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November 5, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smith College Appoints New Executive Director for Facilities

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Smith College recently named John J. Shenette, a facilities manager who has led building projects at five other colleges and universities, as executive director for its facilities.

Shenette will assume the post on Dec. 12, replacing Robert Lesko, who is serving as interim director of facilities since William Brandt, former director of campus operations and facilities, retired earlier this year.

For the past seven years, Shenette, of Thompson, Conn., has served as executive director of facilities management at Bentley College, a 163-acre campus in Waltham, Mass.

At Smith, Shenette will work closely with department directors and staff to enhance the quality and integration of services provided to the campus community. He will also develop and implement a long-range facilities plan that will include advancing the sustainability of campus buildings and operations.

Throughout his two decades in facilities management, Shenette has been involved in projects at several colleges and universities—including Wheaton College, Gettysburg College, East Carolina University and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center—either as a project manager for an independent company or as an employee of the schools.

Shenette has also lectured on topics related to managing facilities on college campuses, including dorm room inspections and parking.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Central New England College in, Shenette began his career as a civil engineer for the City of Worcester in 1984 before transitioning into higher education facilities management.

Smith College recently held a groundbreaking for a $73 million science and engineering facility designed to emphasize sustainability and energy efficiency. The college currently has about 120 residential, academic and administrative buildings with a total of approximately 2.8 million gross square feet of space on 125 contiguous acres.

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Office of College Relations
Smith College
Garrison Hall
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063

Kristen Cole
Media Relations Director
T (413) 585-2190
F (413) 585-2174
kacole@email.smith.edu

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