Blog

By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005

“I seem to be drawn to these Mies van der Rohe buildings,” said Val Adams. For 20 years, he managed and worked out of the Mies-designed IBM building (now called AMA plaza) on the Chicago River. Now, in addition to his docent duties, Val works part-time as the CAC’s manager of corporate relations. His office is on the 13th floor of our new Chicago Architecture Center in the Miesian building at 111 E. Wacker.

“Much of my position involves fundraising and fundraising-related activities,” he said. That includes managing the Corporate Partners membership program that supports 50-plus leading real estate firms. The members are primarily architecture and engineering firms, including Studio Gang, SOM, and Thornton Tomasetti. In turn for their support of CAC, Val provides opportunities for networking with other professionals at invitation-only events, Teen Fellows intern sponsorships, and employee volunteering.

“Every quarter we host a corporate partners’ leadership breakfast,” continued Val. “We feature a keynote speaker who addresses relevant topics in architecture, design, or urbanism.” The fourth-quarter, 2018, speaker will be Mary Ludgin, Heitman’s managing director of global investment research (Mary, a long-time docent, was profiled in the August edition of The Bridge.) “This is the third year in a row that I’ve had Mary speak because the firms are always anxious to hear her economic forecast.

“Next February, we’re planning a ‘virtual meet-up’ for corporate partners with fellow architects and engineers in London,” Val said. “In May there’ll be a similar meet-up with Copenhagen.” Val also has been involved in fundraising for the new CAC.

Real Estate Services

Val had a long career in corporate real estate services. After graduating in sociology from Gannon University with a B.A. in liberal arts, he joined the IBM Corporation in Buffalo. “Gannon’s also where I met my wife Diana.”

Val worked in middle-management positions in Cleveland, Peoria, and Chicago. “IBM is synonymous with ‘I’ve Been Moved.’ And the best career move I ever made was transferring to IBM’s real estate department.” For 20 years, he worked out of and managed Mies’ IBM Building and IBM properties throughout the Midwest. Then he joined CB Richard Ellis RE Services, a large commercial real estate services and investment firm. He and Diana moved to Ann Arbor where, for nine years, Val was CBRE’s managing director and account manager for Ford Motor’s world-wide real estate portfolio in Dearborn.

Thanks to Ward

Wherever he and Diana lived, Val enjoyed being the tour guide for visiting friends and family. Returning to Chicago — “sort of retired” — he heard about our docent program from Bill Lipsman, a classmate in an Osher Lifelong Learning class at Northwestern University. Val became a docent in 2011 and, a year later, certified for the River Cruise. Living near the river in Streeterville, Val averaged 60-to-70 cruises per season for several years,

“I try to make my cruises interesting by telling stories, by engaging my tourees rather than just killing them with facts,” he said. “I tell how Montgomery Ward helped save the downtown lakefront. Then I ask the Chicagoans on board how ‘bullish’ they are about our 29 miles of lakefront parks and public amenities. They usually applaud, and I tell them that Mr. Ward would appreciate the recognition. I’m always surprised to see how they respond.”

In addition to leading tours, Val was a member of the Docent Council as his class representative, then served for two years as an elected member. He was on the Core Values committee, tour director of the Student River Cruise, and served on several other committees. In 2015, Val was the first recipient of the CAF Staff/One Team Docent Award for outstanding non-tour work for the Foundation in the previous year. In 2015 and 2017, during the Chicago Biennial, he supported the SC Johnson Company y leading bus tours to the FLW-designed SC Johnson Wax headquarters in Racine, and the Wingspread mansion in Wind Point, Wisconsin.

Travel

Val and his wife are avid travelers. They visited London and Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2017. In October, they’ll take architecture tours in Venice, Rome, and Florence. He and Diana are planning a return trip to London in 2019. “But wherever we go,” he concluded, “I’m drawn to Mies, to the buildings he inspired in other countries and, finally, to our new Miesian home on the Chicago River.”