While a staff member in The University of Texas at Austin’s Utilities and ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Management division, alumnus Rusty Osborne (B.S. Botany 1975) devoted his 30-year career to making campus operations more sustainable. As a result of his efforts, the university saves a significant amount of ラーメンベット 出金 銀行, water and costs every year and has become a recognized ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 efficiency leader among universities across the U.S.
Now in retirement, Osborne and his wife, fellow UT Austin alumna Cecilia Green (B.S. Botany 1979), are committed to developing our future leaders in green ラーメンベット 出金 銀行. With a generous ,000 donation, the couple has established the Osborne Green ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Endowed Excellence Fund to support the ラーメンベット 禁止ゲーム of Engineering’s Webber ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Group in its mission to change the way the world thinks about ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 by training the next generation of ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 innovators and policy leaders.
Led by Michael Webber, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, deputy director of the ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Institute and co-director of the Clean ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, the group brings together undergraduate and graduate students and professional researchers from a variety of disciplines to analyze and develop solutions to environmental and ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 challenges. The group’s research has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, Forbes and The Washington Post, and frequently informs policy at the state and national levels.
In his group, Webber prioritizes building communication skills and an understanding of economic and policy considerations, in addition to honing his students’ technical expertise. The group will use the endowment’s distributions to support student leadership training by bringing in professional coaches, sending students to conferences to present their innovative ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 and taking trips to national labs and power plants to share ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 findings, learn new ideas and foster collaboration.
ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 and Green hope to attract additional support for the endowment from fellow alumni and members of the community to expand the impact of their initial donation.
“The most important thing we can do for students is train them to be leaders,” Webber said. “Endowments like this one are essential because it allows us to give students those skills that round out their education. Rusty and Cecilia’s generosity will have a huge impact by empowering our students to share their innovative solutions and make a difference in our world.”
Osborne and Green fondly recall their experiences as botany students in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences, which cemented their passion for preserving the environment. By helping generations of students to create new technologies and become leaders in finding solutions that protect the environment, Osborne and Green hope their investment will create momentum for the sustainability movement and advance clean ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 innovations at the university.
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After graduating from UT Austin, ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 and Green became strong advocates for sustainability and conservation efforts throughout their careers.
ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 joined the Utilities and ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 Management staff in 1980 and worked to improve the efficiency of campus operations. After learning that the university was purchasing treated drinking water to cool power generators, he led a team to develop a recovery method to collect non-potable water on campus.
Thanks to ラーメンベット 出金 銀行’s efforts, the university now recovers between 35-50 million gallons of once-through cooling water, ground water, air conditioning condensate and rainwater every year, accounting for about 8 percent of overall water use and about 15 percent of cooling water use. ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 also coordinated the construction of campus infrastructure that allows cooling towers to use highly treated wastewater from the City of Austin, a resource which costs about 85 percent less than drinking water.
Green has worked as an environmental consultant for the past 35 years, helping individuals and companies comply with environmental regulations. She is currently a senior project manager for Blanton & Associates, a Texas-based environmental consulting firm, and previously worked for Atkins, an international engineering consulting firm, in a variety of roles such as senior vice president and ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 integration director for North America. She previously served as president of the Atkins Foundation Board of Directors, and was a board member at PBS&J and the WTS foundation.
Osborne and Green reside outside of Austin, where they have created a home so ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 efficient that they often receive negative ラーメンベット 出金 銀行 bills. The couple’s two children share their passion for sustainability. Their son Robin earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the ラーメンベット 禁止ゲーム in 2010. He recently was certified as a professional engineer in Texas and is working as a traffic analyst for Kimley-Horn and Associates, a transportation design consulting firm. Their daughter Lauren is working toward her master’s degree in community and regional planning in UT Austin’s School of Architecture.
