Top facilities officer to step down in March

Penn's top real-estate official will announce today that he is stepping down after nine years as the head of the University's buildings and real estate division.

Senior Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said his resignation will be effective March 31.

As the head of the division, Blaik is ultimately responsible for all buildings on Penn's campus. Officials credit him with revamping University City retail and renovating several college houses.

Blaik said that he made up his mind to resign before winter break and informed the administration a few weeks ago of his intent to step down, amid excitement and "tremendous sadness."

He plans to start his own consulting firm in Philadelphia to help other urban universities develop the communities around them.

"Penn gave me an opportunity of a lifetime," Blaik said. "But it is inevitable that after a while you look back ... and you want to have a bigger challenge and a challenge you haven't conquered before."

Blaik said his goal is to help other city schools adopt a "Penn model" of development in order to improve their campuses.

"I feel like a 24-year old kid who has just graduated and is starting a new career," Blaik said. "The thrill of that is just unbelievable."

Administrative and student reaction to Blaik's resignation has been a mixture of sadness at losing him and excitement for his future career.

Wharton senior and UA member Cynthia Wong, who has worked with Blaik on eastward campus development issues, said that she was sad to hear of Blaik's resignation.

"He is one of the most student-friendly administrators here at Penn," Wong said. "I'm very happy for him but ... the University is losing a very great administrator."

University President Amy Gutmann said that Blaik's contributions to Penn's campus cannot be understated.

"He has a great legacy here of enabling Penn to transform our campus and University City into more livable places for everybody," Gutmann said. "We're sorry to see him leave Penn, but we're also happy that he's staying in Philadelphia."

Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli -- to whom Blaik reports -- called him "a great teammate" and said that he was a major force behind several major renovation projects for undergraduate housing.

"It's tough to be the financial guy when you have such a creative and energetic person" as Blaik, Carnaroli said, referring to the budget constraints on new projects.

While Blaik said that he is proud of some major renovations that occurred during his tenure, he is also proud of smaller accomplishments, such as the planting of almost 1,000 trees on campus.

Gutmann and Carnaroli said that the University will hire a search firm in the coming weeks to help find Blaik's successor.

"It's a very important position," Carnaroli said. "You can't leave it vacant for long."

Gutmann said that she has "an excellent transition plan" and that "nothing will stop happening that otherwise would have happened" as a result of Blaik's resignation.

Blaik -- a father of two children who attend school in West Philadelphia -- said that he looks forward to staying in Philadelphia because it is close to Penn.

"When you get the Penn bug, you never get rid of it," Blaik said. "And that was part of my decision that I will stay here."

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