AGE: 50 OCCUPATION: Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, City of Chicago

Last June, the mayor crowned her Chicago’s culture czar (a.k.a. the new Lois Weisberg). But with great power comes great responsibility. Will the former Joyce Foundation programming officer succeed in rebooting the city’s Frankendepartment of culture (budget: $30 million)? The jury is still out.

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Photograph: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune