Born in Newton, MA, to Edwin Fiske and Ellen (Ripley) Kimball, Sidney Fiske Kimball (1888-1955) earned his Bachelors in Architecture from Harvard University and then his Master of Architecture in 1912. Following graduation Kimball became part of the architecture faculty at the University of Illinois. In 1913 he moved to the University of Michigan, where he was again part of the architecture faculty and where he also pursued and finished his Ph.D. in Fine Arts. He played a part in the restoration of Monticello and Stratford Hall Plantation.