Barbara Gaines

Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 2001

Gaines is an American theater director, impresario and actress. She founded Chicago Shakespeare Theater and stepped down from being the Artistic Director of the CST in 2023, after thirty-seven years. Currently she is a member of the Shakespearean Council for the Globe Theatre in London. She has also served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and is a Life Trustee of Northwestern University. In 2005, she was named an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire.