The appointment of Victoria V. Sirianni as director of Physical Plant, effective July 1, has been announced by Senior Vice President William R. Dickson.
Ms. Sirianni, assistant director of Physical Plant since 1991 and a member of that department since 1976, succeeds Harmon E. (Gene) Brammer, who is retiring. Mr. Brammer has headed Physical Plant since 1990.
"I am pleased to announce the appointment of Vicky Sirianni as director of Physical Plant," Mr. Dickson said. "Vicky has extensive expertise and experience in construction, renovation, design and space utilization and, having been a member of Physical Plant for 20 years, also has developed a broad knowledge of both the human and operational aspects of the challenges that face Physical Plant. She is a consummate team-builder and is extraordinarily service oriented.
"I salute Gene Brammer for his many years of outstanding service to the Institute. MIT has benefited deeply from his skills as an administrator and a communicator and we will all miss him."
As director of Physical Plant, Ms. Sirianni will be responsible for a workforce of 595 including custodial, grounds, maintenance and utility plant personnel and the architects, engineers, support staff and other technical personnel that make up the Plant.
She is the first woman to hold the post of Physical Plant director at MIT and the size of the "plant" she will head may be the largest in the nation headed by a woman, Mr. Dickson said.
As assistant director, Ms. Sirianni supervised campus construction, renewal and renovations, provided engineering and construction management support for Physical Plant's operating divisions and coordinated administrative overview and management of the Institute's space.
Previously, she was manager of design and construction services (1988-91), assistant to the director for space administration (1985-91), manager of interior design (1976-85), and interior designer/furniture buyer (1973/76).
Ms. Sirianni, who holds the EdM (1973) from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and the AB with honors (1969) from Carnegie Mellon University, was also a special graduate student in the MIT Department of Architecture from 1973-75.
She is a member of the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, the Institute of Business Designers and the Society for College and University Planning.
A version of this article appeared in the April 28, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 37, Number 30).
