Jill Blackwelder, a civil engineer who directed a decade of rapid construction at Rice University in Houston, is UC Davis' new associate vice chancellor for facilities.
Blackwelder, who replaces Darrell Ralls in one of his two posts, started her new duties Tuesday overseeing facilities on the 5,300-acre campus in the midst of a building boom. Ralls will continue to direct Facilities Services, one of five units reporting to the associate vice chancellor, until his retirement next January.
Blackwelder was chosen in a national search from among close to 100 applicants.
"I am very pleased to have Jill join my senior management group," said Vice Chancellor for Administration Janet Hamilton. "She brings considerable experience in capital construction planning and management that will benefit the campus greatly as we prepare for significant campus growth over the next decade."
Blackwelder has been director of project management and planning at Rice University since 1990. There she administered a $300 million capital building plan for the small, private research university.
Over the past 10 years, she oversaw construction that increased the campus's building space by 25 percent to 3 million square feet and developed plans to expand the square footage another 50 percent in the next five to 10 years.
After getting her bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1978, she worked until 1990 at an Exxon refinery in Baytown, Texas. Her jobs there included designing refinery upgrades and supervising the company's compliance with environmental regulations.
In her new job, Blackwelder will be responsible for design and construction, environmental health and safety, agricultural services, and facilities operation and maintenance on the physically largest of the UC campuses.
As associate vice chancellor, she will manage a $70 million budget and 740 employees who maintain 1,100 academic buildings totaling 12 million square feet. She is also charged with protecting the campus's $1.6 billion in buildings, grounds, farms and utility assets.
"I'm very happy to be here," said Blackwelder on her first day on the job. "The opportunity here for the big building program and the breadth of responsibility are very exciting and challenging."
Ralls praised her combination of skills as an engineer and her experience both in private industry and university environments.
"I'm very pleased with her appointment," he said. "I think she's going to be an asset for the campus. She's well prepared for the job."
The associate vice chancellor for facilities for the past 11 years, Ralls announced his retirement plans a year ago, saying he wanted to give notice far in advance to help smooth the transition.
"I've always said I will feel best about this transition if, when I walk out the door, nobody misses me," he said in an interview last week.
Ralls has also held the title of facilities services director since budget cutbacks in the early 1990s. Ralls said the campus has grown so much since that the position needs a full-time administrator.
Ralls, who directed an Oregon state agency and helped run a family-owned automotive services company before joining UC Davis, said he tried to adopt the best industry practices in an effort to control construction costs and speed delivery of services on campus.
UC Davis has added 1.5 million square feet, an increase of nearly 15 percent, since he started here, Ralls said. With construction booming, he said the campus will need to develop new strategies in the coming years for getting the best value from its buildings.
As director of the Facilities Services De-partment, Ralls oversees the custodial, fire, grounds and plant operations divisions as well as production management.
"I am very proud of our facilities staff. But I think that facilities needs a new leader, somebody who will come in with new energy and a new set of ideas. That's going to be healthy. Every organization needs fresh blood," he says