Celebrating the Retirement of Ken Hargreaves, Associate Vice President for Civic Engagement and External Affairs

After 17 years at Caltech, Ken Hargreaves, Ed.D. will be retiring on March 31. He is currently Caltech's associate vice president for civic engagement and external affairs in the Strategy Implementation Group.

Hargreaves joined Caltech in 2008 as part of the Facilities team, serving as the Institute's senior director for design and construction. In that role, he was responsible for campus master planning and overseeing the capital construction program. His team managed the construction or complete renovation of several laboratories and buildings, including the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology, the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Laboratory for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, the Ronald and Maxine Linde Laboratory for Global Environmental Science, the Earle M. Jorgensen Laboratory, the Charles C. Gates Jr.-Franklin Thomas Laboratory of Engineering, the Hameetman Center, and the Children's Center at Caltech.

In 2016, Hargreaves joined the Strategy Implementation Group where he contributed to and managed significant campus initiatives and managed the Institutional Research Office. Pivoting to serve as the Institute's external relations officer, since 2018 he has maintained Caltech's ties with federal officials in Washington, D.C., fostered closer partnerships with JPL's office of legislative and government affairs, and enhanced the Institute's relationship with the state legislature, state agencies, and the City of Pasadena. As a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, Hargreaves has also organized the Institute's Warrior-Scholar Project activities for the last five years and has coordinated Veterans Day events on campus since 2015.

"My time at Caltech has been deeply rewarding," Hargreaves says. "Working as a staff member at such a prestigious institute has been both inspiring and challenging. It's been an honor to contribute to Caltech's mission."

After retiring, Hargreaves plans to split time between California and Arizona. For the remainder of this year, he plans to travel extensively with his wife. Their plans include visiting 14 national parks this summer, taking a river cruise in Bordeaux, France, spending time in Maui, attending the U.S. Tennis Open in New York City, and visiting friends and family around the U.S.