On February 6, 2008, Mayor Richard Daley appointed Samuel Mendenhall as a Commissioner to the Chicago Housing Authority with his term expiring July 7, 2012. Mr. Mendenhall is a partner in the international law firm of Winston & Strawn, where he practices commercial litigation. He has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer for the years 2005 to 2008, an honor given to five percent of lawyers in Illinois. In 2001, he was chosen as one of the 40 best lawyers in Illinois under 40 years of age.

Commissioner Mendenhall received his bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. He earned his law degree in 1991 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award for community service from the College of Law.

Founder of the Winston & Strawn/Dodge Academy Mentoring and Tutoring Program, which received the 2005 Tutor/Mentor Program of the Year Award from Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend-A-Hand Program, Mr. Mendenhall is also a director of the Winston & Strawn Foundation and serves as the firm's liaison to the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee. In addition, Mr. Mendenhall serves, or has served, on the boards of the University of Illinois College of Law, The Economic Club of Chicago Member Committee, and Teach for America Chicago. He is a Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and a past volunteer with Junior Achievement of Chicago, Cub Scouts of America, and the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Mr. Mendenhall is a proud former resident of LeClaire Courts public housing developments and a graduate of Chicago Public Schools. He is also an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.