Ralph Allen– University of Virginia

Ralph Allen is the Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Virginia.   As a Professor he teaches classes in Chemistry, Environmental Sciences and in Public Health Sciences.    As Director of EHS, he has   a responsibility to ensure that federal, state and local regulations are followed.  He depends upon a dedicated staff to keep abreast of developing regulations and to provide a wide array of services to the University and the Medical Center (including asbestos abatement, biosafety, chemical safety, environmental management, fire safety, OSHA regulations, regulated medical wastes and radioactive materials safety) with the goal of assisting everyone in making their workplace and jobs safer.

Jean Bannon graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1989.  She moved to New Mexico where she was in private practice for six years.  She advised employers on employment policies and practices and represented clients in litigation and administrative hearings. She appeared in state and federal court, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. From 1995-2007, she was in-house counsel at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, before leaving to spend more time with her family. She is currently providing consulting and management training for institutions of higher education.

Jean has published and presented numerous articles on topics including the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  She is a frequent presenter at conferences for APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. 

Steve Benz is Principal and Engineering discipline leader at Boston-Base Sasaki Associate, where he leads Sasaki Sustainable Solutions Group.  He has 30 years experience in Civil Engineering, Sustainable Site Design and Stormwater Planning and Design.  He has designed award winning sustainable projects at UVA, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale and other institutions.

Doug is the currently Director for the Office of Facility Solutions for the Physical Facilities Division at Brigham Young University.  Prior to this assignment he served for 16 years as the Director of the Capital Needs Analysis Center for the higher education institutions within the LDS Church Education System.  This included such schools as BYU, BYU Idaho, BYU Hawaii, LDS Business College, Jerusalem Center, London Center, etc.  Doug has a BS degree in Accounting and a MS degree in Information & Administrative Management.   Doug has served at BYU as a Director of Business Support, Director of Physical Plant, Manager of business for the Auxiliary Services areas and Director of the Church Higher Educational System for System Capital Needs and Planning before his current position as Director for Facility Solutions.  The Capital Needs Analysis program received APPA’s Effective & Innovative Practices award.

Doug has served as President of APPA. He is an APPA Fellow.  He is currently serving as an assistant Director on the Center for Facility Research.  He has completed work on a major research project that deals with the Total Cost of Ownership issues known as “Buildings:  The Gifts that Keep On Taking”.  He chairs and teaches at APPA’s Leadership Academy and is a faculty member of the FM Institute.  Doug serves on the APPA Educational Programs Committee.  A participant in APPA’s first “Thought Leaders Series” designed to publish the critical issues facing the profession.  Serve as an advisor for the FPI – Facility Performance Indicators program.  He also serves as an advisor for the “Body of Knowledge” program.

Jack DeBell has directed the University of Colorado’s recycling program as a State employee since 1985. With Mr. DeBell’s assistance, C.U. Recycling has gained widespread recognition for numerous operational and educational programs. He remains active in several national organizations.

Dedee DeLongpré Johnston is the director of the University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability. She holds a BS in business administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management. She has 15 years of experience in nonprofit management, primarily in the areas of education and the environment. DeLongpré serves on the board of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Lynne is the Assistant Director of Facilities and Services at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, with over 20 years in facilities management. Her current focus at SDSU is in facilities management administration, technology, custodial services, utilities and campus mail services.  She is a graduate of the Institute ad has been involved as a faculty member since 2002.  She is currently acting Dean of the Energy and Utilities Core sections.

Thomas E. Flood, ASLA – Elon University

Tom Flood has over 25 years landscape and facilities management experience at both public and private universities and in the non-profit sector. He currently is the Superintendent of Landscaping at Elon University in North Carolina, named the second most beautiful in the nation by the Princeton review. Previously, Tom served as Executive Director of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Director of the University of Missouri Landscape Services and Botanic Gardens and Interim Physical Plant Director at Elon University. He holds a BS in landscape architecture, MBA ‘09 and has won three grounds management awards from the Professional Grounds Management Society.

Donna Barnes Franko is the Director of Human Resources for East Tennessee State University Physicians & Associates in Johnson City, TN. She has twenty years experience in Human Resources & Training. For the prior six years, she was Director of Human Resources & Training for Facilities Management at the University of Virginia, as well as Manager of the University’s Apprenticeship Program and on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Apprentice Alumni Association.

Mr. Gee is a Vice President with Swinerton Management & Consulting (SMC) in San Francisco.  His area of focus is on providing program, project and construction management services to higher education clients.  Prior to joining SMC, Mr. Gee was the Director of Project Management at the University of California, Berkeley.  Currently, his division is managing capital improvement programs at a number of university and college campuses throughout California.

Frederic J. Gratto has served as Assistant Director of Physical Plant at the University of Florida since 1985, directing construction and maintenance. He teaches a graduate class about the history of American higher education and an undergraduate course about facility maintenance and design each semester. 

Don serves as associate vice president for Facilities Management at the University of Iowa and possesses more than 20 years of experience in higher education.  He is an APPA Fellow and recipient of APPA’s President’s and Rex Dillow Awards, and CAPPA’s Meritorious Service Award.  Don serves as dean of Planning, Design & Construction for APPA's Institute for Facilities Management, sits on the Construction Specifier’s Editorial Board, and has authored articles for APPA, SCUP, NACUBO, and CSI.

Craig Klimczak is the Vice Chancellor for Technology and Educational Support Services at St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, MO. He oversees district wide information technology infrastructure with an emphasis on academic support initiatives, education and training, technical standards, telecommunications, information systems security, customer service and support. Prior to joining SLCC, Dr. Klimczak served as the chief information officer for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he was responsible for designing, planning and implementing IT and management policies and processes. He also served as the director of telecommunications for the University of Missouri system, and also worked as an assistant professor of computer engineering, health services management and medical information at UM-Columbia.

Klimczk has a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Louisiana State University. His master’s degree in computer science is from UM-Columbia. He also has completed post-doctoral training in medical informatics at UM-Columbia.

Mr. Nelson is president of GLHN Architects & Engineers, Inc. I Tucson, AZ. Throughout his career he has focused on infrastructure and energy projects for various facilities. Within the last 17 years, he developed ad refined the Utilities Development Plan (UDP) process for long range strategic planning of utilities for universities. He h s organized and facilitated symposiums for higher education institutions in the Southwest. Bill has presented for a large variety of organizations. He is on the faculty of the APPA institute. Mr. Nelson is a R.P.E. and received h is Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering, PE in Texas. Mr. Ontiveros has served in variety of capacities including the design and construction/fabrication of pressure vessels, instrumentation, HVAC systems, industrial and plant systems, estimating, field engineering, support of military weapons testing facilities, and energy conservation design and installation.

Originally from Mars Hill, North Carolina, a graduate of North Carolina State with a degree in Business Management and a Master’s in Public Administration from Western Carolina University.

Jim has served Colleges and Universities since 1978. Beginning his career with Mars Hill College as Assistant Director of Physical Plant and serving as Director of Facilities for Barton County Community College in Kansas as well as Georgetown College in Kentucky. He came to Campbell University in 1995 as Director of the Physical Plant and was promoted to the Vice President for Business and Treasurer in May 2005. In addition to his duties as Vice President he serves as the Secretary and Treasurer to the Board of Trustees of Campbell University.

Mr. Reynolds is currently the Executive Director of Facilities Services at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Mr. Reynolds has been involved with higher education facilities for over 25 years at both private and public institutions. He holds a BS in Engineering Science and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University and is a registered professional engineer. Mr. Reynolds has been a faculty member of the Facilities Management Institute for over 20 years. Mr. Reynolds has held numerous positions in APPA including Director of the Institute for Facilities Management, Dean of Track One of the Leadership Academy, Vice President of Education and he is a Past APPA President.

Karen M. Salisbury – Emory University

Karen’s tenure at Emory spans 24 years and includes serving as Director of University Conferences and Assistant Dean for Campus Life, Director of Center for Student Leadership and Engagement.  Her contributions to the University include development and management of a high quality summer conference program; facilitating all aspects of Emory’s participation in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games; and serving as an administrator, educator and mentor to students as they develop life skills through activities outside the classroom.

In her current position as Special Assistant to the Vice President in Campus Services she assists the VP  in a wide array of  special projects management, leadership recruitment, Advisory Board facilitation, as well as general leadership the activities of Police, Parking and Transportation, Facilities Management, Planning Design and Construction, and a variety of other university-wide projects and activities. 

Bill Stauff is currently an administrative faculty member as the Assistant to the Dean for Finance in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. His experience spans over 25 years in higher education administration and teaching including positions at Harvard and the University of Virginia (UVA). One of his positions was the Director of Business Operations for Facilities Management at the University of Virginia where he oversaw the implementation of a facilities management information system tough an RFP process and a responsibility centered management and accounting system. He conducted training at all levels of supervision enabling the employees to operate these systems. He is the author of the chapter for Cost Allocation for the APPA Facilities Manual, and has made numerous presentations for APPA and is currently a faculty member at APPA’s Facilities Management Institute. Mr. Stauff is also a graduate of the APPA Executive Institute and has a bachelor’s degree in Business and an MBA.

Joe Whitefield currently serves as Executive Director of Facilities Services at middle Tennessee State University where his primary responsibilities include operations and maintenance budgeting and management, utilities budgeting and management, strategic utilities/energy planning, capital maintenance planning, and sustainability. In additional, he provides consulting services to energy and facility managers in the public and private sectors. While employed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory he received multiple awards from the United State Department of Energy for achievement in energy management. He also has articles published in Facilities Manager, Business Officer, and Energy Efficiency Journal.

Joe is a professional engineer and a certified energy manager.  He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and M.A. in Economics, and is a graduate of the APPA Institute and the College Business Management Institute.

A.L. Zimmerman is a full-time consultant and Chief Executive Officer for Interax Corporation.  She began consulting in Boston, in 1975, and has been with Interax since its inception in 1986.

 Dr. Zimmerman is internationally-known for her research, application and training on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®).  She has been a trainer for APPA since 1986, covering the Facilities Institute, The Leadership Academy, National and regional presentations.  She also co-authored a chapter for APPA's Facilities Management handbook.