SmithGroup Promotes Six to Vice President

SmithGroup, one of the nation’s leading architecture, engineering and planning firms, has promoted Martha dePlazaola Abbott, Mark Adams, Vince Avallone, Kathleen Hudson-Beitz, Mary Jukuri and Tim Tracey to vice president.   

Martha dePlazaola Abbott, LEED AP, is promoted to vice president and retains her role as leader of the Workplace Studio at SmithGroup’s Phoenix office. Abbott is among the firm’s leadership for its work on the $300 million Phoenix Sky Harbor Terminal 3 renovation and expansion project, slated for completion in 2019. Leveraging 24 years of experience in architecture, Abbott’s specialties include a keen understanding of the different project delivery methodologies to ensure seamless execution. She is also passionate about leading SmithGroup teams that work to clearly address a client’s design problem from a regional and environmental perspective. As an advocate of increasing the presence of women in the architectural profession, she helped organize the 2013 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Women’s Leadership Summit. Abbott is a graduate of the University of Florida’s College of Architecture with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and grew up in Winter Park, Florida. She is a now a resident of Tempe, Arizona.

Mark Adams, RID, IIDA, adds vice president to his existing role of interiors leader for the Workplace Studio at SmithGroup’s Phoenix office. Known for his expertise in workplace strategy, programming and planning, Adams has nearly 30 years of experience, having joined SmithGroup in 2008. Currently, he is the firm’s principal-in-charge for a series of projects for web domain registrar giant GoDaddy, spanning Arizona locations in Tempe, Scottsdale and Gilbert, as well as Sunnyvale, California and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The SmithGroup-designed GoDaddy Global Technology Center in Tempe, recognized for design excellence by numerous industry organizations, is an innovative new model that the client is leveraging as a powerful workforce recruiting and retention tool. Adams is also leading the firm’s interior design of a 500,000-square-foot IT Innovation Center in Austin, Texas for an undisclosed client, and national call center/administration office consolidations at three U.S. locations for Republic Services, an industry leader in U.S. recycling and non-hazardous solid waste. Adams is a graduate of the Harrington College of Design with a BFA in Interior Design. Born and raised in Western Springs, Illinois, he now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Vince Avallone, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP BD+C, CASp, is promoted to vice president while continuing as a certified healthcare architect and senior medical planner at the firm’s San Francisco office. Avallone is lead medical planner for the new 13-story, 998,000-square-foot, 301-bed hospital for Sutter Health and California Pacific Medical Center, now under construction at the Van Ness and Geary campus in San Francisco. He is also lead medical planner for the Alameda County’s Highland Hospital Acute Tower Replacement project, soon to reach construction completion in Oakland. Active with the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA), Avallone sits on the board of regents as their Advanced Education and Networking Committee liaison. A member of the AIA and its Academy of Architecture for Health, Avallone received a presidential commendation from the AIA San Francisco chapter for his success as the chair of its Health and Science Committee. Avallone is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Architecture in Structures. The native of Mt. Prospect, Illinois now resides in San Francisco. 

Kathleen Hudson-Beitz, LEED AP, promoted to vice president, continues as director of business development at SmithGroup's Detroit office. Among the projects for which she played a critical role in the firm’s successful commission include Wayne State University’s new $40 million Mike Illitch School of Business Administration (2018), and several significant new buildings for Oakland University, such as the Human Health Building (2013) and Engineering Center (2014). Other SmithGroup clients with which she’s maintained long-standing relationships are Michigan State University, Detroit Medical Center and McLaren Health System. Hudson-Beitz is a member of the SmithGroup Board of Directors and a leader of its Women@SmithGroup and Design Excellence initiatives. She is a graduate of Wayne State University with two degrees: an MBA, preceded by a BS in Business Administration, both with a marketing emphasis. The Trenton, Michigan native resides in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. 

Mary Jukuri, RLA, ASLA, is promoted to vice president and retains her existing title as senior campus planner and landscape architect. Based at SmithGroup’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office, Jukuri is among the firm’s top experts in campus planning and urban design. She is currently serving as lead planner for a campus master plan update for the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which will provide direction on future building sites, preserve and enhance open space, address campus transportation and the necessary infrastructure to support future development of the campus. Other significant planning work underway for Jukuri includes a new master plan for Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR). In recent years, Jukuri was lead designer and landscape architect for the award-winning Detroit RiverWalk and was lead planner for the firm’s work for the Indiana University Bloomington campus master plan and the Arizona State University master plan update. A frequent speaker at national and international conferences, she is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture. The Detroit native now lives in Scio Township, Michigan.  

Tim Tracey, AIA, promoted to vice president, continues as office director for SmithGroup’s Chicago location. Tracey served as design principal for one of the firm’s most significant healthcare completions of 2015: the $100 million Center for Advanced Care at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago. Presently, he is design principal for the new 228,900-square-foot corporate building for The Duchossois Group, scheduled to complete construction in Oak Brook, Illinois in 2017. A member of the SmithGroup Board of Directors and Design Leadership Committee, he is a registered architect in Illinois. Tracey is praised for his success in collaborating with clients and project teams and is passionate about integrated project delivery and a member of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) Chicago Community of Practice Core Group. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology and is a resident of Chicago.

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