Theodore Faulkner, director of Dining Services, has received the university’s 2017 President’s Award for Excellence.

The President’s Award for Excellence is presented annually to up to five Virginia Tech employees who have made extraordinary contributions by consistent excellence in the performance of their job or a single incident, contribution, or heroic act. Each recipient is awarded a $2,000 cash prize.

Faulkner joined Dining Services in 1998 as a manager of the Shultz and Dietrick dining centers and manager of the Southgate Food Center, but his commitment to students and his exceptional performance quickly allowed him to climb up the ladder to his current position as director. Since he has taken on this role, Dining Services revenue has doubled while garnering more than four dozen regional and national awards.

Working with architects, construction firms, students, residential and dining staff, and university officials, Faulkner successfully planned and implemented millions of dollars in renovations to dining facilities. This includes the Dietrick Dining Center, West End Market, food outlets in Squires, as well as the opening of Turner Place, which won the College/University Innovator of the Year award from Food Management Magazine in 2013.

“Obviously, his performance and dedication to student service has propelled his career. In every position he works successfully with vendors, university departments, and employees in a wide variety of jobs; however, his main focus has been and is now students — service to students, attention to their desires and ideas, and innovations designed to meet their changing lifestyles and nutritional needs,” Frank Shushok, senior associate vice president for student affairs, wrote in a letter of nomination.

Faulkner maintains a student advisory committee in order to collect input from students on current and future projects. In 2016, Faulkner received the Michael D. Olsen Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Pamplin College of Business.

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