Howard University News
October 9, 2012
Alan Brangman Engages Community and Advances Facilities Renewal
Standing on the terrace below the historic Miner Hall on the main campus, Alan Brangman checks off the list of major building projects underway at Howard University. There is the four-story Interdisciplinary Research Building coming soon next door to the Howard Bookstore, the two new residence halls to be located near the Bethune Annex, and a new simulation center at the Medical School.
"To meet our renewal goals, we have to ensure that academic and facilities renewal intersect and are intentional," Brangman said. "The process is collaborative with students, faculty, staff, administrators and other stakeholders. We are making progress and will scale up our efforts in the next few months as we continue to transform our physical plant."
Brangman has more than three decades of public and private sector experience in the field. During the 1980s and 1990s, he worked with prominent developers who revitalized large swaths of downtown Washington. At Georgetown University, where he served for 16 years as University Architect, Brangman helped build a new business school building, residence halls, a dining facility and revamped the school's facilities master plan.
Prior to joining Howard, Brangman was the university architect and campus planner at the University of Delaware, where he played a major part in the transformation of a 277-acre former Chrysler assembly plant into a health sciences campus. In addition to his real estate experience, Brangman served for four years as a city councilman in the City of Falls Church, Va., and two years as mayor. Brangman earned a bachelor's in architecture from Cornell University and an executive master's degree in Leadership from Georgetown University.
Over the past two years, Howard has undertaken a campus-wide Facilities Renewal initiative through which the University has invested $28 million in a large number of major renovation projects. Eight building makeovers are now complete, including Numa Adams, Cramton Auditorium, Locke Hall, Frazier Hall, and the Service Center. Howard has also invested nearly $4 million in renovation and building upgrades for all 13 residence halls. The changes include such things as fresh paint, new carpet, new furniture, improvements to bathrooms and 1,000 new mattresses. Since joining Howard in April, Brangman has met with academic deans across campus to learn their building needs and to brainstorm ways to get students involved.
In meeting with deans this year, Brangman learned from the Dean of the School of Education, Dr. Leslie Fenwick, that she is committed to the rehabilitation of the Miner building. The structure sits between the School of Business and the Mordecai Johnson administration building. Miner Hall has a storied past as an abolitionist institution that trained generations of African-American women as teachers for schools in the South.
As associate vice president of Facilities, Real Estate and University Architect, Brangman oversees the day-to-day operations. His responsibilities encompass Physical Facilities Management, Architectural & Engineering Services, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, the Office of Sustainability, Parking and Transportation Services, the Office of Real Estate, and the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises. But laying plans for future projects clearly stimulates the side of Brangman that centers on meeting the architectural and building needs of our community.
SANDRA M. PHOENIX
Executive Director
HBCU Library Alliance
sphoenix@hbculibraries.orgmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org
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Skype: sandra.phoenix1
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Honor the ancestors, honor the children.
Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.