Louis Skidmore was an American architect, co-founder of the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. He was born on April 8, 1897 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, United States. Louis Skidmore studied at Bradley Polytechnic Institute, now known as Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, finishing in 1917. He graduated from MIT's Department of Architecture in 1924. Louis Skidmore served as president of the New York Building Congress for 1949 and was vice-president of the Architectural League of New York in 1952. He received the highest individual honor for architecture from the American Institute of Architects, the Gold Medal in 1957. He died on September 27, 1962, Winter Haven, Florida, United States.