To some, an outdated manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California, might deserve to be razed to make way for the next development in Silicon Valley. But Norman LoPatin saw something different: a potential school. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise. For 18 years, LoPatin has led the construction of 25 charter schools nationwide showing that […]
Case Studies Education
Warren Whitesell – DePauw University
Imagine a 93-year-old dorm—which has seen everything from parties to panty raids—that’s succumbed to waves of incoming freshmen over the decades. Warren Whitesell of DePauw University knows firsthand what effect college-age students can have on a dormitory—after all, he’s the father of five children himself. Ah, youth. That’s one of the reasons why Whitesell—as the […]
Morris Aldridge – Tacoma Public Schools
Morris Aldridge says it never gets old: watching elementary school children walk into a new school and hearing them squeal with delight. It’s almost as good as Christmas morning, he says. Delivering on a positive educational experience is something Aldridge knows a thing or two about. As a former teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, he […]
William Maffett – Auburn University
What culinary student wouldn’t like to learn how to learn how to cook under the eyes of a master chef in a world-class educational setting? (As long as it isn’t Gordon Ramsey of Hell’s Kitchen?) But that is just one of many options for hospitality students at Auburn University’s forthcoming $95.4 million culinary center approved […]
Ron Siliko – Miami University Recreational Sports Center
As a kid, when Ron Siliko thought about his dream job, he envisioned having his own set of keys to open a gymnasium, with a plan to shoot hoops anytime he wanted. In reality, he got his wish—and a whole lot more. Basketball courts, swimming pools, equestrian facilities and baseball diamonds are just a few […]
Kedrick Wright – San Antonio ISD
Back in the private sector after a productive five years with the Houston Housing Authority and one of that city’s independent school districts, Kedrick Wright figured he’d be around for a while as a project manager for the local affiliate of the civil engineering firm of Lockwood, Andrews & Newman. Career-wise, he’d have everything to […]
Kent Marsh – University of Colorado – Colorado Springs
When two halves amount to more than the sum of their parts, the effects can be powerful—even transformative. Case in point: the symbiotic public-private partnership between the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the city that shares its name. Separately, the two entities suffered from traffic congestion and deficits in construction funding. In the […]
Britain Jacobson – EVERFI
Even a digital schoolhouse needs a brick and mortar home. However, EVERFI, the Washington, D.C.-based provider of digital online educational content, does not need chalkboards, erasers or old school audiovisual equipment to help its customers learn; it just needed more space. Planning for the move from its old location to the new one began in […]
Richard A. Yeager – University of Massachusetts-Amherst
There’s got to be some more “there-there.” Richard A. Yeager laments the phrase, but concedes its wisdom. Especially in his role of the past year as director for campus planning at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. While he’s quick to acknowledge the more than $1.5 billion of capital improvements and new buildings over the past 15 […]
Hector A. Dietsch – Seminole State College of Florida
The rewards, at least the tangible ones, were greater in some of his previous posts, but Hector A. Dietsch wanted more out of his professional and personal life. For he had been logging 10- to 12-hour shifts, six, sometimes seven days a week in his native Dominican Republic, supervising high-stakes renovation for construction companies. A […]
