Announcement – John Bollier

November 19, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

We write to share the news that John Bollier, vice president for facilities and campus development, has decided to retire on January 14, 2022. John has served the university with distinction for nearly three decades, and he will be greatly missed.

Since his arrival at Yale in 1992, John has contributed to the development and expansion of our campus and physical plant to support Yale’s mission of education, research, preservation, and practice. During his time at Yale, the campus—500 acres, 380 buildings, and nearly 20 million square feet of space—has grown significantly. Among the complex and significant projects that John has helped shepherd to completion are the construction of two new residential colleges, the Yale Science Building, the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, and the School of Management’s Edward P. Evans Hall; the comprehensive renovation of the Humanities Quadrangle; the restoration of Sachem’s Wood; and the renovation of historic Commons and completion of the magnificent Yale Schwarzman Center.

Beyond constructing buildings, John has strengthened the capabilities of Yale’s facilities organization. He has helped to recruit exceptional professionals to the university’s capital program, enabling it to deliver consistent, high-quality results. Under his leadership, a facilities team of over 800 employees has carried out over $5 billion in capital projects while consistently supporting the university’s daily facilities-related needs. In collaboration with union leadership, he improved facilities operations, created career ladders, developed and implemented apprenticeship programs, and established a new internal trade shop for millwork. The new five-year union contract, successfully ratified last month, reflects the productive management-labor collaboration that John has fostered.

A licensed architect, John spent ten years working with architectural firms in Connecticut before beginning his career at Yale as a facilities capital project manager at the School of Medicine. He went on to lead the medical school’s facilities operations and capital group, and in 2003, he joined the Office of New Haven and State Affairs and Campus Development and led facilities operations across the university. In 2008, he took on responsibility for the implementation of planning and capital projects that serve the entire campus, and since 2012, for the Office of Sustainability. In 2018, John was appointed to his current role, and his portfolio expanded further.

John leaves a lasting legacy at Yale; our campus is more vibrant, sustainable, and connected thanks to his leadership. During this period of transition, Jack Callahan Jr., senior vice president for operations, will work closely with the offices that report to John and will update them on next steps. In the meantime, please join us in expressing our gratitude to John for his service to Yale, in congratulating him on his accomplishments, and in wishing him well as he begins a new chapter.

Sincerely,

Peter Salovey
President
Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology

Jack Callahan Jr.
Senior Vice President for Operations