City of Chicago and Choose Chicago announced Wednesday that Lynn Osmond has been appointed as the new President and CEO of Choose Chicago. Osmond, the first woman to helm the city’s tourism agency, was most recently the President and CEO at the Chicago Architecture Center. Officials and colleagues were quick to point out the deep history Osmond has with Choose Chicago and the Chicago tourism and hospitality community. They say this means Osmond will hit the ground running. Osmond was appointed after a global search overseen by a 13-member committee of Choose Chicago Board members representing a cross-section of the tourism hospitality community. Under Osmond’s leadership the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) grew from a $2.4-million- operation in 1996, with an audience of 150,000 to a $25 million organization in 2019, with an audience of 700,000, making it one of the top cultural attractions in the city and the largest architecture center of its kind in the world. It was her vision that gave the city Open House Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Center, with the interactive city model at 111 E Wacker Drive.  This past year the CAC River Cruise on Chicago’s First Lady Cruises was named the #1 Boat Tour in North American by USA Today’s Reader’s Choice Awards.  Osmond’s appointment is effective May 9, 2022.