Thirty years ago, Gene Matthews completed his associate’s degree at Lorain Community College, while working as assistant director of facilities at Oberlin College. The Monday after his graduation, his boss gave him an ultimatum: complete his bachelor’s degree in the next two years or lose his job.
“If you ever want to sit in this chair—if you ever want to be director—you’ve got to have a bachelor’s degree to do that,” Matthews remembers his boss saying.
Matthews complied, finishing his bachelor’s degree in two years at Baldwin Wallace College on weekends. A few years later, he was sitting in that director’s chair at Oberlin. Soon after, he came to Case Western Reserve University to fill the role of director of Facilities Services to build up a new program in sustainability.
Now, 17 years later, Matthews will retire from the university Aug. 1—but not without leaving a mark on the campus and the people he met over the years.
“When the opportunity came to come to [CWRU], I could start fresh at a new organization and spread my wings as a director and build an organization,” he said. “It was a perfect marriage.”
Matthews has played a key role in making sustainability a priority at the university, including his department’s work in converting to energy-saving light bulbs, participating in the erection of a wind turbine on campus, placing PV arrays—power systems that convert solar power into usable energy—on Adelbert Gym and the Tinkham Veale University Center, and contributing to the design of more efficient buildings like the Village at East 115th and the Tinkham Veale University Center.
But beyond his work in sustainability, Matthews sought to develop a department that placed a priority on empowerment and self-direction, giving his employees the ability to use their own judgment in the tasks they complete across campus.
“One of the things I feel most proud about as I’m leaving is I think that, together, we built an organization where our employees come to work every day and they use their own intelligence as adults,” he said, noting that he believes he’s built a department of responsible individuals who feel valued in the work they do for the university.
Matthews also has worked with countless students over the years, becoming a mentor for many. For many years, he worked with undergraduate students in the Summer Undergraduate Research in Energy and Sustainability (SURES) and Support of Undergraduate Research & Creative Endeavors (SOURCE) programs to conduct research in the department and help develop new sustainability initiatives. Matthews’ dedication to students earned him the J. Bruce Jackson, MD, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring in 2012.
Matthews understands the role mentorship can have on a student’s growth, as he’s been on the receiving end himself.
“Along my career, I had so many people that made a difference in my life because they taught me not necessarily technical stuff, but they taught me important life lessons and how important education is—and how to apply it,” he said.
Now, after 52 continuous years in the workforce, Matthews plans to spend his retirement learning to play new instruments, traveling, riding his bike and golfing—though he does admit he will miss his job.
“If I felt like I needed to work, I’d stay here,” he said. “This is the greatest job in the world, and I mean that.”
The university will have the chance to celebrate Matthews’ many achievements at his retirement party Thursday, June 18, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Tinkham Veale University ballrooms B and C.
Say farewell to Matthews at his retirement party—but first, read this week’s 5 questions.
1. What technology do you think we should have, but don’t…yet?
I think the one thing we need to have—and it’s not a new technology—[is something] I’m working on [called] combined heat and power (CHP). The beauty of that is you have to burn coal or oil to make heat anyway and we buy electricity separately. CHP is a system where you have a turbine connected to your boilers. You’re using your energy resources to generate two forms of usable energy—electricity and heat—so it’s much more efficient.
2. What was the most challenging part of your education?
Having a wife and children and trying to share equal time with my family, but having to go to school on the weekends and study at nights. One of the biggest challenges throughout my career has been how to fit education to being a full-time dad and employee somewhere.
3. What popular icon do most identify with? Why?
I would want to be remembered as someone who cared about people. I recently read a biography of Robert E. Lee, and the most important thing I learned about him is that after the war, he was asked to become president of what was at that time called Washington University—today it’s called Washington and Lee University—in Virginia. He would be the president only if the Board of Trustees would guarantee him that 50 percent of the students would come from north of the Mason-Dixon Line. He was all about reconciliation and caring and healing. I would identify with him not because of his military career or what he fought for, but because, as a person, he wanted to put people first.
4. If you could live in any other time period, which would it be?
I’m a history buff, and I like to read about the Civil War [and post-war era]. I think I’d want to live in the late 19th century because I think people were, in general, a lot more respectful of one another. … Today we’re just so disconnected—we don’t rely on one another.
5. What’s your favorite thing about Case Western Reserve?
I’ve made so many good friends and met so many wonderful people working at CWRU—faculty, staff, students. The folks in my own department—we’ve endured a lot together and we’ve celebrated together. People who come to facilities tell us they’ve never seen a place on campus where people have more fun. We laugh and joke. I like that we come to work and enjoy each other’s company.