Victoria Sirianni, chief facilities officer and director of the Institute's capital building program, will leave MIT this spring after 30 years at the Institute.
Since she became head of the Department of Facilities a decade ago, Sirianni has emphasized leadership teams with broad ranges of staff members. "My goal when I became director of Facilities was to create an environment within the department that was customer-focused, diverse and 'leader-ful,' rather than a traditional hierarchy, and I believe I succeeded," she said.
Another goal was to help achieve President Charles Vest's vision for an improved physical environment on campus. Several buildings are already complete and the Stata Center is slated to open this spring.
"Vicky Sirianni's vision and professional execution have been absolutely essential to the transformation of MIT's campus that has occurred in recent years. Her dedication to architectural quality, and to making projects ranging from major new buildings to modest renovations that serve the needs of our students and faculty, has been unwavering. She has directed an unprecedented pace of construction, and I am deeply grateful to her for helping MIT to become a more vibrant and architecturally exciting campus," Vest said.
"Vicky has done yeoman's service in seeing one of the Institute's largest capital construction programs to near completion. We are grateful for her many years of service to MIT," Executive Vice President John R. Curry said.
Sirianni joined MIT in 1973 as interior design manager in Physical Plant, a post she held for 12 years. She held three other positions in the department before being appointed head in 1993.
Associate Pro-vost Claude Canizares, the Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics, will chair the search committee for Sirianni's successor. Patricia Brady, senior project director in the Office of the Executive Vice President, will staff the committee.
Sirianni will leave by June 30. If she departs before her successor is chosen, Jim Wallace, director of facilities operations and administration, and Paul Curley, director of capital construction, will report directly to Curry.
"Although I made my decision to leave some time ago, I'm still not certain of what my next step will be. I'll definitely get some rest, which I've not had much of during the past few years," Sirianni said.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on January 14, 2004.
