William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907), an American architect and engineer who became known as the Father of the skyscraper. He was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on September 25, 1832. Jenney went to Paris to get an education in engineering and architecture and later return back to US to join the Union army as an engineer in the Civil War in 1861. After the war in 1867 William Le Baron Jenney moved to Chicago, Illinois and began his own architectural office which specialized in commercial buildings. In later years future leaders of the Chicago School like Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham performed their architectural apprenticeships on Jenney’s staff. William Le Baron Jenney is most known for designing the 10-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago. This building was the first metal-frame skyscraper built in 1885 and later torn down in 1931. In his designs he used metal columns and beams instead of stone and brick to support the building’s upper levels. Using this method the weight of the building was reduced and made it possible to construct even taller structures. Later he solved the problem of fireproof construction for tall buildings by replacing the material of structural system from steel to cast iron because it melts high temperatures but still he used traditional masonry to clad the building’s exterior. He display his system in the Second Leiter Building also built in Chicago between the years 1889-1891. Mr. Jenney was elected an associate of the American Institute of Architects in 1872 and a fellow in 1885. He served as first vice-president in 1898 and 1899. After Jenney's death, his ashes were reportedly spread over Uptown's Graceland Cemetery.

Other Projects

• Col James H. Bowen House , Hyde Park, Illinois built in 1868
  
• Ludington Building , Chicago built in 1891
  
• Manhattan Building , Chicago built in 1891
  
• Horticultural Building , Chicago built in 1893