Geoffrey Baer is an American television personality, writer, and producer best known for hosting the '' 10 That Changed America'' series, the ''Chicago By Boat'' architecture series, and other television programs produced by

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

stations. His programs offer an enhanced understanding of the history, culture, and people of the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

as well as American architecture.

Early life

Born in 1956, Baer was raised in the Chicago suburbs of Highland Park and Deerfield. Baer's father was an accountant while his mother worked as a music and art teacher. His family is of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. Baer recalls one prophetic childhood moment in which his Russian/Yiddish grandmother, grasping his face in her hands, proclaimed that he would be on television someday. Baer was involved in theater in high school, and he majored in radio, television and film at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Career

After graduating from college, Baer worked at various television stations in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, eventually becoming a staff producer of a nightly television show in Philadelphia. Returning to school at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

’s School of Communication, Baer earned a master's degree in theater, and then taught theater part-time for five years at a small, private high school called the

Chicago Academy for the Arts The Chicago Academy for the Arts, founded in 1981, is an independent high school for the performing and visual arts located in the River West neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It was named a National School of Distinction by the John F. Kenn ...

. He also became a volunteer docent for the

Chicago Architecture Foundation The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC), formerly the Chicago Architecture Foundation, is a nonprofit cultural organization based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, whose mission is to inspire people to discover why design matters. Founded in ...

and led boat tours of the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...

Work with WTTW

In 1989, Baer began working for WTTW Chicago as an associate producer for arts programsProfile
at

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

while continuing to lead Chicago Architecture Foundation boat tours on the weekends. In 1995, the newly-appointed chairman of WTTW took one such tour and approached Baer afterward. According to Baer, "By the time I got to work the next day, he’d called the station and said we should make the tour a TV show." His first show, ''Chicago By Boat,'' became so popular that it was updated in 2006. By then, Baer had hosted more than 20 programs highlighting Chicago area architecture and history. Today, Baer's programs often accompany

pledge drive A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term " pledge" originates from the promise that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular interva ...

s for WTTW because pledges tend to increase during Baer's programs or when DVDs of his programs are offered as gifts in exchange for pledges. Baer often serves as host for these pledge shows.

Personal life

Baer lives in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

with his family. In his free time, he enjoys competitive

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baer, Geoffrey Living people American television personalities American male film actors American male television actors Travel broadcasters 1960 births