Retirement

Logan Bids Farewell to Plant Superintendent Bill Wharton After 18 Years of Service

After nearly two decades working to maintain, preserve and innovate Logan University’s sprawling 112-acre campus, Plant Superintendent Bill Wharton is retiring in December 2021.

Plant Superintendent Bill Wharton

Bill started working at Logan in 2003 after responding to a job listing in the newspaper. He spent four years as a maintenance supervisor, then was promoted to plant superintendent in 2007 when his boss retired.

“I oversee general campus maintenance, which includes security, custodial work and the grounds crew,” said Bill. “I’ve also been lucky to be part of quite a few improvement projects over the years, including the construction of the Purser Center; the renovation of the Tower, quad and Learning Resource Center; updating our boiler and HVAC systems and more.”

The shelves in Bill’s office are lined with hard hats, a testament to the never-ending work happening to sustain and improve Logan’s campus. Bill is responsible for the installation of hundreds of solar panels on the roofs of nearly every building on campus, which supplements about 3 percent of the campus’ electricity. He also installed four charging stations in one of Logan’s parking lots to accommodate the recent rise in electric cars, with the infrastructure in place to expand to 10 stations in the future.

“Something I love about this job is constantly being challenged by new tasks,” Bill said. “I’m always learning and looking for new ways to take care of campus or make improvements to benefit the Logan community.”

While much of the work Bill and his team complete may occur behind the scenes, they keep the university running. When reminiscing on the past 18 years with Maintenance Supervisor Bob Holzschuh, for example, Bill and Bob recalled a time when the power went out across the entire campus as students were preparing to take their Part IV chiropractic board exams. Thanks to generators and a little ingenuity, the crew managed to get the power back on in time for the exams.

“The students were so kind and thankful,” said Bill. “That always makes the long hours and hard work worth it.”

For the last 18 years, Bill has been committed to following the adage of leaving a place better than you found it.

“A lot about Logan’s campus has changed since I started working here, but something that has remained constant is all the incredible people,” Bill said. “One of my favorite parts of this job has been being surrounded by some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I’m definitely going to miss having students or faculty members pop in my office to catch up or say hello.”

Although Bill is sad to leave Logan, he’s excited to retire and spend more time with his wife.

“We love to camp, and we have a few vintage Airstreams we’ve refurbished over the years, so we’re both looking forward to spending more time traveling,” Bill said. “Plus, Logan won’t be able to get rid of me that easily! I’ll be back on campus visiting or helping out whenever I can.”