Panelists
Brian Cowperthwaite
Senior Director, Facilities Services Operations & Maintenance
The University of Chicago
Brian Cowperthwaite has over 30 years of leadership and experience in operations and maintenance. In his current role, Brian is the Senior Director of Operations & Maintenance with Facility Services for approximately 150 buildings and 10 million GSF at the University of Chicago. With an intense focus on reducing risk, Brian provides leadership and direction in regard to programmatic level maintenance, enterprise asset management, and diverse client engagement programs.
Prior to joining the University of Chicago Brian led operations for G.E. North America onshore wind (renewable energy) tooling logistics, asset management, and vendor development. Brian is a retired Marine Corps Officer of 22 years, a Certified Six-Sigma Green Belt, and received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. with Central Michigan University.
John T. Shea
CEO
The New York City Department of Education, Division of School Facilities
John T. Shea has been the CEO of the New York City Department of Education, Division of School Facilities (DSF) since August, 2008. The New York City Department of Education is the largest K-12 school district in the United States, with 1.1 million students, universal pre-kindergarten, and a portfolio of 1405 buildings with a total of 135M square feet of managed space. To successfully oversee this enterprise, DSF relies on an outstanding team of 250 professional staff in the areas of Facility Management, Engineering, Contracts, Project Management, Sustainability, Environmental Health and Safety, Finance, Emergency Preparedness, IT, and Maintenance Management, as well as 450 professional trades staff, 860 Custodian Engineers, 1100 Building Engineers, and 6500 Cleaners.
Before arriving at the NYC DOE John spent twelve years as the Executive Director of Facilities for the Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), the largest regional school district in New York State. Prior to BOCES, he was a Technical Manager for the Aramark Corporation in their Educational Services division. John started his career in the maritime industry as an engineer, supervising ship repair and construction both domestically and internationally. He has a BS in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, from where he graduated in 1989, and is a former officer in the United States Naval Reserve.
Keith Watkins
Director of Facilities
City School District of New Rochelle
30+ yrs. experience in NYS public schools related facilities management - CDF Accreditation (Certified Director of Facilities 1 of 46 active in NYS) - Professional Certificate in School Facilities Planning & Management - Past President of NYSSFA (2014-15) - Past President of NSPMA (2020-21) - 2021 NSPMA Pat Cochrane Award Recipient - 2020 NSPMA Plant Manager of the Year - Past School Board Member (Phoenix CSD) - Expertise in “Cleaning for Health”. IAQ, staffing and tasking management, facilities assessments, implementation of products and equipment. Proven leader related to all aspects of facilities operations and maintenance.
Ron Shaffer
Industry Solutions Leader – Education
SALTO Systems
Ron Shaffer leads SALTO Systems’ education solutions business practice. His focus is on aligning SALTO’s innovative access control technology and hardware with the ever-evolving needs of the market and the future demands of next-generation educational facilities.
Ron is an access control expert and industry veteran, and he is passionate about security and safety in schools, on campuses and within student living environments. Together with SALTO, he is on a mission to bring new technologies and products to market that keep students, faculty, and staff safe and enhance schools’ ability to deliver the highest levels of education.
Alan Squires
Director of Specification and Retrofit Solutions
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
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