Thomas Dreyer is associate vice chancellor for facilities management for UMass Lowell. Dreyer has over 30 years of extensive experience in facilities maintenance, construction and capital program management.
He is responsible for overseeing the Facilities Management Department, comprised of four primary groups with a staff of more than 150: Planning and Development (master planning, capital planning, development and real estate), Project Management (design construction and renovation management), Operations and Services (day-to-day maintenance, housekeeping, trades, grounds keeping, energy and sustainability), and Facilities Management’s Business and Administration (procurement, budgeting, asset management).
The physical upkeep and improvements of UMass Lowell’s campus, currently over 4 million gross square feet and growing, are the primary responsibilities of this department.
Prior to arriving at UMass Lowell, Dreyer was the assistant vice president of facilities and planning at The College at Brockport, State University of New York (SUNY) for 12 years where he earned the 2011 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Dreyer also served as the director of facilities and maintenance at the Portsmouth, N.H., Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, where he completed his Navy career as a captain. He also served as the legislative liaison for facilities and real estate for the Secretary of the Navy in Washington D.C. and was the director of the construction program division for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in Alexandria, Va.
Dreyer is active in the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA) and is affiliated with a broad spectrum of committees, associations and societies related to civil engineering, facilities management and higher education facilities management.
Dreyer is a registered professional engineer with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia, and a master’s degree in civil engineering (construction management) from Penn State University.
Dreyer is married to the former Cheryl Jeffers whom he met in high school in their hometown in southern New Jersey. They have two sons, Benjamin and David who have followed in Tom’s footsteps in the field of civil engineering.