William Daigneau, Oral History Interview, October 3, 2013

William Daigneau, Oral History Interview, October 3, 2013

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Description

Major Topics Covered:

  • Personal and educational background
  • Evolution of administrative and leadership styles
  • Issues in healthcare facilities management
  • The “MD Anderson way of building”; evolution of; legal issues involved; team building required
  • MD Anderson’s Master Plan: evolution of; the connection between physical plant, research, and patient care: managing growth
  • Facilities Management: evolution of; client-centered approach; challenges faced; a theory of facilities management
  • Building Projects and other initiatives:
    • The Three-Building Plan
    • Mays Ambulatory Clinic
    • Emergency Plan; Flood Protection System; Hurricane Protection System
    • Faculty Center
    • Main Campus expansions
    • Wayfinding system
    • Mitchell Basic Sciences Building
    • Pickens Tower
    • Rotary House
    • South Campus [Research Park]

Identifier

DaigneauW_01_20131003

Publication Date

10-3-2013

Publisher

The Historical Resources Center, The Research Medical Library, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

City

Houston, Texas

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Topics Covered

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas System. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute

Disciplines

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History

About the Interview

This interview with engineer William Daigneau, M.B.A. (b. 1 June 1946, Mansfield, Ohio) takes place on October 3-4, 2013 (duration approximately 8 hours). Mr. Daigneau is a leader in healthcare facilities management who came to MD Anderson in 1994 as the Chief Facilities Officer and Vice President for Operations and Facilities Management. He provided leadership in capital planning, growth, and management during the institution’s most explosive period of growth. He retired in 2013. This interview takes place in Mr. Daigneau’s ski home in Silverthorne, Colorado. Tacey A. Rosolowski, Ph.D. is the interviewer.

Mr. Daigneau received his B.S. in Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1968. While working full time, he went on to earn his M.B.A. from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois in 1974. Prior to arriving at MD Anderson, Mr. Daigneau served as Director of University Facilities at the University of Rochester in New York (1987 – 1994). He began his career as a project Engineer for Chicago Bridge and Iron Company (1968 – 1970). He later worked as Project Engineer for the City of Peoria in Illinois (1970 – 1974) before entering into management positions in academic settings. He served as Manager of University Construction for the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa (1974 – 76), as Director of General Services and Director of Physical Plan for the University of Wisconsin-Superior in Superior, Wisconsin (1976 – 1979), and then as Assistant Vice President of Administrative services, Facilities and Operations at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado (1979 – 1987). He then took the position at the University of Rochester, his first foray into healthcare facilities management.

Mr. Diagneau has authored numerous publications on capital planning and the role of the facilities manager during uncertain times in publications such as Business Officer and Facilities Manager. He is a frequent lecturer and has received several awards in recognition of his impact on facilities management, including the APPA’s Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers Fellow Award and MD Anderson’s elite President’s Award in recognition of his substantial contributions toward eliminating cancer. (He was the first non-faculty member ever to receive this honor.) Since retirement, Mr. Daigneau has operated his own consulting business, 3P Management Consulting.

In this interview, Mr. Daigneau traces the building projects at MD Anderson, offering a detailed (and often surprising) view into construction challenges and successes and underscores the degree to which MD Anderson’s dramatic growth during the nineties and two-thousands resulted from a careful planning process. He explains how Facilities Management took charge of soliciting feedback from users prior to and after construction to work toward continual improvement of services and products for patients, faculty, and staff. He offers a fascinating look at the processes essential to the institution’s workings, discussing for example, the development of the emergency plans and services that successfully keep the institution operating during weather threats. Mr. Daigneau also traces the growth of his interest in people management as a key piece of construction planning and management. He offers his own theories about how the management of facilities and infrastructure represents a key investment for an institution’s success.


About the Interview Subject:

Engineer William Daigneau, M.B.A. (b. 1 June 1946, Mansfield, Ohio) Mr. Daigneau is a leader in healthcare facilities management who came to MD Anderson in 1994 as the Chief Facilities Officer and Vice President for Operations and Facilities Management. He provided leadership in capital planning, growth, and management during the institution’s most explosive period of growth. He retired in 2013 and has since operated his own consulting business, 3P Management Consulting.

Conditions Governing Access

Open

William Daigneau, Oral History Interview, October 3, 2013

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