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Through his professional activities as a health facility planner, architect, and founder of the McKahan Planning Group, Donald C. McKahan has increased public awareness of the need to provide solution-driven space planning, programming, and facility strategies for the healthcare industry.

McKahan received the Bachelor of Architecture from K-State in 1973, then engaged in private practice with the Davis Partnership Architects of Denver until 1989. After completing the Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver, he relocated to Del Mar, California, where he was a facility planner and consultant for Lennon Associates.

In 1993, McKahan founded the McKahan Planning Group, which provides services designed to assist hospitals and their architects who are taking a proactive role in planning for the future of healthcare. His 25 years of professional experience include the planning and design of numerous healthcare facilities including ambulatory care facilities, birthing centers, acute nursing units, medical office buildings, and master planning for both new and existing hospital campuses. His research on the future of healthcare facilities has been tapped by Adventist Health Services, Lakeland Health System, Cigna Healthcare, Mercy Health Systems, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Healthcare Forum Journal.

An author of numerous articles and a widely sought presenter at workshops and conferences, McKahan is Board Certified in Healthcare Architecture and was recently selected as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Architects. He is also a Licensed Architect in California, a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, past president of the AIA/Academy of Architecture for Health, a member of the Board of Regents for the American College of Healthcare Architects, a member of Tau Sigma Delta Architectural Honor Society, a facilitator at Future Search Network, and an Architectural Docent at The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

McKahan is an active supporter of Kansas State University and the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design. He has returned to the K-State campus on several occasions as a guest lecturer and studio critic, and he has served as mentor and technical resource to graduate and undergraduate students interested in pursuing their interests in healthcare planning and management. McKahan also serves as one of our College's California alumni contacts, serving as tour guide and docent when our students and faculty visit that area to partake of the architectural and landscape treasures to be found there.

One of McKahan's greatest contributions to the College is the support which makes possible our Alumni Honoree program. For more than a decade, the Alumni Honoree program has enabled the College to bring outstanding young graduates from each of our degree-granting programs to the campus to meet with students and faculty as well as to participate in class and studio visits. This unique event exposes our students to alumni pursuing careers in diverse professional settings and capacities for which their education helped them prepare. The program also celebrates the vital contributions our alumni make to environmental, social, and economic preservation and enhancement.

We are privileged to count Donald C. McKahan among the alumni of our College of Architecture, Planning, and Design. We are grateful for his contributions to the field of healthcare and to the programs and activities of our College. We are proud to nominate him to receive a Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award.