Biography for Ward Miller, Executive Director, Preservation Chicago

Ward Miller studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and also attended Northwestern University. For 20 years, Mr. Miller worked at Vinci-Hamp Architects, Inc. (formerly Office of John Vinci), where he was the Project Architect and Manager for restoration projects that included Holy Family Church (by architects Dillenberg & Zucker, John Van Osdel and John Huber, Catholic church from 1857); Church of the Epiphany (by architects Burling & Whitehouse, Episcopal church from 1885) and the Isidore Heller House (by Frank Lloyd Wright, from 1896). He also worked with John Vinci on numerous temporary and permanent art installations at The Art Institute of Chicago and other museums.

For over 25 years, Mr. Miller has been an advocate for historic preservation, providing leadership in campaigns to encourage restoration and reuse of many of Chicago’s historic buildings. He joined Preservation Chicago as Executive Director in 2013 after leading the board for many years. Preservation Chicago is a local not-for-profit historic preservation advocacy group, dedicated to protecting Chicago’s rich architectural heritage and legacy.

In 2010, Mr. Miller completed the long-awaited book “The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan” with co-author John Vinci. The book was started in the 1950s by photographers Aaron Siskind and Richard Nickel at The Institute of Design in Chicago. It was published years later under the direction of Mr. Miller and the Richard Nickel Committee, a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to caring for the photographs of Richard Nickel and completing his book. The publication contains essays on each Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan building along with large-format images. The book also features a catalogue raisonne of the 256 buildings and projects of these two seminal architects, with a description, references, photographs and floor plans on each commission. The 472-page publication contains 815 photographs and is printed in a high-quality format to best convey the work of Adler & Sullivan as photographed by Nickel and Siskind.

“The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan” has received both national and international accolades and reviews and was also awarded the Gold Medal from the Independent Publishers of America in 2011. The book received an Honor Award from AIA Chicago in addition to the Book of the Year Award by Atlantic Magazine in 2010 and 2011. It also won a 2011 Preservation Excellence Award from the City of Chicago in 2011.

Biography for Adam Natenshon, Director of Operations, Preservation Chicago

Adam Natenshon is a nonprofit executive deeply committed to historic preservation who combines his love of Chicago’s architecture with a commitment to revitalizing its urban neighborhoods.

Adam served as Vice-President of the Preservation Chicago Board from 2011 to 2016. He played an important leadership role in stabilizing the organization during a period of significant transition. He helped craft the new strategy that has allowed the organization to increase its fundraising base, capacity and impact.

Since January 2017, Adam has served as Preservation Chicago’s Director of Operations/
Grants/Communications. He is responsible for implementing many of the strategies that he helped craft during his board tenure. His responsibilities include financial management, communications, grant writing, and advocacy strategy.

Previously, Adam spent 12 years developing real estate in Chicago with a focus on historic adaptive reuse, affordable housing, sustainable design and transit-oriented development. He served as vice president for Brinshore Development where his noteworthy accomplishments included the LEED Gold Hairpin Lofts and Logan Square Art Center, and the LEED Gold Hyacinth Place Townhomes. Prior, Adam served as Assistant Vice-President of ECD Company, where he helped develop a wide range of properties in the Chicago region, from hospitality to retail to commercial office buildings.

He became a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) in 2003. He holds a B.A. in Urban History from the University of Michigan and spent one year continuing his history studies at Oxford University, England. His thesis examined the impact of Chicago streetcar lines on ethnic neighborhood and real estate growth around the turn of the last century. Formerly, he served as a certified architecture docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

Biography for Debbie Dodge, Director of Development, Preservation Chicago

Debbie Dodge provides fundraising and other development activities to help Chicago’s leading historic preservation nonprofit save buildings and sites across the city, from the Loop to the neighborhoods and lakefront. Before joining the staff at Preservation Chicago, she served on the PC board’s executive committee from 2008 through 2025. Debbie has a master’s in historic preservation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master’s in Corporate Public Relations/Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. She also has years of service on zoning and issues committees in Chicago’s Lakeview and Bucktown neighborhoods as well as the former Issues Committee of Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (now called Landmarks Illinois).

Previously, Debbie was a director/senior consultant at Vertical Incorporated, a marketing communications, marketing research and design firm where clients included Siemens Building Technologies, Siemens Energy, Distributech, Calibrant Energy, Hispanic Housing (HHDC) and W.W. Grainger. Previous employers include well-known national and international management consulting firms and public relations firms. She is also experienced in development and fundraising through work at a major medical center and a nationally recognized university art museum.

Debbie has broad expertise in marketing communications, public relations, writing, editing, strategy development and implementation, internal and external communications, media relations, branding, messaging, website development, social media, competitive intelligence and market research, and cost-effective, on-budget management of large projects and campaigns.