Gerald W. Adelmann

Gerald W. Adelmann is Executive Director of Openlands Project and President of the Canal Corridor Association. He first joined the staff of Openlands Project in 1980, which led to the founding, under his directorship, of the Upper Illinois Valley Association in 1982.

Adelmann holds a Bachelor of Arts in art and architectural history from Georgetown University, and a Master of Philosophy in American Studies from George Washington University. He did graduate work in historic preservation, urban planning and American History, and was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1986 he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Lewis University.

Adelmann is a trustee of the Illinois State Museum and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and is an emeritus member of the National Board of Advisors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He was appointed to the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission by the Secretary of the Interior. Adelmann has served on the boards of numerous organizations and agencies, including the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council, The Nature Conservancy’s Illinois Chapter, the Hegeler-Carus Foundation, the Liberty Prairie Foundation, and the Governor’s Task Force that established the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency in 1985. Jerry was a founding board member of the Chicago Maritime Society. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for United States-China Arts Exchange at Columbia University, the Executive Council of Chicago Metropolis 2020, and the National Council of The Conservation Fund.

Adelmann has been active in preservation, conservation, and planning efforts in his hometown of Lockport, Illinois since the 1970’s. He has lectured extensively throughout the United States and abroad.

Canal Corridor Association

The Canal Corridor Association (formerly the Upper Illinois Valley Association) received the National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award in 1986 and the Burnham Award from the Metropolitan Planning Council in 1992. Under the leadership of Gerald W. Adelmann, the Canal Corridor Association has, since 1980, worked closely with the Openlands Project in the coordination of a special program focusing on the Des Plaines River Valley.

In the fall of 1990, the Openlands Project launched the 21^st Century Open Space Plan, whose objectives included the expansion of existing parks and the establishment of 4,000 miles of greenway in Northeastern Illinois. The Openlands Project received the 1993 American Greenways DuPont Award from the National Geographic Society and The Conservation Fund.