New Plant Extension director named

ANN ARBOR—Marina Roelofs has been appointed as the director of the University of Michigan’s Plant Extension department, announced Henry Baier, associate vice president for facilities and operations. The appointment is effective Feb. 21.

In her new position, Roelofs will plan and direct the administrative and operational activities of the University’s Construction Management, Facilities Planning and Design, and Interior Design areas. Additionally, she will participate in capital planning for all campuses. Roelofs succeeds Tom Schlaff, who has served as interim director of plant extension.

“Marina’s wide-ranging experience in the construction industry spans from purchasing and procurement through engineering, construction management, and legal/contractual issues,” Baier said. “This complete construction management perspective and experience will benefit the U-M as we strive to build the best facilities and control costs to support education and research.”

Roelofs has been with the University since July 1999 as assistant director of plant extension with primary responsibility for the coordination of the Life Sciences project.

Prior to joining U-M, Roelofs was an assistant vice president for facilities at the University of Toledo. During her six years at U-T, she was responsible for managing and directing the U-T’s capital programs, including 850,000 square feet of new construction valued at more than $100 million, as well as the facilities maintenance activities of the plant operations department.

Prior to U-T, Roelofs was with the General Motors Corp. Her responsibilities included serving as the Argonaut AEC project manager for various divisions and staffs such as the GM Milford Proving Grounds, Packard Electric Division, and GM Corporate Offices. As project manager, she managed waste treatment facilities, research facilities including cold and clean rooms, laboratories, dynamometers, and industrial/manufacturing facilities—projects which ranged in value from $1 million to more than $100 million. She also was the owner representative for Argonaut AEC at the new GM Lake Orion plant with 3 million square feet of total construction. Additionally, as a manager in construction contracting, Roelofs served on the GM Safety Task Force that created the guidelines for safety on GM construction projects and on the GM Purchasing Construction Council to support and implement the findings of the Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness research program.

A construction engineering graduate of Lawrence Technological University, Roelofs has a Juris Doctorate from the Detroit College of Law and a master of science in civil engineering degree from Wayne State University.

Plant ExtensionConstruction ManagementLife Sciences project