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Vernon P. Deines was a leader in the discipline of regional and community planning at Kansas State University as well as in the State of Kansas and nationally.

Professor Deines received an associate degree in liberal arts in 1949 from St. John's College, a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering in 1952 and a master of regional and community planning in 1962 from K-State, and a Ph.D. in urban affairs in 1977 from the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1966, Professor Deines was appointed head of the K-State Department of Regional and Community Planning, a post he held for nearly 20 years. During his tenure, he established an applied research program, supported by numerous grants totaling $3 million from various organizations including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW); the U.S. Department of Commerce (COMM); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) which made it possible to provide student and faculty technical assistance, outreach and educational programs to communities throughout Kansas. These grants also provided the financial assistance necessary to diversify the planning program and, with Professor Deines' continuing and determined efforts, to bring women, minorities and international students to K-State to enroll in the program. During this time, K-State became one of the early universities to be awarded HUD work-study and FISPO Ford Foundation grants to support minority students. Additionally, four women and three minority members were added to the planning faculty as part of his consistent efforts to diversify the program. After his years as department head, Professor Deines returned to full-time teaching and research in 1985 and retired in 1997.

As department head, Professor Deines led the development of the curriculum, nationally recognized for a focus on professional practice, especially in smaller communities and rural regions. Always insuring that students received the best education available, he also took personal interest in his students during their time at K-State and later throughout their professional careers. Professor Deines desired that his students become good planners as well as people who contributed to their community and to society.

Professor Deines strongly encouraged faculty and students to participate in state and national planning organizations. He was constantly involved in learning innovation, including experiential learning by students through internships, class projects and community service activities.

On a state level, Professor Deines directed and coordinated technical assistance and training courses for Kansas cities and counties, establishing the planning function at the local and state levels. He participated in a task force on planning and zoning legislation, drafting revisions to statutes which modernized Kansas planning and zoning codes. He also led the evaluation of regional planning commissions and directed a survey of Kansas counties on planning and zoning matters which provided a basis for local officials and staff to prepare and implement the planning function in Kansas. In 1974, Professor Deines helped establish the Kansas Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA), serving as professional development officer for 15 years, administering the certification exam review and organizing chapter meetings, activities which helped establish professional planning in Kansas.

As national president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) in U.S. and Canada from 1971-1972 and as chair of the ACSP school review process from 1975-1976, Professor Deines facilitated an expansion of ACSP programs to involve faculty and students that also built a foundation for the accreditation of planning schools in 1980. He was also co-founder in 1980 and national director of the APA Division of Small Town and Rural Planning, which provided a national network for dialogue and resulted in APA rural development policy. In 1975, he conducted research on planning education and practice in England and Germany. He was a visiting lecture at some 25 universities in the U.S., English and Germany, as well as an AIA/ACSA Scholar at Cranbrook Academy in 1962, an NSF Scholar at the University of Washington in 1964, a Highway Research Board Scholar at Dartmouth College in 1968, and a Brookings Institution Scholar at the Topeka Urban Policy Institute from 1968-1969. This followed EPA research projects in waste management, wetland and riparian areas and brownfield redevelopment.

Professor Deines is a Retired Life Member of the American Planning Association, a retired Professional Engineer in Kansas, a Science Faculty Fellow of the National Science Foundation, and an Urban Affairs Fellow of the R. K. Mellon Foundation.

Professor Deines' most recent contribution to us is the gift of funding to establish the Deines Distinguished Lectureship in Regional and Community Planning and the Deines Interior Architecture and Product Design Support Fund.

His years of dedication to the planning profession through teaching, research and outreach are unparalleled. We are pleased to present Emeritus Professor Vernon P. Deines with a Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award.