Carol Ross Barney, the distinguished 2023 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal recipient, is a visionary architect, urbanist, educator, and mentor who has long championed the belief that excellent design is a right, not a privilege. Through her dedication to crafting public buildings and spaces that elevate our daily lives, she has produced distinctive structures and spaces that have become cultural icons. Her thoughtful, community-centered approach— including projects like the Chicago Riverwalk and the design of DuSable Park—offers a compelling vision for inclusive, civic-minded design in the 21st century.

Carol has earned more than 200 major design awards, including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and 14 National AIA Honor Awards spanning architecture, interior architecture, and urban planning. Her leadership in sustainable and environmental design has been recognized with numerous honors at both the national and local levels. A graduate of the University of Illinois and a former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, where she helped plan national parks, Carol has also shaped future generations through more than three decades of teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology.