Bert Houser outside his office at Bay 2 of the Smith Warehouse. Photo by Bryan Roth.

Durham, NC -  

Name: Bert Houser
Position: Energy controls specialist, Facilities Management
Years at Duke: 15 

What I do at Duke is: I handle the dispatch for approximately 15 people in the HVAC shop, sending them out to take care of jobs around Duke. We get calls come from Facilities' work control center or directly from the customer themselves. 

If I had $5 million, I would: Invest in my granddaughters' education and future. I have two - 5 and almost 3 years old. I've got a college fund for both of them, so it's just a matter of making sure they have a good future. Down the road it's going to be harder than it is now. 

My first ever job was: I was pumping gas at a Fina service station in Centerville, Iowa when I was 14.  I was making 60 cents an hour. It was big money at that time. I was using it to put gas in my car because my family had a big farm where we drove around a lot. Gas back then was 21 cents a gallon.

My dream job is: Retirement. I want to travel the United States because there is such a wide variety of places to see. There's no place in particular I'd like to see, just travel all over.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: I can converse with anybody about anything, except politics. I don't want to talk politics.

The best advice I ever received was: Curtis Browning, who also works here with Facilities, told me to come to Duke. I was working for a company that had contracts with Duke, and I worked at Duke for them for 11 years, so I knew the campus and all the controls I had to deal with.

What I love about Duke is: Meeting different people and all the personalities here. With all the customers I deal with daily, I've never found someone I can't deal with one way or another.

When I'm not at work, I like to: Garden. I've got a 50-by-50-feet garden at home. It's enough for me. I grow all sorts of vegetables - tomatoes, green beans, butter beans, squash, potatoes, onions, and more.

If I could have one superpower, it would be: Simply to see better. My eyesight is failing as I get older, so it would be an asset for me.

Something most people don't know about me is: I'm the bionic man. I've had a few surgeries at Duke - my left leg, then my right leg, and then a combination of both. I had a bypass on my left leg in 2001, waited a year then did my right and then after three years, did them both again. My left arm actually has a vein missing because doctors used it for my left leg.

An interesting day at work for me was: I remember the day I was nominated for the Presidential Award three years ago. I think everyone needs to be recognized some way and that was my highlight.