AT THE GARDEN — Senior staff

The Chicago Botanic Garden welcomes 800,000 visitors each year to its 385-acre living plant museum featuring 24 display gardens, 81 acres of lakes and waterways, as well as a prairie and native woodlands. The Garden is a world leader in plant conservation science, the nation’s finest teaching garden, and, is breaking new ground in urban horticulture and jobs training in the City of Chicago and North Chicago with its Windy City Harvest and Green Youth Farm programs. On September 21, the Garden opened the 38,000-square-foot, gold LEED-certified Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center, a building featuring nine laboratories dedicated to plant biology, a publicly accessible 16,000-square-foot green roof garden, as well as The Grainger Gallery, whose interactive exhibits and windows into working labs contribute to making the building unique in the nation.

Sophia joined the Garden in 2006 as vice president of visitor programs and operations and was promoted to president and CEO in 2007. Prior to her tenure at the Garden, Sophia served for eight years at The Field Museum, most recently serving as vice president of exhibition and education. Prior to her years at the Field, she served in curatorial positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Sophia holds an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, and an M.A. in art history from the University of Chicago. She earned her B.A. in art history and economics from Wellesley College. She is the author of The Arts Club of Chicago: The Collection 1914–1997.

In 2002, Crain’s Chicago Business named Sophia one of Chicago’s “40 Under 40” and in 2008 honored her as one of Chicago’s “Women to Watch.” Among other media profiles, she has been featured on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight and 848 on WBEZ, and in Chicago magazine’s “Frontlines.” She is in the inaugural class of the Chicago Council on Global Affair’s Emerging Leaders program. Sophia serves on the Board of Directors of The Arts Club of Chicago and is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, The Chicago Network, and the Economic Club, among other affiliations.