Roster Detail
Stephen Baird
Stephen W. Baird is the president and chief executive officer of Baird & Warner. Established in 1855, the firm is the oldest residential real estate brokerage in the United States and currently ranks among the nation’s top 15 with an annual sales volume of nearly $5 billion. Under Baird’s leadership, the firm has grown dramatically — in 2002 alone, Baird & Warner realized a 25% increase in sales force strength to over 1,500 sales associates, who operate from 35 strategically located offices throughout Chicago and its suburbs. In addition to the highly successful residential brokerage operation, Baird has added a suite of dynamic and innovative real estate related companies to augment the firm’s wide-ranging customer service capabilities — these include mortgage financing, title insurance and a ground breaking home services unit.
Baird is a recognized industry visionary and national leader. He serves on the board of directors of the Realty Alliance — a consortium of the nation’s top real estate firms — and has testified before the US Congress on matters of vital interest to the real estate community. In addition, Baird has also served as past-president of CorLands, the land acquisition arm of the Openlands Project, which seeks to preserve green-space for future generations. He is an advisory board member for the Trust for Public Land and a member of both the Young Presidents Organization and the Commercial Club of Chicago. Baird also serves as a trustee of the Morton Arboretum, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the University Club Foundation.
A 1975 graduate of Harvard University, Baird remains highly active in the Harvard community. He currently serves as co-chair of the Harvard Schools Committee and interviews applicants for admission. Baird earned his MBA from Northwestern University’s J.J. Kellogg Graduate School of Business Management in 1985, and also serves as a director of that school’s Alumni Board.
Steve and his wife, Susan, and daughters Abigail and Lucy are longtime residents of Chicago and the North Shore.