John D'Angelo named Vice President for Facilities

EVANSTON, Ill. --- John L. D’Angelo Jr., vice president of engineering and facilities operations at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, has been named the new vice president for facilities at Northwestern University, effective Feb. 16, Executive Vice President Nim Chinniah announced Friday (Jan. 23).

D’Angelo will be responsible for the development and management of the Evanston and Chicago campuses and will play an advisory, high-level, oversight role for the Doha campus in Qatar. He was chosen after a national search to succeed former Vice President Ron Nayler, who retired in December.

In his new role, D’Angelo brings more than 27 years of experience in capital improvement management, facility design and construction, facility and campus master planning, operations and maintenance, and environmental and policy development. A great partner and collaborator, he also draws on a long history of working closely on facilities issues with elite higher education institutions ranging from Cornell and Columbia to Case Western.

“John’s skills, experience and talents will be a significant asset to the University as he assumes the leadership role for facilities,” Chinniah said. “I am delighted to have him join the team.”

A strategic thinker and engaged leader, D’Angelo brings extensive experience with the research and teaching enterprise, and he is committed to developing and mentoring his staff. He has been extremely client focused in the health care sector, honing services and support and raising the standard of service within the organizations he has helped manage.

“My family and I are truly honored to join this world-class team of professionals whose culture of service to the community, innovative research and engaged teaching continue to make Northwestern the university of choice for the best students and educators in the world,” D’Angelo said.

“The trustees and senior administrators have built Northwestern’s pioneering spirit and tradition of collaboration into strategic partnerships that have the University poised for ever greater success.”

Northwestern Provost Daniel Linzer welcomed the appointment, noting, “I am thrilled that John will be joining us at Northwestern. I greatly look forward to working closely with him on space planning, sustainability and our many construction and renovation projects.”

At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, D’Angelo was responsible for maintaining safe and compliant facilities and infrastructure across all campuses and overseeing business operations, energy policies, strategic engineering planning and regulatory compliance. He also had an important role in implementing the hospital’s eight-year capital plan, and he worked closely with Cornell and Columbia universities on a wide range of facilities issues.

Before that job, D’Angelo served as senior director of facilities for the Cleveland Clinic, where he was responsible for overseeing facilities operations and management across the entire system.

Prior to that, he held various facilities leadership positions within the U.S. Navy, and he was named Pacific Engineer of the Year by the U.S. Department of Defense. D’Angelo received his undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and his master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland.

D’Angelo has proven leadership and team-building skills developed over 20 years as a naval officer in a variety of leadership roles, including as facilities manager, Naval Air Station Pensacola. In civilian life over the past decade, he also has managed all aspects of facilities operations, repair, maintenance, services and support for two nationally ranked, top 10, health care systems in the Midwest and Northeast.

At Northwestern, the vice president for facilities leads a multifaceted facilities organization with primary responsibility for the University’s physical assets -- including 240 acres of grounds in Evanston and 26 acres in downtown Chicago, comprising some 225 buildings and about 10 million gross square feet of laboratories, classrooms, offices and residences, as well as the campus in Doha, Qatar.

In the context of the 2011 Northwestern Strategic Plan and the ongoing “We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern,” the University is in the early stages of a robust capital program that will add or renovate research, residential, academic and administrative space over the next decade, with a total expenditure of approximately $2 billion.