Denver, CO – The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Colorado presented Gary L. Reynolds, PE, from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), with its 2016 General Palmer Award. The General Palmer Award is given to an engineer who has made a significant contribution to Colorado, received recognition in the community, made advancement in the engineering community, and had an impact on future generations.
Reynolds, a resident of Colorado Springs, has been at UCCS since December 2007 and currently serves as associate vice chancellor for campus planning and facilities management. In this role, Reynolds provides executive oversight for the administration of facilities strategic planning, capital planning, facility design and construction, capital construction projects, general- and auxiliary-funded building operations and maintenance, utilities management, parking and transportation, mail and shipping services, and sustainability.
“General Palmer was a visionary who defined a community outside the confluence of the Platte River and Cherry Creek, in the little-known recreational town of Colorado Springs (the Old Colorado City), which evolved into a major gold ore–processing industrial center,” said ACEC Colorado Past President Bill Hoffmann, PE, who also serves on the ACEC Colorado Awards Committee. “General Palmer was the architect of the community–the guy that got it engineered as well as the ‘master builder.’”
Hoffman continued: “When asked earlier this year if I had a nominee, my thoughts turned to the significant transformation of the UCCS campus over the last 20-plus years, together with the ‘General Palmer’-like contributors to that growth and the fastest growing university in the United States. Reynolds was the individual who brought that transformation to fruition with sustainability for the long term.”
Reynolds holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering science and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering, both from Iowa State University. He has worked in private practice and in facilities management at both public and private institutions of higher education since 1972. At UCCS, he has overseen the design and construction of numerous university facilities, which each received Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Gold designations, as well as the completion and implementation of the university’s facilities masterplan in 2012, for which he has implemented numerous process improvements in the physical plant operations. Prior to his current position, Reynolds was the executive director of facilities services at Colorado College, where he spent 10 years overseeing the long-range development plan and implementation of numerous capital-improvement projects.
Reynolds is a registered professional engineer in Colorado and member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He has held numerous leadership positions, including president, in International APPA: The Association of Higher Education Facilities Officer, and is an APPA Fellow. He is a life member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers; has authored numerous articles in the field of facilities management; served as the field editor and author of a book on total-quality management; edited and authored the operations and maintenance section of APPA’s Body of Knowledge; and was co-principal investigator on the impact of facilities on the recruitment and retention of students. He has led or participated in several facilities management department reviews at institutions in both the US and Canada. Reynolds has taught courses on heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning design for the UCCS mechanical engineering department and has taught at the APPA Institute for Facilities Management since 1985. Additionally, he has served on several facilities-related committees for the National Research Board of the National Research Council.
Image courtesy of ACEC of Colorado
