Last summer, Aussies from Perth to Sydney learned about architecture-for-health research and educational initiatives at the Texas A&M College of Architecture when professor George J. Mann puts on his ambassador’s cap and headed for the Land Down Under.

Mann, the Ronald L. Skaggs Endowed Professor of Health Facilities Design, made a series of presentations at venues including the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) Center for Health Assets Australasia (CHAA) and the Faculty of the Built Environment in Sydney.

The UNSW, Mann said, is starting its own healthcare architecture program, and will be joining Global University Programs in Healthcare Architecture (GUPHA), an organization co-founded in 1999 by Mann, who currently serves as president, and Yasushi Nagasaw of the University of Tokyo, who is the GUPHA secretary general.

From Sydney, Mann flew to Perth to advise on the development of Rockingham Kwinana Hospital Project with Warren Kerr, director of Hames Architects in Subiaco. Then traveled to Pretoria, South African where made a presentation about Aggie architecture-for-health projects undertaken in developing countries at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) International Convention Center.

The CSIR seminar on health facilities design, focusing on the design of sustainable, safe healthcare facilities in Africa, was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, the International Union of Architects/Public Health Group (UIA/PHG) and the South African Institute of Architects. Mann, an active member of UIA/PHG since 1974, currently serves on the organization’s executive committee.

Mann’s international blitz concluded with a GUPHA meeting in South Africa. The organization, he said, now includes hundreds of members.