Robert A. M. Stern (1939–2025) and Frank O. Gehry (1929–2025)
The SOM Foundation is saddened by the passing of Robert A. M. Stern, founding partner of RAMSA (Robert A.M. Stern Architects), and Frank O. Gehry, founding partner of Gehry Partners, LLP.
Ross Miller and Robert A. M. Stern, “Chicago’s World’s Fairs of 1893 and 1992,” Charnley House, Chicago, October 24–25, 1991. Courtesy of Janet Abrams.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Bob Stern and Frank Gehry were part of the board of the SOM Foundation that included Emilio Ambasz, Edward (Chuck) Bassett, Thomas Beeby, David M. Childs, Henry Cobb, Lawrence S. Doane, H. Laurance Fuller, Frank O. Gehry, Bruce Graham, Michael Graves, Diane Legge, Michael A. McCarthy, Charles W. Moore, William Randolph Hearst III, Robert A. M. Stern, and Stanley Tigerman.
In 2022, Bob Stern shared a few remarks with the SOM Foundation about his time as a board member:
“I was flattered to be asked to serve on the board of the SOM Foundation. As I recall, Stanley Tigerman, who was not affiliated with SOM at the time but had once been an employee, instigated my invitation, which likely formally came from the foundation’s chairman, Bruce Graham. I was an outsider to the SOM family, but that may well have been the point. It’s my style to have an opinion, and other board members probably felt that my outspoken nature would do the organization some good. Early on, I was involved in a number of foundation initiatives, the most notable being the proposal for the 1993 Chicago World’s Fair, the planning of which began in the mid-1980s. Eventually the Chicago Institute for Architecture and Urbanism (CIAU) was formed to provide some additional administrative infrastructure. My time at the SOM Foundation opened me to a new generation of architects and thinkers.”
Our condolences to their families, colleagues, and friends.