SAH Celebrates

Robert Sharoff and William Zbaren may be Chicago's most prolific architectural book team. Their twenty year partnership has produced seven definitive architectural books, several of which highlight Chicago architects and architecture.

Sharoff is a prolific writer on arts and culture for the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago magazine, among many others. With his news reporter’s penchant for digging deeper and getting the correct facts, Sharoff has unearthed surprising, little-known episodes in Chicago and architectural design history.

Zbaren is also a long-time New York Times contributor as well as a prominent Chicago photographer with a keen eye for architecture. He is the creator of images for books and major publications that convey the sense of buildings with the same impact as actually being there—and often directing the eye to qualities that have been overlooked. He is also a professor of architectural photography at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Rebecca S. Graff is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Lake Forest College. A historical archaeologist with research interests in the 19th- and 20th-century urban United States, she explores the relationship between temporality and modernity, consumerism and material culture, and contemporary heritage and urbanism through archaeological and archival research.

At SAH Celebrates, we will honor her especially for her commitment to literally unearthing and telling the stories of Chicago’s varied urban neighborhoods and houses.

She led two archaeological excavations at the Charnley-Persky House in 2010 and 2015 to excavate garbage from the historical “midden” – an onsite dump for domestic waste – which was uncovered during maintenance work on the property. In 2010, more than 20 undergraduate students worked for five weeks to uncover artifacts and features at the site through DePaul University's Urban Historical Archaeology Field School program saw. In 2015, Graff directed excavations through Lake Forest College, assisted by a digital humanities grant from the Mellon Foundation, where she was joined by 10 students from Lake Forest College, Beloit College, St. Olaf College, Northeastern Illinois University, and Chicago's Lane Tech High School.

Her research has been supported by the American Historical Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities (SHARP), the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture (University of Chicago), the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance.

Lynn Osmond is Principal of Osmond Consulting and former President & CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism organization. She is also President Emeritus of the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), where she led for more than 25 years. At the CAC, she transformed the institution into a global leader in public engagement with architecture and design, launching Open House Chicago, expanding the award-winning CAC River Cruise, and opening the new Chicago Architecture Center in 2018.

Her commitment to the built environment extends through her service as a previous president of International Women’s Forum Chicago, chair of the Association of Architecture Organizations, member of the Magnificent Mile Association, board member of the Driehaus Foundation, and as a Chicago Landmarks commissioner. An Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects, Osmond has received numerous national and international honors for her contributions to architecture advocacy, education, and design.

At SAH Celebrates, the Society of Architectural Historians will honor Lynn for her leadership in public outreach connecting millions to a new curiosity about the built world around them. Lynn’s efforts align perfectly with SAH’s mission to promote the study and interpretation of architecture for the benefit of all.