News Release

Local angles: Boyne City, Kalamazoo, Mich., Blacksburg, Va.

Photo: To download a photo, see end of story.

Love, respect of his UNC employees
brings honor for Gary Tomkins

CHAPEL HILL - The character and contributions of the late Gary R. Tomkins have brought about the naming of a key new building in his honor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The engineer's Carolina employees and supervisors united in a successful grassroots effort to get his name on a new control center for the university's chilled-water system, which provides cooling for air conditioning.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday (May 23), the university will remember and honor Tomkins and dedicate the new Gary R. Tomkins Chilled Water Operations Center on Mason Farm Road, behind the Dogwood Parking Deck.

The public and campus community are invited; parking will be available in the Dogwood deck. Tours of the new facility will follow the half-hour ceremony.

The center is part of a new, $20 million Thermal Storage Facility and Chiller Plant that ushered in a money-saving energy system - one that Tomkins helped design, said his supervisor, Ray DuBose, UNC's director of energy services.

The facility, which began operating in February, lets the university chill water at night, when electricity rates are lower, then use the water to cool buildings in the daytime, when electricity costs more. The Higher Education Bond Referendum passed by North Carolina voters in 2000 was a significant funding source. The system will save Carolina $300,000 a year.

In nearly 21 years at UNC, Tomkins spent hours researching and developing this innovative new system, as well as endearing himself to colleagues with his fairness, values, leadership and humor.

Tomkins died of a heart attack at age 49, on Feb. 2, 2004. The new facility - a part of his vision for Carolina's future wellbeing - began operating last February, almost two years to the day after his passing.

Tomkins' widow, Chapel Hill veterinarian Mette Tomkins, and their son, Jason, a senior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., are expected at Tuesday's ceremony. They will receive a booklet of reflections about Tomkins as shared by his coworkers.

"Gary Tomkins was a listener," one said. "His employees could sit down and talk with him, and he would give his undivided attention. He never interrupted or voiced any opinion until you were finished. Our voice, opinions and issues were important to him, and he never threw people off track. This was a special trait to have in a supervisor."

Another said: "He was very friendly and easy to work with, but I learned not to mistake his kindness for weakness. He was firm when he had to be, but always fair. He allowed the people that worked under him to do their job and showed a lot of trust and confidence in them … I feel I am a better person today having worked and laughed with him. I will always miss that big mischievous grin."

Tomkins, a native of Boyne City, Mich., earned a mechanical engineering degree from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo in 1981. He joined UNC in April 1983 as a staff engineer, DuBose said.

"Although he performed engineering on all building systems, he was quickly recognized for his talents, abilities and interest in the newly created chilled water loop system," DuBose said. The system has been expanding across campus since the late 1970s.

Tomkins rose through the ranks to his most recent job, as manager of chilled water systems in the energy services department, supervising 30 employees.

"He was a leader in the department," DuBose said. "I could count on him for anything. He was always eager to help and eager to contribute." Employees said Tomkins also was a leader on the basketball court. He often joined lunch-hour pick-up games in UNC's Woollen Gym.

"Gary was a topnotch basketball player, and if you had to guard him, it made for a long day," said one. "Gary could probably have scored all or most of his team's points every time out, but … he was a team player … Gary was also a good sport who respected his teammates and his opponents … I believe Gary lived his life off the court in the same manner, and I hope I can work in a building that is named after a man like him."

The control center is headquarters for chilled-water system employees, said DuBose: "It's where Gary's people are."

In 2000, Tomkins helped present a paper on UNC's soon-to-be-launched energy-saving system at an international meeting of college and university energy employees, DuBose said. Afterward, Tomkins was mobbed by "colleagues wanting to know how he did things and how he was so successful," DuBose said. "Gary was recognized for his technical expertise and as a national leader in the field."

Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction, advocated the center naming as an appropriate honor for "a loyal and truly outstanding university employee."

One coworker called Tomkins an example of North Carolina's state motto, "To be rather than to seem." Tomkins, he said, would be uncomfortable with the new building name. But, he added, "We see it differently. Naming the operations center after Gary would serve as a reminder for all of us who remain that a good person left their mark here."

- 30 -

Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/staff/former/tomkins_gary.jpg
Energy Services contact: Ray DuBose, (919) 966-4100
News Services contacts: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589; Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595