The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) has named a successor in its search to replace longtime President and CEO Lynn Osmond after her retirement in March.

Eleanor Esser Gorski will step into the Chief Executive's role with over 25 years of experience in architecture, historic preservation, and urban planning from her prior work for the city’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD), tenure as director of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, and recent academic appointment at the UIC School of Architecture.

“Eleanor has extensive experience working with communities, municipalities, and stakeholders to create community wealth,” former DPD colleague Maurice Cox said in a statement. “Her understanding of the power of design, practical experience in the field and ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes uniquely positions her to lead an organization like the CAC.”

She is known throughout the city’s planning and design communities for spearheading the recent five-year renovation of Wrigley Field and the development of its successful Fulton Market Innovation District Plan. Other projects include the planning of the Obama Presidential Center and the city’s Industrial Corridor Modernization, among others. She is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and holds degrees in architecture from Penn State and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“I am delighted to join the Chicago Architecture Center, an organization that has been a source of inspiration to me personally and professionally for decades,” Gorski said of her appointment. “I have worked throughout my career to deploy the power of design to positively impact the communities in which we live and work, and I look forward to working alongside the professionals and passionate docents who power this organization to expand the CAC’s impact on the hundreds of thousands of visitors, students and community members it reaches each year."