Editing SOM (architectural firm) (section)

==People==
SOM is structured as a partnership. The current partners and consulting partners are: Mustafa Abadan, William Baker, Thomas Behr, Keith Boswell, Carrie Byles, Larry Chien, Leo Chow, Brant Coletta, Chris Cooper, Paul Danna, Michael Duncan, Scott Duncan, Laura Ettelman, Xuan Fu, T.J. Gottesdiener, Gary Haney, Craig Hartman, Kent Jackson, Colin Koop, Kenneth Lewis, Eric Long, Mark Sarkisian, Adam Semel, Jonathan Stein, and Douglas Voigt.

===Founders and notable architects===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:John Ogden Merrill SOM.jpg|thumb|right|400px|SOM's original three partners — [[Louis Skidmore]], [[Nathaniel Owings]] and [[John O. Merrill]].]] -->

Gordon Bunshaft, who thrived as a design leader at SOM for more than 40 years, received the profession's highest honor, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 1988.
Notable architects who are associated with SOM include: [[T. J. Gottesdiener]], [[Edward Charles Bassett]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/bassett.html|title=Edward Charles Bassett (1921–1999)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417145841/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/bassett.html|archive-date=April 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Natalie de Blois]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.som.com/content.cfm/natalie_de_blois_interview|title=Natalie De Blois Interviewed by Detlef Mertins, June 17, 2004|work=SOM Journal 4|publisher=Hatje Cantz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415043027/http://www.som.com/content.cfm/natalie_de_blois_interview|archive-date=April 15, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/deblois.html|title=Oral History of Natalie De Blois|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417145735/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/deblois.html|archive-date=April 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Gordon Bunshaft]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/bunshaft.html|title=Oral History of Gordon Bunshaft (1909–1990)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417145752/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/bunshaft.html|archive-date=April 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.som.com/content.cfm/gordon_bunshaft_interview|title=Gordon Bunshaft Interviewed by Betty J. Blum, April 4–7, 1989|work=SOM Journal 3|publisher=Hatje Cantz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106030830/http://www.som.com/content.cfm/gordon_bunshaft_interview|archive-date=January 6, 2011}}</ref> [[David Childs]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wtc.com/media/videos/David%20Childs,%20SOM|title=David Childs, SOM Architect, Presents Final Design for the Freedom Tower – June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228020133/http://www.wtc.com/media/videos/David%20Childs,%20SOM|archive-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metropolismag.com/uncategorized/ground-zeros-saving-grace/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511084717/http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20060417/ground-zeros-saving-grace|title=Ground Zero's Saving Grace|date=May 1, 2006|archive-date=May 11, 2013}}</ref> Robert Diamant,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.som.com/news/in_memory_robert_diamant_former_som_partner|title=In Memory: Robert Diamant, Former SOM Partner|website=SOM|language=en-US|access-date=April 15, 2018}}</ref> [[Philip Enquist]], [[Myron Goldsmith]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.som.com/content.cfm/myron_goldsmith|title=Myron Goldsmith: Keating Hall at IIT, By Nicholas Adams|work=SOM Journal 5|publisher=Hatje Cantz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424144436/http://www.som.com/content.cfm/myron_goldsmith|archive-date=April 24, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/goldsmith.html|title=Oral History of Myron Goldsmith (1918–1996)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417145935/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/goldsmith.html|archive-date=April 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Bruce Graham]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.som.com/content.cfm/late_som_architect_bruce_graham_honored|title=Late SOM Architect Bruce Graham Honored: In Recognition of Graham's 40-Year Career in Chicago, The Tribute to the Mastermind of the Willis (Sears) Tower and John Hancock Center Included the Dedication of Honorary Bruce J. Graham Way|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806161550/http://www.som.com/content.cfm/late_som_architect_bruce_graham_honored|archive-date=August 6, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/graham.html|title=Oral History of Bruce Graham (1925–2010)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516010755/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/graham.html|archive-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref> [[Gary Haney]], [[Craig W. Hartman]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704250104575238963846447290|title=Hartman's Designs|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=May 12, 2010}}</ref> [[Gertrude Kerbis]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/kerbis/index.html|title=Oral History of Gertrude Kerbis (B. 1926)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417145036/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/kerbis/index.html|archive-date=April 17, 2012}}</ref> [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fazlurrkhan.com/ |title=Fazlurrkhan.com |publisher=fazlurrkhan.com |access-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116231657/http://www.fazlurrkhan.com/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Lucien Lagrange]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.af-chicago.org/app/Calendar.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903094412/http://www.af-chicago.org/app/Calendar.asp?event=398&type=38|title=App: Calendar.asp|archive-date=September 3, 2011|website=Alliance Française de Chicago}}</ref> [[Walter Netsch]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/netsch.html|title=Oral History of Walter Netsch (1920–2008)|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418010301/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/netsch.html|archive-date=April 18, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.som.com/content.cfm/walter_netsch_interview|title=Walter Netsch Interviewed by Detlef Mertins, May 21, 2001|work=SOM Journal 1|publisher=Hatje Cantz|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016003420/http://www.som.com/content.cfm/walter_netsch_interview|archive-date=October 16, 2009}}</ref> [[Larry Oltmanns]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arcplusonline.com/Awards_jury04.php |title=Architecture+ Awards &#124; 2004 Jury |publisher=Arcplusonline.com |access-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325044248/http://www.arcplusonline.com/Awards_jury04.php |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Eszter Pécsi]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pécsi Eszter 100 {{!}} Budapesti Műszaki ÉS Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem|url=https://www.bme.hu/pecsieszter100|website=www.bme.hu|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> [[Brigitte Peterhans]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/peterhans.html |title=Research &#124; The Art Institute of Chicago |publisher=Artic.edu |access-date=June 14, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805012218/http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/research/specialcollections/oralhistories/peterhans.html |archive-date=August 5, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/caohp&CISOPTR=23964&REC=2 |title=Oral History of Brigitte Peterhans / Interviewed by Betty J. Blum, Compiled Under the Auspices of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago. :: Chicago Architects Oral History Project |publisher=Digital-libraries.saic.edu |access-date=June 14, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> [[Norma Merrick Sklarek]], [[Adrian Smith (architect)|Adrian Smith]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Keegan|first1=Edward|title=Adrian Smith Leaves SOM|url=http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/adrian-smith-leaves-som_o|access-date=October 11, 2015|work=Architect Magazine|date=October 27, 2006|location=Washington, DC}}</ref> and [[Marilyn Jordan Taylor]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Anna|title=Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, And Landscape Designers|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofsteelston0000lewi|url-access=registration|date=2014|publisher=Chicago Review Press|location=Chicago, Illinois|pages=[https://archive.org/details/womenofsteelston0000lewi/page/88 88]–94|isbn=978-1-61374-511-3}}</ref>

===Women at SOM===
Architect [[Sarah P. Harkness|Sally Harkness]], a founding partner at [[The Architects Collaborative]] in 1947, was interviewed at the firm during [[World War II]] along with her husband [[John C. Harkness|Chip Harkness]], but only her husband received a job offer. In an interview later in life, Sally Harkness explained that she was told the firm did not believe in hiring women.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Cox, Wendy|date=June 17, 2021|title=Sarah Pillsbury Harkness: Legacy of Craft Within Modernism |trans-title= |type= |language= |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4aRCoWsLG4 |access-date= |archive-url= |archive-date= |format=recorded lecture|time=00:23:04 minutes |location= |publisher=Historic New England}}</ref> [[Norma Merrick Sklarek]], an African-American, was hired by SOM in 1955 after having been previously rejected by 19 other firms. She stayed there for 5 years, eventually starting her own firm.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morton |first1=Patricia |title=Norma Merrick Sklarek |url=https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/norma-merrick-sklarek |website=Pioneering Women of American Architecture |publisher=Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation |access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref> [[Patricia Swan|Patricia Weston Swan]] spent her 30-year career with SOM including many leadership roles but never achieved partner status, perceived by a colleague in the Denver officer as evidence of the "[[glass ceiling]]" that was in place at that time at SOM.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mäkelä |first1=Taisto H. |title=Patricia Weston Swan |url=https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/patricia-weston-swan |website=Pioneering Women in Architecture |publisher=Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation |access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref>

When Julia Murphy, AIA joined SOM in 2008 there were no women partners and only a handful of directors. To attempt to address this imbalance, in 2010 she relaunched the Women's Initiative at SOM which had previously been active between 2002 and 2004.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickinson |first1=Elizabeth |title=Best Practices: Closing the Gender Gap |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/best-practices/best-practices-closing-the-gender-gap_o |website=Architect |publisher=The Journal of the American Institute of Architects |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=16 April 2015}}</ref>

The year 2020 marked a change in which three female partners, Carrie Byles, Xuan Fu, and Laura Ettelman were named to the executive committee of the 1250-person firm.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stephens |first1=Suzanne |title=Women Take Charge at SOM |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14589-women-take-charge-at-som |publisher=Architectural Record |access-date=14 February 2022 |date=1 May 2020}}</ref>