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Donald Leary, ASLA

Background and Education Don was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where he graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1964. He received his bachelor's of science degree from Michigan State University.

Upon graduation, Don worked at several private sector firms in New York City and Toledo. Currently Don is principal of Land Design, LLC in Perrysburg, Ohio, a landscape architecture design firm he founded in 1981. His work includes revitalization projects, large-scale park master plans, and commercial and institutional developments. The firm has won design awards at the local and state levels. A registered landscape architect in Ohio and New York, he is certified with the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards.

After completing two years of Kathy Fox's term when she was elected to serve as vice president of finance in 1996, Don is concluding his eighth year as trustee representing Ohio. While a trustee, he served as chair of the Finance Committee from 1999 to the present. He also was selected by the Board of Trustees to serve on the Nominating Committee from 1998-2000. Don participated on the 2001 and 2003 Chapter Initiatives Program juries.

Don has served on the Ohio Chapter Executive Committee for fifteen years, including as chapter president in 1991. In addition, he has participated in numerous design juries and task forces—most notably the Licensure Upgrade Task Force that was successful in obtaining practice act status in spite of serious opposition from state and national engineering societies. He chaired a fund-raising committee for this upgrade that raised $72,000 in pledges for this effort. He is currently involved in a sponsorship development task force to raise money to support an association manager for the chapter.

Don is active in the community as well. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Toledo since 1981. He has chaired the Perrysburg Plan Commission and served on the Perrysburg Area Growth Management Committee. He has been a member of the design review boards for Fort Meigs Commerce Park and Crosby Gardens.