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Alumni Awards List

PAUL FREELAND was born into a family of K-State alumni. Growing up in Salina, KS, and as editor of his high school's newspaper, he had planned on a degree in journalism at K-State. However, a trip to Manhattan during his junior year changed all of that. After visiting Seaton Hall, watching students present their golf course designs, and listening to several professors explain the endless possibilities a degree in landscape architecture would hold, it didn't take him long to change his mind and enroll in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

At K-State, Paul served on the student board of the KSU Foundation and served as scholarship chairman and vice president of his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. He was a student assistant to Professor Dennis Day in reviewing construction documents for third-year students, and completed internships with campus landscape architect Mark Taussig at KSU Facilities Planning in 1996 and at Edward Stone and Associates, Inc. (EDSA) in Fort Lauderdale in 1997.

Upon graduation in 1998 and looking for a forward thinking firm that offered a balance of a wide range of project types within the region, he was invited by K-State graduate and firm principal Stan Cowan to visit MESA Design Group in Dallas. Paul accepted an offer to work in the 80-person firm and has worked in several design studios in his 10 years at the company. As an entry-level landscape architect, he was a member of the Community Development team at MESA. Projects focused on hardscape detailing and master planning for many of the growing communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Promoted to project manager in 2001, he managed projects in the Retail and Mixed Use studio. This team focused their efforts on lifestyle centers, urban infill projects, commercial development centers and streetscape design. Paul visited London, Dubai and Kuwait while working on a dynamic new project, 360 Kuwait, a cutting-edge retail center conceived with RTKL in the heart of Kuwait City. His team was also responsible for the renovated site plan and two-acre garden built at NorthPark Center in Dallas, one of the nation's premier retail centers.

In 2003, Paul was promoted to associate and became the lead studio manager for the Corporate/Campus team at MESA. Over the last few years, he has managed design and construction efforts for 7-Eleven's Corporate Headquarters at One Arts Plaza in Dallas, Blue Cross Blue Shield Regional Headquarters in Richardson, Texas, and Chico's World Headquarters in Fort Myers, Florida. The campus designs have focused on connecting the employees to nature, constructed using integrity of materials and rich palettes of stone, wood, steel, glass, water and native plants. He is also currently leading site design efforts for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with world renowned architects Legorreta + Legorreta of Mexico City.

Paul reached a career milestone when Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center opened to the public in Orange, Texas, in March of this year. As Texas' first LEED Platinum project, this six-year-long design effort was completed in collaboration with Jeffrey Carbo Landscape Architects of Alexandria, LA, and AIA 2004 Firm of the Year, Lake/Flato of San Antonio, TX. Set on 252 acres of sweeping pine forests and wetland swamps, Shangri La's mission focuses on educating visitors about nature and our role in it and serving as a beautiful new destination for horticulturalists, wildlife enthusiasts and, most importantly, children. It boasts a new visitor center, historic garden, children's garden, nature preserve and outdoor classrooms, and connections to an existing bayou. Paul managed the design and construction of the project that offered a broad exposure to a variety of rich historical and cultural contexts, connections to nature and complex ecosystems, a sustainable approach and the goal of LEED Platinum, an extensive team of expert consultants, cutting edge yet practical design, and a dynamic client who had the vision and financial resources to make it happen.

Travel has been extensive throughout his career with projects in Texas, as well as North Carolina, Indiana, Washington, Florida and overseas. He became licensed in 2007 and is now working toward becoming a LEED accredited professional.

Staying connected to K-State and Manhattan has always been a priority to Paul, and MESA has given him opportunities to do so throughout his career. He is actively involved in the recruiting efforts of the firm and helped establish the MESA Design Discovery Scholarship through the KSU Foundation for fourth-year landscape architecture students traveling abroad for their internships. He has hosted the K-State Career Exploration Day for the Dallas/Fort Worth region at MESA that targets graduating high school juniors and seniors with interest in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, and he stays active with K-State alumni groups in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Paul married Rachel in 2001 and now lives outside of Dallas in McKinney, TX. They have two children, Sydney, 3, and Chase, 1.