Lou Cariello

Lou Cariello is the Vice President of Facilities at the University of Washington, responsible for strategic and operational oversight of the UW’s campus and built environment.  He is accountable for managing the University’s integrated facilities management process, from ideation and design to capital planning, new construction, repair, renovation, and facilities operations/services.  More than 1,100 employees work for UW Facilities, supporting lifecycle facilities sustainment of 680 acres of grounds, 24 million GSF of campus academic, research laboratory and other buildings, and other physical infrastructure, including 22 miles of roadways and pathways and seven miles of utility tunnels.  UW Facilities plans, builds, and manages campus building and landscape design on all three campuses (Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma), UW Medicine hospitals (including UW Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, and Harborview Medical Center), and approximately 1.8 million GSF of commercially leased space. Lou joined the University in 2018 after serving as Executive Director, National Facilities Services, Kaiser Permanente Washington, where he was responsible for life-cycle management of all healthcare facilities infrastructure and medical equipment for the Washington State region. Lou retired as Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy after 30 years leading facilities and engineering organizations around the world.  He supervised facilities management of all of the Navy’s facilities and utilities infrastructure and led Seabee engineering teams in numerous contingencies from humanitarian civic assistance to combat operations.  The culmination of his naval career was as Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic in Norfolk, Va. where he led a facilities design, construction and operations workforce of 12,500 civilian professionals and 850 military across the United States, Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia and executed a $2B annual operating budget.  In 2005, he received the Navy League’s John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership. Lou is a registered professional engineer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.  He earned master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and engineering management from Drexel University and attended the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.