The American Council of Engineering Cos. of Colorado presented Gary L. Reynolds from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs with its 2016 General Palmer Award during a November ceremony at The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

The General Palmer Award is given to an engineer who has made a significant contribution to Colorado, received recognition in the community, made advancements in the engineering community and had an impact on future generations.

Reynolds, who is a resident of Colorado Springs, has been at UCCS since December 2007. He currently serves as associate vice chancellor for campus planning and facilities management.

Reynolds provides executive oversight for the administration of facilities strategic planning, capital planning, facility design and construction, capital construction projects, general- and auxiliary-funded building operations and maintenance, utilities management, parking and transportation, mail and shipping services and sustainability.

“General Palmer was a visionary who defined a community outside the confluence of the Platte River and Cherry Creek, in the little-known recreational town of Colorado Springs (the Old Colorado City), which evolved into a major gold ore–processing industrial center,” said ACEC Colorado Past President Bill Hoffmann, who also serves on the ACEC Colorado Awards Committee. “General Palmer was the architect of the community, the guy that got it engineered as well as the master builder.”

Hoffman added: “When asked earlier this year if I had a nominee [for the General Palmer Award], my thoughts turned to the significant transformation of the UCCS campus over the last 20-plus years, together with the General Palmer-like contributors to that growth and the fastest-growing university in the United States. Reynolds was the individual who brought that transformation to fruition with sustainability for the long term.”

Reynolds holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering science and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, both from Iowa State University. He has worked in private practice and facilities management at both public and private institutions of higher education since 1972. At UCCS, he has overseen the design and construction of several university facilities, each of which received LEED Gold designations. He also managed the creation of the university’s facilities master plan in 2012, for which he has implemented process improvements in the physical plant.

Before his current position, Reynolds was the executive director of facilities services at Colorado College, where he spent 10 years overseeing the campus’ long-range development plan and completion of many capital-improvement projects.

Reynolds is a registered professional engineer in Colorado and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He has held several leadership positions, including president, in International APPA, the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officer and is an APPA Fellow.

He is a life member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers; has authored numerous articles in facilities management; served as the field editor and author of a book on total-quality management; edited and authored the operations and maintenance section of APPA’s Body of Knowledge; and was a co-principal investigator on a study about the impact of facilities on recruitment and retention of students.

He has led or participated in several facilities management department reviews at institutions in both the U.S. and Canada. Reynolds has taught courses on heating, ventilating and air-conditioning design for the UCCS mechanical engineering department and has taught at the APPA Institute for Facilities Management since 1985. Additionally, he has served on several facilities-related committees for the National Research Board of the National Research Council.