Following Ben Poulson’s announcement of his retirement last August and after a competitive national search, Joseph A. “Tony” Millette has agreed to join Energy Services as the new executive director, starting April 1.
Millette is an energy engineer with more than 20 years of experience in utility operations management, infrastructure design and construction. In addition, he brings to Carolina broad experience in project design and management, building energy management optimization, sustainability planning, wastewater treatment operations, and boiler, steam and refrigeration plant design and management, all with a focus on safety and continuous improvement.
Millette comes to us most recently from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where he served as director of Energy and Utilities. In that role he provided engineering and leadership oversight across all MUSC sites, including 16 hospitals, for all utilities and energy-related issues. Before that, he was the utilities plant operations and distribution director for the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Millette earned his bachelor’s in energy management at Bismarck Polytechnic Institution and his master’s in engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In addition, he will graduate with his MBA from UAB this spring.
“As we welcome Tony to campus, I also want to thank Ben for his service to Energy Services and the University,” said Gordon Merklein, associate vice chancellor for Real Estate and Campus Enterprises. “Over the course of two decades, Ben has worked with his Energy Services colleagues to provide exceptional service and support to the campus community.”
In the one-month interim period between Poulson’s last day, Feb. 29, and Millette’s first day in the role, Sean Cooper will serve as an administrative liaison for Energy Services.