The more than 600 staff members who make up the Vanderbilt University Facilities Department play a vital role in keeping the university ticking, and now the department is expanding and restructuring to better serve the Vanderbilt community.
Internal restructuring
Effective immediately, part of the restructuring is realigning the offices of Mobility and Transportation and Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability within the Facilities Department.
“This is an amazing opportunity to align Vanderbilt’s built environment around our goals for mobility and sustainability while continuing to focus on the health, safety and operability of the campus environment,” said Alex Kohnen, associate vice chancellor and chief facilities officer. “I am incredibly excited about the synergies and opportunities this will create.”
Planning, design and construction
Another change is the rebranding and restructuring of Campus Planning and Construction to Planning, Design and Construction.
Along with a new name, the Planning, Design and Construction department will undergo personnel changes, including the addition of Assistant Vice Chancellor Matthew Riethmiller. The new structure will allow staff to specialize in certain areas, expand their capacity and improve work quality for a wide range of campus projects.
“Matt is an exceptional leader with over 25 years working to deliver capital programs that enhance and improve operations for his organization,” Kohnen said. “I could not be more thrilled to have him join the Vanderbilt team.”
Riethmiller joins Vanderbilt after serving more than two decades in the United States Navy. During his naval career, he worked as an executive officer in the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, a commander/commodore of the Naval Construction Group One and commanding officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command for the Mid-Atlantic and Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.
Riethmiller earned his bachelor of science from Ohio State University in civil and environmental engineering, was a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and earned his master of engineering in environmental engineering from Old Dominion University.
He will join the Planning, Design and Construction team in late September.
For additional information about these departmental changes, email facilities@vanderbilt.edu.
