BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 17, 2004 – Byron D. Nichols of Christiansburg, power plant superintendent at Virginia Tech, has received the university’s 2004 President’s Award for Excellence.
The President’s Award for Excellence recognizes selected and staff and administrative faculty members for their outstanding contributions to Virginia Tech. Nominations are received from all areas of the university and recognize extraordinary contributions and sustained excellence in the performance of job duties and responsibilities. Recipients are selected by a committee of classified and administrative faculty members appointed by the president.
Nichols’ responsibilities as supervisor of power-plant operations require him to stay abreast of local, state, and federal regulations for environmental, health, and safety issues. He has not only maintained a working knowledge of these regulations, but he also has worked consistently and collaboratively with Environmental Health and Safety Services to improve his department’s compliance with the multitude of regulations that impact their operations.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.