Meet Chris Serafin, electric trades supervisor in UMBC’s Facilities Management (FM). Serafin has been at UMBC for 9 years and was recently awarded a USM Board of Regents’ Staff Award for his exceptional work, including a high voltage electrical switch replacement in the Engineering Building that ended up saving the university a half a million dollars in contractor’s fees.
Q: What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?
A: I enjoy my job as electric supervisor and have a great group of high voltage electricians that work hard every day to ensure the stability of the UMBC power system. I received my management studies degree in 2020 from the University of Maryland Global Campus, taking full advantage of the tuition remission program provided by the State of Maryland. I enjoy building furniture and playing guitar in my free time.
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: John Zahor [AVP for FM] has been extremely supportive in my career at UMBC. He has been a hands off boss and has allowed me to make critical changes to how the UMBC electric shop is run, which has greatly improved the efficiency of daily operations.
Chris Serafin in his office. (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC)
Q: What part of your job do you enjoy the most and why?
A: Leadership has allowed me to be proactive, creative, and think outside the box when exploring the fascinating world of electrical theory.
Q: Tell us about the people who have helped you at UMBC.
A: Lenn Caron [acting vice president, Administration and Finance], John Zahor, and Valerie RiChard in Facilities Management have allowed me to run the UMBC electric shop the way I think in needs to be run to provide the electrical requirements of administrators, faculty, staff, and students at UMBC.
