Homecoming Honoree: Cody Guins

A Louisiana native, Guins graduated from the University of Texas and went to work for Turner Construction in Dallas and then San Antonio, where he met his wife, Lauren, a second-generation ASU alumna. They eventually moved to San Angelo, and Guins was hired as ASU’s director of facilities planning and construction in 2016, just in time to oversee the greatest building boom on campus since the 1980s.

The 10-plus campus construction projects Guins has already managed range from the Health and Human Services Building and Hunter Strain Engineering Labs to the Mayer Press Box, Stephens Chapel and under-construction Mayer Museum. Additionally, he headed up the committee that recently formulated ASU’s new Facilities Master Plan for the future of the campus.

“It was very rewarding to work with the team, come up with this end goal and plan toward that goal,” Guins said. “ASU has become a very special place to me and my family. My fingerprints are on the ASU campus, but it has happened the other direction, too. It has been a really neat experience, a humbling experience, and a huge honor to work on all these projects.”

“The people are what make this place really special.”

For his outstanding work and stewardship of the campus, the ASU Alumni Association has named Guins its 2020 Honorary Alumnus.

“I looked at the other people who have gotten it, and I was like, ‘Wow!’” Guins said. “Sometimes in construction or facilities, you feel like it’s a thankless job. Deep down you know how much people appreciate it, but when you’re honored with an award like this, it feels really good. It’s a huge honor.”

Now, Guins is a three-way member of the Ram Family. He has been a son-in-law and brother-in-law for over a decade, officially joined as a staff member in 2016, and has become a lifetime member as an alum.

“The people at ASU are a family,” Guins said. “It’s pretty neat to be involved in that and to be accepted into that. The people are what make this place really special.”