Alfredo Riera Joins OPP as Program Manager for Arctic Facilities, Construction, and Maintenance.

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January 17, 2024

The Office of Polar Programs is pleased to welcome Mr. Alfredo “Al” J. Riera, P.E., to the Arctic Sciences Section. Mr. Riera will serve as Program Manager for Arctic Facilities, Construction and Maintenance. In this role, Mr. Riera has the overall responsibility for facilities and utilities maintenance and project oversight within the Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program.

Mr. Riera comes to the U.S. National Science Foundation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he worked as the Director of Real Property Services, providing Department and nationwide leadership, direction and policy for comprehensive facilities design and construction management, real property policy and strategy, a $396 million annual facility leasing program, sustainability and environmental management, and facilities capital planning for a real property inventory in 50 states with a plant replacement value of $21 billion.

Prior to HHS, he served as the Director of Public Works (DPW) at Fort Bliss, Texas, supporting one of the largest and most demanding military power projection installations in the Department of Defense. As the ultimate authority for facilities, housing, environmental, construction, real estate and energy, he led 282 government employees, 850 contractors and a $190 million annual operational budget to manage 1.12M acres, 19K archaeological sites, 400 historical structures, 2.1K buildings, 32M square feet of building space, all utility systems, an airfield, and over 2.8K miles of roads.

Except for a three-month period when he served as a Senior Executive Service Interim Commissioner for the U.S. International Boundary Water Commission in El Paso, TX, Mr. Riera served as the agency’s Principal Engineer and Treaty Officer responsible for resolving U.S-Mexico transboundary challenges while managing all agency operations for ten field offices operating U.S. and bi-national flood control structures, international dams, hydroelectric power and wastewater treatment plants, boundary demarcation and bi-national water deliveries along the entire U.S. southern border region. He also had overall responsibility for agency Security and Safety.

Mr. Riera worked for the U.S. Army, serving as DPW in Germany and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and held engineering positions at various U.S. Air Force installations in Texas and Germany. His work in Europe involved all aspects of engineering and operations for the construction and maintenance of real property systems at 11 installations in 7 different countries in Europe. Prior to his employment with the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Riera worked for the City of San Antonio’s Department of Public Works. Mr. Riera is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he honorably served for four years.

Mr. Riera is the recipient of two Superior Civilian Service Award Medals, the Army’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award Medal and the Army’s Commander’s Award for Civilian Service Medal. Mr. Riera holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas.

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

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