Title: New Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management to Join Georgetown This Fall

Kuo has served as associate vice president of facilities management at Cornell since 2014, and previously was a director for that university’s Office of Environment, Health and Safety.

As vice president for planning and facilities management at Georgetown, Kuo will oversee the divisions of master planning, campus and strategic planning, facilities management, design and construction, transportation, real estate, sustainability, recycling, business, and energy and utilities.

Breadth of Experience

“Benjamin brings to Georgetown a breadth of experience in planning, facilities management and environmental health and safety,” says Geoff Chatas, the university’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “He will be a great partner as we strive to deepen engagement with our neighbors and the District of Columbia and plan responsibly in ways that strengthen both our university and our impact within Washington.”

A native of Starkville, Mississippi, Kuo lived in Arlington, Virginia, in the early 1990s, when he provided regulatory development services for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“From my previous time living and working in the area, I developed an admiration for Georgetown’s beautiful and historic campus as well as its place as a global leader in higher education,” says Kuo, who holds a degree in chemical engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University. “Much like D.C., Georgetown offers a stunning diversity of people and ideas that I’m extremely honored and excited to become a part of.”

While at Cornell, Kuo served as principal investigator for a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to transform the university’s emergency management into a more contemporary all-hazards approach.

He also reduced overhead and increased productivity at Cornell by developing a logistics section to improve procurement, material handling and delivery and contracted services management.

Positive Relationships

Kuo notes that deferred maintenance for universities has increased as a result of the Great Recession.

“It’s been rewarding to influence Cornell’s long-range capital plans towards a focus on managing and reducing maintenance backlog through renewals and renovations,” he says.

In addition to his work at Cornell, Kuo served in engineering and corporate roles for Toyota Motor Manufacturing.

Kuo replaces Robin Morey, who took an executive role at Emory University in July, and who led Georgetown’s master planning process that resulted in Georgetown’s first ever 20-year uncontested campus plan.

Great Thought

He says he’s “looking forward to joining a team of talented planning and facilities management team members and developing strong positive relationships with our diverse stakeholders.”

“There’s been a lot of great thought and work put into the Georgetown University Campus Plan and I’m excited about making those aspirations become a reality,” he adds.

With his wife, Sharon Myers, Kuo has a high-school age son and a daughter in her first year at Cornell.

“She’s excited to visit us during breaks, but not so excited that she won’t have free laundry anymore,” he jokes.