William W. Brubaker is the Smithsonian’s director of Facilities Engineering and Operations. He joined the Smithsonian in March 2001. Brubaker’s oversees the Institution’s facilities planning, programming and budgeting; historical preservation and real estate management; engineering, design and construction; maintenance and operations; horticulture, transportation and mail management; protection services; and safety, occupational health and environmental management. He is the Smithsonian’s designated agency safety and health official.

Before joining Smithsonian, Brubaker was with NASA headquarters for nine years as director of Facilities Engineering since 1995 and deputy director from 1992 to 1995. Prior to his time with NASA, Brubaker worked in the Pentagon, where he headed worldwide Army construction, programming and budgeting. Brubaker was with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civilian from 1976 to 1989. He served as chief of the Construction and Engineering divisions in the Portland, Ore., district; assistant chief of the Construction-Operations Division in Sacramento, Calif., district; supervisory area and resident engineer at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida; and other positions in Germany in the late 1970s.

Among the honors he has been awarded, Brubaker was the 1997 Federal Engineer of the Year; 1997 NASA Engineer of the Year; and recipient of the Senior Executive Service Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2001. He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and, in 2005, was inducted into the National Academy of Construction.

 
Brubaker earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1972 from the University of Virginia and holds two master’s degrees—one in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1974 and the other in business administration from Boston University in 1978. He is also a registered professional engineer.

Brubaker and his wife have two adult children.

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