IFMA Foundation Director of Academic Affairs Charles N. Claar, P.E., CFM, CFMJ, will formally retire this fall after 10 years of service to IFMA and the IFMA Foundation.
In his role as director of academic affairs, Claar expanded and developed the foundation’s Accredited Degree Programs, increasing the number of colleges and universities offering facility management programs and positioning facility management education in the mainstream of business operations.
With over 50 years of engineering and facility management experience, Claar leaves behind a legacy in the facility management community, having served on IFMA’s board of directors and as the association’s director of research and vice president of professional development.
Additionally, Claar has worked as an affiliate associate professor of architectural engineering at Pennsylvania State University and as an industry consultant. He has also conducted research on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Army’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Energy Council and several departments of state government.
“When explaining what I do to people, I say that my passion is to sustain and grow facility management higher education programs globally. It’s also my job,” said Claar. “I sincerely believe that as the number of facility management programs in higher education increases, our visibility in the business world will be enhanced exponentially.”
With Claar’s retirement, the role of director of academic affairs is open. The positions key responsibilities are to increase the number of Accredited Degree Programs in facility management worldwide, maintain a rigorous level of excellence for ADP schools, magnify the importance of the facility management profession, and promote facility management as a desirable career option.
A complete job description can be found online at http://jobnet.ifma.org/c/job.cfm?t735=172&site_id=208&jb=6810522. Executives with experience in facility management and education are encouraged to apply for the position at careers@ifma.org.