Geoffrey Baer Receives Prestigious University Club of Chicago Cultural Award

WTTW host, writer, and producer Geoffrey Baer has been named the recipient of the prestigious 2025 University Club of Chicago Cultural Award.

The award, which was last presented in 2017, returns this year to recognize Baer’s “extraordinary contributions to Chicago’s cultural and historic landscape through his celebrated documentaries on the city’s architecture, neighborhoods, and history,” said a press release from the University Club of Chicago. In receiving the award, Baer joins other iconic Chicagoans, including Studs Terkel, Roger Ebert, Koko Taylor, Richard Hunt, and Barbara Gaines. 

“Geoffrey, without question, is ‘Mr. Chicago,’” says University Club president Patrick E. Cermak. 

There is no place Baer won’t go to explore the city and share the varied stories of Chicagoans – by train in Chicago by ‘L,’ and by boat in The Chicago River Tour, and from the skies in Chicago from the Air. He’s uncovered both the beauty and the mystery of our city. In his work at WTTW, Baer has won nine Emmy Awards. 

“We in media sometimes see our work as ephemeral,” says Baer. “Receiving this award from the University Club helps me realize that my work contributes to Chicago’s cultural legacy, something that will live on in the city’s story for years to come.”