The Dean congratulates Brian Wheeler and Ryan O'Shaughnessy for receiving recognition for their excellent contributions to the university via the 2023 Outstanding Building Representative Award. This University-wide award is an acknowledgement of the quality services they provide to UNT's faculty, staff, students, and visitors.

"I was honored to receive this award; it meant a lot to be selected by the maintenance staff," said Brian, Director of Elm Fork Education Center and building rep for the Environmental Education, Science & Technology (EESAT) Building. "They work in the background of everything we do and are a huge part of making UNT and specifically EESAT a safe and fun place to visit and learn."

"I am humbled and honored to receive this award, and I appreciate all the effort that went into putting together the award ceremony and the video," said Ryan. "I appreciate being appreciated!"

The Building Representative program is an important element of the daily operations of UNT. It was created to facilitate communication between UNT Facilities, its partners, and building occupants. The building representative is a UNT employee who has a defined role in campus emergencies, disaster preparedness, and building maintenance.

Brian has been working at UNT since he was a student here in 1990, and has specifically been working for the Elm Fork Education Center since it opened in 1998. Ryan is the Scientific Instrument Technician Supervisor, overseeing the operations of facilities and instrumentation for UNT's biology and chemistry departments, and the building representative for UNT's Life Science Complex.

"Being the building rep keeps me at junction point for the whole building. I enjoy working with the faculty, staff and students to make sure everyone can do their part," said Brian. "But I could not do this alone, my job would be infinitely less fun and rewarding without Marti Lathrop and our staff of student workers."

"I am so grateful for the people that I work with, everyone I run into around here puts forth their best effort to support each other personally and professionally. The UNT community is fantastic," said Ryan. "I especially appreciate how focused, talented, and tenacious the folks from Facilities are! They do a phenomenal job keeping our incredibly complicated buildings operational."

UNT currently has 184 buildings and 125 building representatives. To learn more about the Building Representatives program, please visit
https://facilities.unt.edu/resources/building-representative-program