A portrait of A. Ray Pentecost.

A. Ray Pentecost

George J. Mann Chair in Healthcare Design; Director, Center for Health Systems and Design; Professor of Practice, Center for Health Systems and Design
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Education

  • Doctor of Public HealthUniversity of Texas - School of Public Health, 1982
  • Master of Public HealthUniversity of Texas - School of Public Health, 1979
  • Bachelor of ArchitectureRice University, 1977
  • Bachelor of ArtsRice University, 1975

Biography

Dr. Ray Pentecost is the Director of the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University, and holder of the George J. Mann Chair of Healthcare Design.  Ray is a Fellow in both the American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects, a former Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, a LEED Accredited Professional, and an ordained minister.

Ray is widely known for his leadership in this field.  Internationally, he is the current global Co-Director of the International Union of Architects – Public Health Work Programme (Paris).  He is also a Past President of the International Academy for Design & Health (Stockholm).   In the United States, he is a two-time Past President of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, as well as a Past President of the American College of Healthcare Architects.

Scholarly Interests

Ray is dedicated to improving the health of people on this planet through design.  In order to do that, he believes a new approach to the practice of architecture involving multi-disciplinary research is imperative.  Producing a design workforce steeped in the traditions and skills of rigorous research means adjusting the architectural curriculum to include more such content, detailing both the conduct and use of scholarly research, a shift to which Ray is fully committed.

Ray is a familiar speaker domestically and internationally, including venues in Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, Finland, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan.  Known for his presentations on telemedicine, medical technology futures including artificial intelligence, and designing for health, Ray’s writings include “The Practitioner as Researcher,” a chapter for Evidence-Based Design for Multiple Building Types (Wiley & Sons, 2009), by Hamilton and Watkins, also available in Chinese.