Our Heroes

Adele Simmons

2026 Lifetime Achievement Winner

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Adele graduated from Harvard University and received her doctorate from Oxford University in African studies.

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Adele’s career included several academic posts:

• Dean of Jackson College at Tufts University,

• Dean of Students and Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University, where she was the first woman to be appointed as a dean. 

• President of Hampshire College, its first woman president.

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She returned to Chicago to become President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation serving for ten years overseeing global grants of over $175 million a year.

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As founder and president of Global Philanthropy Partnership, Adele works to strengthen the infrastructure that supports global donors and sustainable cities, including Chicago. She is a founder of Global Chicago and served as co-chair of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs studies.

Adele led the region-wide centennial marking the 100th Anniversary of the 1909 Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett Plan of Chicago and was the Vice-Chair of the regional planning group, Chicago Metropolis 2020.