to 1983, he was the assistant hospital engineer at Little Falls Hospital, New York.

Vespi received a bachelor of technology degree in industrial engineering (1982) from the State University of New York, College of Technology, Utica; and a master's degree in public administration (1990) from Syracuse University, New York.

William Whitman, ISU's associate vice president for facilities planning and management since 1968, is retiring Dec. 31.

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Revised 12/6/96