Abbie Clary Joins CannonDesign as Director of Health Practice

Abbie Clary, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, has joined CannonDesign as a principal and director of the firm’s health practice. Recognized for her ability to help clients design for the future of healthcare, Clary will support the growth and development of the firm’s global health practice — focusing specifically on market differentiation, business growth and client engagement. Based in Chicago, Illinois, she will also directly lead the firm’s 65-person Chicago health practice.

Clary joins the firm from HDR where she was the director of health for the West Region. Her most enduring contributions are in the realms of academic medicine and translational health sciences — helping institutions break down physical and cultural barriers to push innovation and medical breakthroughs forward. Recent projects include the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (Chicago), the Campus Transformation Project at the University of Utah Health, Ohio State University’s new Wexner Medical Center, Chicago’s Focal Point Community Campus and Rush University Medical Center’s new outpatient care tower, also in Chicago.

Responsible for overseeing more than $2.5 billion in healthcare projects over the last 22 years, Clary’s work has amassed the full spectrum of design recognition, including awards from the International Interior Design Association and American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health, among others. Passionate about women’s issues and equality in the design profession, Clary consistently pursues opportunities to encourage diversity within these embodiments; she’s the founder of Women’s Networking Dinners for working professional women within the healthcare industry, attended the 2017 Forbes Women’s Summit and writes regularly about issues related to gender equality.

Clary earned a Master of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado-Boulder.