Goal Tender CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 The enormity of it—the marvelously goofy, wonderfully silly, joyously cathartic insanity of it—didn’t hit Rocky Wirtz right away. As the principal owner and chairman of the Chicago … Read more
Medicine Man THE BONE SQUAD Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 Ten days after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti last January, Dr. Daniel Ivankovich was on the ground, medical supplies in tow. By day, he made rounds … Read more
Heal-Raiser CURE Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 In 1981, Susan Axelrod was a young mother tending to her seven-month-old baby, A doted-on firstborn. The baby, Lauren, was healthy and bouncy—and then one day she developed … Read more
Past Perfect SULLIVAN CENTER Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 On the southeast corner of State and Madison, it’s as if the 20th century were dawning anew. Looking better than it has since a Roosevelt—Teddy—sat in … Read more
Royal Model URBAN PREP ACADEMIES Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 Members of Tim King’s family have been going to college for three generations, so it wasn’t unusual for him to attend Georgetown University and earn … Read more
House Mother A SAFE HAVEN Related: PHOTO GALLERY » MORE CHICAGOANS OF THE YEAR 2009 » 2008 » 2007 » 2006 » LIST OF HONOREES » dating back to 1994 As Neli Vazquez-Rowland drives up Michigan Avenue, she gestures at the plantings in the median. “It’s one of the best-kept secrets of Chicago,” she says. “People don’t … Read more
Our six honorees include an orthopedic surgeon, a crusading mom, a preservationist, a hockey baron, an educator, and a woman who helps recovering addicts
RELATED STORY: Chicagoans of the Year 2010 » Click the thumbnails to view larger images. Photography: Katrina Wittkamp
[click to enlarge] BARACK OBAMA President of the United States MICHELLE OBAMA First Lady DAVID MANILOW Executive producer, Check, Please! When Manilow needed guests in the show’s early days, he tapped Barack, then a “lively, articulate” state senator, who taped an episode in 2001. ALPANA SINGH Host, Check, Please! She wasn’t hosting when Barack appeared—and … Read more
WHAT I WAS THINKING: Our interview with the chief of the Downers Grove higher-ed group
