RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 1, 2025
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners honoring Geoffrey Baer
Body
WHEREAS, Geoffrey Baer has become a noted local figure through his involvement with the Lookingglass Theatre Company, volunteer activities with the Chicago Architecture Center and his work with WTTW Chicago; and
WHEREAS, born to a CPA and an art and music teacher, Geoffrey was raised in Highland Park and Deerfield, later majoring in radio, television, and film at Miami University in Ohio before working at television stations in Cincinnati, Ohio; Saginaw, Michigan; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, at the age of 27, Geoffrey began pursuing a master’s degree in theater at Northwestern University’s School of Communications, where he directed scenes with the group that would go on to form the Lookingglass Theatre Company; and
WHEREAS, after graduating, Geoffrey began teaching at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, a small private high school, where a school field trip to the Chicago Architecture Center inspired him to become a volunteer docent in 1987; and
WHEREAS, in 1989, Geoffrey was able to combine his passion for theater and architecture with his expertise in television production as an associate producer for arts programs at WTTW. As a behind-the-scenes guy, Geoffrey had no interest in becoming an on-air personality, until a chance meeting in 1995, when a man came up to him after he led an architecture boat tour and began asking questions, eventually asking Geoffrey what he did for a living. It turned out Geoffrey was talking to the new chairman of the board at WTTW, and by the time Geoffrey got to work the next day, the chairman had already contacted the station and suggested turning the architecture tour into a TV show. That first tour, “Chicago by Boat,” was so popular that Geoffrey has now written, hosted, and produced more than 20 such shows, as well as having appeared as a popular guest on Chicago Tonight, WTTW’s flagship newsmagazine show and hosting the national PBS primetime series; and
WHEREAS, Geoffrey is an eight-time Emmy-winning Public Television writer, producer, and host, best known for his popular WTTW specials on the architecture and history of the Chicagoland area. Nationally he hosted the PBS primetime series “10 That Changed America” about the man-made marvels that shaped America. He has been honored by the American Institute of Architects Chicago, the Society of Architectural Historians, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Chicago Headline Club; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and our staff, do hereby honor Geoffrey Baer; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Dated: May 1, 2025