Barbara “Barbi” Donnelley

Barbi Donnelley is a fifth-generation Chicagoan who is dedicated to architecture, historic preservation, and horticulture. Over the years, her many activities have included service and leadership roles with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Chicago Architecture Center, Landmarks Illinois, the Mies van der Rohe Society, the Kew Foundation America (part of Royal Botanic Gardens, London), the Smith Symposium, the Advisory Committee at Ryerson Conservation Center, and the Horticulture Committee at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Donnelley is particularly proud of her time as president of the Gaylord Lockport Company (Lockport, Illinois) where she oversaw the restoration of the noted Gaylord Building, which opened to the public in 1987. It became a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1992. President Ronald Reagan presented the Gaylord Building with the President’s Historic Preservation Award in 1988. She has remained active, serving on the Gaylong Building’s Council, focusing on its maintenance and grounds.

Donnelley and her husband Tom have a second home in Montana, for over 30 years. She has been honored by the city of Bozeman for restoration work and the AIA Montana for the design of a barn complex on her family's ranch.

Donnelley has been on the Mies van der Rohe Society Board since 2005, having served twice as chair. She is especially thrilled to have been involved with the restoration of Carr Chapel. Donnelley also enjoys her association with the faculty, students, and programs at Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture. Along with her husband Tom, they describe the Illinois Tech campus as "an inspiring and beautiful place that even during the pandemic, gives us a place to walk and admire and reflect."