Robert Quirk’s face is well known around Facilities Management offices, and it’s not just because he’s worked there for 35 years.
Quirk, 55, will retire Monday from a job that he has had since he was 20 years old. As a tribute, several members of the staff have begun wearing pins on their shirts with a picture of Quirk, while others have them proudly displayed on their desks.
“I’m still waiting on [my pin],” said Paul Wingco, associate director of engineering and electrical services, cracking a smile. “I’m going to get a screen print of his picture on a shirt.”
As director of Facilities Management, Quirk oversees every operation of a department that covers 3.1 million square feet of the campus and employs nearly 200 workers. He began as a contractor and will end as to an office executive.
He has earned a master’s degree in public policies and administration at Cal State Long Beach, where he now teaches a course in the subject.
Quirk’s tenure started when the Long Beach native got hired as a temporary worker on Jan. 6, 1975. After the recession made its impact, the company Quirk worked for folded. The same day he realized he didn’t have a job, he searched for work with his friend Pat Ferrell to find an employer. Their search led them to CSULB.
“We came into this building and started immediately on a 30-day emergency appointment,” Quirk said. “We always intended on going back to construction.”
Quirk worked on several 30-day contracts before being hired as a permanent employee after five years. As he moved up the ranks, he helped improve the Facilities Management department into a nationally recognized program, which has won awards and often seen members of departments from other universities visit to learn from the operations.
The department is now a leader in the field and has worked to become eco-friendly through the use of solar energy, decreased electrical usage and the implementation of an advanced recycling program.
“We had to transform an organization that was run by retired military people into an educated, more professional staff,” Quirk said. “We have a trend toward green buildings and sustainability. There’s some responsibility we have as a public employer, in doing the right thing.”
Quirk had to make some personal changes upon becoming director. Instead of performing physical labor and completing individual projects, he was constantly in meetings, dealing with work orders and trying to keep on a steady path of improvement.
Yet Quirk is still not afraid to get his hands dirty.
“When we had the floods last year in one of our buildings, Rob was there from the night up until the early hours of the morning supervising and getting the water out of our building,” said Denysia O’Connell, Facilities Coordinator of the College of Health and Human Services. “I don’t think anyone has the same vested interest in this campus to the extent that Rob has.”
Quirk’s willingness to work and attention to detail has earned him the respect of his employees. The staff has participated in outings, including fishing trips and picnics, and softball and basketball games against departments from other universities.
His co-workers said Quirk will be missed.
“He’s a wonderful man,” said Paul Johnson, uperintendent of building trades . “He’s the best boss I’ve ever had. He’s genuine.”
Quirk said he understands that retiring will be a difficult transition but that he feels that the timing is right.
“There comes a point, I think where you’ve done what you can with an organization,” Quirk said. “It’s probably time for me to reinvent myself, while I’m still relatively young.”
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