Michael Brennan, Ph.D., AIA, NCARB
Executive Director, Office of Construction and Facilities Management
Department of Veterans Affairs
Dr. Brennan is Executive Director for the Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). CFM plans, designs, constructs, and leases facilities for the Veterans Health Administration, our nation’s largest integrated health care system, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. He is responsible for planning, design, and construction of major construction projects greater than $20 million, and acquires real property for VA elements through the purchase of land and buildings, as well as long-term lease acquisitions. CFM executes construction and real property programs to provide Veterans with high quality buildings, additions, large scale renovations, and structural enhancements. Dr. Brennan also manages the crucial areas of facility sustainability, seismic corrections, physical security, and historic preservation of VA’s facilities. Replacement plant value of VA facilities exceeds $87 billion, with new construction and major improvements approaching $2 billion per year.
Dr. Brennan is a retired Colonel, U.S. Army Medical Service Corps serving in multiple senior health facility planning, design and construction positions over his 27-year active duty career. Between 2013 and 2019 he consolidated leadership of all Army health facility capital investment and operations and maintenance programs by serving simultaneously as Commander, U.S. Army Health Facility Planning Agency; Director of Facilities – G9, U.S. Army Medical Command; and as the Army Surgeon General’s Health Facility Planning Consultant. He is a Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom with awards and decorations including the Legion of Merit (3 awards), Bronze Star, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge, Army Staff Badge, and Order of Military Medical Merit among numerous others. Dr. Brennan is a native of Kirkland, Illinois. He holds Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture, Master of Science in Civil Engineering, and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA; and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Brennan is a licensed architect in the State of Illinois, in the District of Columbia and is certified by the National Council on Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB). He is affiliated with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and the American Legion.