Purdue Profiles: Kristi Brown

Kristi Brown, projects administrator in Capital Program Management. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood) Download image

Growing up, Kristi Brown never expected that she would work in construction as a career. A few years after graduating from Purdue with a degree in English literature, Brown accepted a clerk position for Capital Program Management and quickly became inspired. She was fascinated with designing the bigger picture and figuring out how pieces of a puzzle worked together to build up a community in a lasting way. Now serving as the projects administrator in Capital Program Management within Physical Facilities, Brown uses the communications skills she learned as a student and her construction experience to enhance the West Lafayette community. 

What are your responsibilities as projects administrator in Capital Program Management?

My responsibilities include working on the State Street Redevelopment Project and serving as a liaison to the Joint Board management team, which is a joint management team between Purdue and West Lafayette. This requires me to work closely with the city of West Lafayette engineering department and development office. I am also responsible for coordinating all of Purdue’s physical facilities, street and construction projects to ensure that scopes and timelines occur in a manner that allows vehicular and pedestrian traffic to flow safely and effectively.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job is the feeling that I get when my team pulls off a project and makes it look easy. For example, there are a lot of moving parts and coordination involved with executing a project like the State Street Redevelopment Project. We’re impacting campus in a way that I don’t believe it has ever been impacted before. Of course there have been challenges associated with the project, but overall, it’s moving forward successfully. By proactively communicating project details and plans with the campus and community, we’re hoping to make the process as smooth as possible for our customers.

Another rewarding part of my job is being able to watch people enjoy the amenities that we have provided. This includes watching people ride their bikes on the cycle track or my kids walk around campus on the new sidewalks. Seeing the sense of community that our project has provided is definitely rewarding.

You’ve mentioned the State Street Redevelopment Project a couple of times. What is the goal of this project and how are you involved with it?

As the name indicates, we’re working on redeveloping State Street. We’re basically taking what was once a state highway and transforming it into a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly thoroughfare that allows for more collaboration spaces. We have improved the roadways and sidewalks, and we have put in a cycle track and added new amenities. The project is being completed in different phases, and the name of the project may be slightly misleading since the majority of work taking place in the 2018 phase is actually going to occur on Stadium Avenue, Airport and McCormick Roads and Williams Street. The end goal of the overarching project is to better connect the campus and make travel easier, safer and more intuitive. 

What do you like to do outside of your time at Purdue?

My favorite thing to do is spend time with my kids. I have two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. I also try to do yoga and run as much as possible, and I love to cook, especially pasta dishes. I also enjoy taking my dog for walks.

Writer: Olivia Crouse, ocrouse@purdue.edu