After nearly two decades of presenting at NFMT, Dr. Dean Kashiwagi told show organizers last month that 2025 would be his last year of providing advice to facility managers through his popular education sessions.
In a show of appreciation for his years of commitment to NFMT, the attendees at his last session rose in unison and gave Kashiwagi a rousing standing ovation at the end of his presentation.
Kashiwagi’s sessions were always among the most well-attended every year and a highlight of the education offerings for decades. His passion for teaching shone through in his presentations and touched the lives of the attendees.
His undeniable impact on the success of the show is why news of his unexpected death on Tuesday morning, April 1, hit the NFMT family hard. Kashiwagi, who peacefully passed away at his home in Arizona, was 72 and is survived by his wife, eight children and grandchildren.
“He lived a life full of purpose, love and service,” the Kashiwagi family wrote on Dean’s LinkedIn page. “From his roots in the islands of Hawaii to traveling the world, Dean’s journey was guided by faith, family and an unwavering desire to lift others.”
Whether he was leading his own business, Kashiwagi Solution Model Inc., which sought to improve facility performance and efficiency, teaching as a professor at Arizona State University, or serving 14 years in the U.S. Air Force as a design and project engineer, project manager, educator and researcher, Kashiwagi made a difference in the facilities industry.
The world of facilities management includes balancing difficult concepts and learning how to operate complex systems. Yet during his sessions, Kashiwagi had a natural ability to make it all make sense regardless of the complexity level. In the past few years, Kashiwagi was a reliable source for NFMT and FacilitiesNet on the emergence of artificial intelligence and its evolving impact on facility management.
“Dean had a knack for taking complex ideas and making them easy to understand and apply,” says Wendy Dietzler, senior director of events for TPMG. “His real-world examples weren’t just helpful — they were the best of the best. He set the gold standard for NFMT's speaker community.”
Kashiwagi’s influence in the facility management industry spans worldwide. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a Fulbright Scholar recipient in 2008 and was the author of the Information Measurement Theory (IMT) and the Best Value Approach (BVA), which his research showed can minimize a building owner’s project management by as much as 80 percent.
Alana Dunoff, another regular NFMT presenter and strategic facility planner and instructor at AFD Professional Services and adjunct professor at Temple University, says his research on IMT and BVA remains significant to the industry’s evolvement. She also remembers him as always willing to support fellow peers.
“He always made time for me at conferences, with a quick catch up on what we were both working on and would talk to you as if you were the only person in the room, full attention and connection,” she says.
Kashiwagi presented more than 700 times to facilities professionals over his long career and was published in 274 publications and journal papers. NFMT is proud to have been among those shows he embraced. We send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
Those wishing to honor Kashiwagi can contribute to one of his favorite causes, the Ward Missionary Fund for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dave Lubach is executive editor of the facilities market.
