David Rea, associate vice president for Campus Planning and Project Management, recently informed me of his decision to retire from the university effective August 31, 2019, after serving our university for 35 years.
He earned his Master of Architecture degree from UT Austin in 1980, and is a Registered Architect and Landscape Architect with the State of Texas. David returned to the university in 1984 to begin his career as an Architect I for Architectural & Engineering Services. Despite officing in the basement of the Service Building, he greatly enjoyed his work. By 1999, he was the manager of Campus Planning and became associate director for that unit in 2002. In 2006, David became director, a position he held until his appointment in 2014 to the newly created role of associate vice president of Campus Planning and Project Management (CPPM), his current position.
David has spearheaded major master planning for the university, including the 1994 Master Plan, the 2013 Campus Master Plan and the Medical District Master Plan. Athletics master planning efforts led to the decision about where to build the Arena.David has supported development and implementation of the overall campus planning effort, including campus master plan updates, district master planning, college and school facility master plans and campus landscape master planning. Responsible for defining projects to be included in the six-year Capital Improvement Program, he has ensured that UT projects are consistent with the Campus Master Plan.
David has supported university leadership throughout the planning, design and construction phases of all new buildings and major renovation projects. For projects completed since 2006, that effort represents 25 buildings such as the Blanton Museum of Art, the Dell Medical School buildings, and the Engineering Education and Research Center, to name just a few. It also represents an amazing 5.9 million gross square feet of new or renovated space. Under his leadership, projects now underway or in planning are the Welch Hall Renovation, the Energy Engineering Building, and the new Arena. But of all the construction projects he has overseen at UT, David says he is most proud of the Speedway Mall, which he views as a lasting benefit to the campus community.
As associate vice president for CPPM, David has provided leadership for the directors of Capital Planning and Construction, Project Management and Construction Services, Campus Real Estate Office and the Office of Sustainability. Under his leadership, these units and UT have received accolades too numerous to list here. I am confident these units will continue to represent the best interest of the university in all that they do, as David has done throughout his career with us. Information about the search to fillDavid’s role will be shared when those details are available.
Please join me in congratulating David on his dedicated service and many accomplishments at UT. I wish him all the best in the years to come.
Please share this information with your teams and colleagues at your discretion.
Regards,
Darrell Bazzell
Senior Vice President and CFO
