Michael
H. Ebner is the James D. Vail III Professor of History at Lake
Forest College, where he has been a member of the faculty
since 1974. He also has been a visiting professor at The University
of Chicago. He received his undergraduate degree in history from
the University of Toledo and his advanced degrees in American history
at the University of Virginia.
Professor
Ebner has written widely on aspects of American history for learned
publications in North America, England, Germany, and Israel. He
is best known as the author of the prize-winning book entitled Creating
Chicago's North Shore, A Suburban History (University
of Chicago Press, 1988). He is currently a member of the editorial
board of Planning Perspectives (UK); he also is the founder
and co-chair of the Urban History Seminar of The
Chicago Historical Society, established in 1983. He has held
numerous research awards, including designation as a fellow of The
National Endowment for the Humanities. From 1988 until 1999 Ebner
served as the executive secretary-treasurer of The
Urban History Association, an international learned society
with nearly 450 members. During 1987, underwritten by the Hewlett-Mellon
Presidential Discretionary Fund at Lake Forest College, he led a
faculty field study visiting universities in Japan and China. He
also served as chair of the Academic Innovations Group at Lake Forest
College during 1997-98. He chaired the program committee for the
Organization of American Historians, a professional association
with 10,000 members, for its annual meeting in April of 2001 in
Los Angeles. He also participates in the OAH’s
Distinguished Lecturer Series. He served (2001-2004)
as Academic Director for a US Department of Education Grant, based
at Lake Forest College, in the "Teaching
American History" initiative.
The
American Historical Association recognized Professor Ebner with
its Nancy Lyman Roelker Mentorship Award (1994) and the Chicago
Tribune (1994) named him to its all-star team of college professors.
Lake Forest College has recognized him with its Charlotte Simmons
Prize for distinguished public service (1998), with its annual Trustee
Award for Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership (1998),
with its Senior Class Award (2000) as the Great
Teacher, and its Bird Award for Intellectual Contributions (2004).
His
current research project is entitled “Changing Places: Rapid
Suburban Growth on the Metropolitan Edge.” This comparative
study examines locales which exemplify the nation’s fastest
growing suburbs, situated some 30 to 40 miles distant from their
urban cores, whose scale and form are recasting our large-scale
metropolitan systems. His case studies include four locales scattered
across the United States: Gwinnett County, GA; Irvine, CA, Naperville,
IL; and Princeton, NJ. Two broad questions, imbued with considerations
both urban and suburban, comprise the heart of each case study:
(a) how do individuals and groups establish and redefine their sense
of place within the metropolis; (b) what is the significance of
local heritage as people in a specific place construct their personal
and collective identities? This project has been supported by research
awards from the American Association for State and Local History,
the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New Jersey Historical
Commission.
Michael
Ebner is a resident of Lake Forest, IL. He has chaired the city’s
Building Review Board and its Historic Preservation Commission.
Since 1991, he has been a trustee of The
Chicago Historical Society. He also is a member of The
Society of Midland Authors. Currently he is Vice President of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, IL.
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