Bernard Loyd: Raising $8M to restore Bronzeville`s Forum (2020)
Bernard Loyd '85, PhD '89, MS '90 has a doctoral degree in aerodynamics and worked a consulting job. But after settling on Chicago`s South Side, he changed course and has now dedicated his career to community development.
Loyd loves reminiscing about the rich history of the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“The electric blues, the literature from Gwendolyn Brooks and so many others, jazz took a turn in Bronzeville and Gospel was created up the street,” Loyd said.
Today, this once-thriving South Side community is a shell of its former self, but Loyd is committed to pumping some life back into the historic Mecca.
“Bronzeville has the opportunity to become — once again — the cultural hub of Chicago,” he said. “Celebrating unique black culture, whether that is music or arts visual arts, theater literature.”
WGN TV, February 2020