Facilities staff create environments where graduate researchers thrive

Ann Smith & Lewis Ashworth | Facilities Manager & Custodian | Multidisciplinary Research Building

Many people are involved in graduate student education. Faculty advisors and academic support staff often come to mind first when thinking of this group, but facilities staff are also essential, especially when unexpected situations arise.

Ann Smith and Lewis Ashworth are two such staff. Smith is the facilities manager at the Multidisciplinary Research Building in KU’s West District. She tells students that she’s been at KU as long as KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self — 22 years. Ashworth is a custodian in MRB and has been at KU for 12 years.

“Both Ann and Lew handle their roles and responsibilities of their job with pride and dedication,” said Grant Downes, who earned his doctorate in bioengineering at KU in 2024 and spent much of that time in MRB. “They are two hard-working, caring and friendly coworkers.”

Smith and Ashworth were involved in Downes’s education in multiple ways. One Sunday, the ultra-low-temperature freezer in the lab where Downes was working malfunctioned. He and colleagues had to relocate the samples housed in that freezer to other locations throughout the West District. Smith facilitated the effort with other lab groups. The freezer also needed to be thawed for repairs. Downes and other lab staff created a liquid trap to drain the melting ice, but the trap failed. While the research staff cleaned up most of the water, a lot remained to be removed the next day. But when the researchers showed up, they found that Ashworth had cleaned the remainder of the leak on their behalf.

“This was a lifesaving effort — especially from a physical hazard perspective — at a time when many of us in the lab were stressed from the chaotic events of the night before,” Downes said. “All of our samples were preserved, the lab was clean, and business could proceed as usual.”

Facilities staff also stepped in to help when Downes became the point person for transitioning a KU lab to another university. Smith assisted with tracking equipment, accessing relevant spaces in MRB, and coordinating with movers.

“There were many occasions when I had no idea what to do with certain supplies or who to contact to assist with a specific task of the move,” Downes said. “Ann was my go-to person. She made a very stressful time for any graduate student very smooth and assuring.”

After Downes invited Smith and Ashworth to his dissertation defense, they were inspired to promote joy, well-being and growth for other users of the building. “Mr. B” — as MRB is affectionately called — is now home to a new herb garden created by Smith and Ashworth. MRB staff can enjoy the space after a long day or clip herbs for food or tea during their workday.

“They made my job as a researcher and student not only easy,” Downes said, “but also very enjoyable.”