Jim Scott to Retire, John Davis Named Physical Plant Interim Director

University of Wyoming Physical Plant Director Jim Scott will retire effective Oct. 2, and John Davis, deputy director of Facilities Management, will serve as interim director.

A retirement reception for Scott is scheduled Monday, Sept. 28, from 1-3 p.m. in the Physical Plant conference room.

Bill Mai, UW vice president for administration, says Scott has made outstanding contributions to the university during a time of unprecedented growth and expansion.

“Under his leadership, the Physical Plant has been able to maintain an attractive campus that all of us can be proud of. His work to ensure the campus maintains the highest levels of sustainability and efficiency has resulted in UW being ranked among the nation’s most environmentally responsible universities,” Mai says. “We are confident that the same level of commitment to excellent service will continue under John Davis.”

Scott has directed the UW Physical Plant since 2006. Before then, he served at UW as a project manager in Information Technology and a business analyst executive in the Division of Administration. He is the co-chair of the UW Campus Sustainability Committee and is involved in many sustainability initiatives on campus.

Before coming to UW, Scott spent 12 years in the cable television industry working for Scripps Howard Cable Company and Comcast Communications as a project manager, controller and general manager. Scott received an M.S. in accounting and B.S. in management information systems/accounting at UW, and is a licensed CPA in Wyoming.

Davis has been in his current position at UW for nearly four years. Before arriving at UW, he was the associate vice president for facilities management at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. He has held a variety of engineering and management positions, ranging from consulting engineer to plant manager. A licensed professional mechanical engineer, he graduated from the Oregon Institute of Technology. Davis also graduated from Carroll College, where he met his wife, Colleen. They have three children, Charlie, Patrick and Molly.

The Physical Plant is one of the university’s largest departments. It includes more than 250 employees providing essential services for facilities and infrastructure. During the past 10 years, the Physical Plant has maintained a facility portfolio that has grown more than 1 million square feet to almost 7 million square feet total.