Issue date: April, 10, 2003

Profile

NAME: Bob Sleeseman
OCCUPATION: Carpenter, Physical Plant

Bob Sleeseman has seen many changes in MSU's campus in the last 18 years. As a carpenter for MSU's Physical Plant, Sleeseman works with the alteration and improvement sector (A&I) that builds and remodels professional office spaces on campus.

"The A&I crew is a 17-person skilled trades crew consisting of electricians and carpenters," Sleeseman said. "Each A&I project requires a two- to four-person crew to remodel building space on campus for office use."

Currently, Sleeseman's crew is remodeling a large fourth-floor storage space in Olds Hall into a new office space. The project requires the crew to tear down and replace drywall, install all new electrical circuits and rebuild the room based on new blueprint designs. However, prior to doing this, the crew leaves their mark behind by signing their names to the permanent wall.

"It's a tradition that crew members sign their names behind one of the walls in the space they are remodeling," Sleeseman said. "So when that room is remodeled again in the future the new crew can see who worked on that room last. We get a real kick out of it. I have uncovered my name many times in the past 18 years."

Sleeseman and his wife, Cheryl, who have been married for 39 years, reside in Corunna. They have a daughter, Stephanie, and four grandchildren. In his spare time Sleeseman and his wife enjoy traveling on their Goldwing Honda motorcycles to popular camping destinations such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

--By Vanessa Fick