Alumni
As president of the NU Club of Greater New York, Idil Kara ’21 is creating spaces for alumni to connect and build community. Through events and outreach, she brings a sense of Northwestern to life in the city.
The Northwestern Alumni Association often assists Northwestern groups interested in planning a meetup, event or reunion. From alumni outreach to logistical and communications support, the NAA helps alumni build on the social experiences they had as students by facilitating opportunities to reconnect.
The Northwestern Alumni Association is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its mentorship program, which provides valuable support and guidance to students and alumni as they navigate their careers, explore new industries or consider graduate school.
When Rachel Yihui Lin became NU Club of Beijing president in 2023 — after serving on its board for seven years — she took the helm of an active group whose 1,100-plus members span generations and hold degrees from a variety of Northwestern programs.
Maria Atanasov, an accomplished business journalist and current president of the NU Club of Southeast Florida, reflects on her time at Northwestern and how she came to be involved with Northwestern’s alumni network.
The Northwestern Alumni Association Travel Program offers more than three dozen trips annually to alumni, with itineraries and travel experiences that cater to all interests. For more than 50 years, the program has led trips to all seven continents, across land and sea.
Recently elected president of the NAA Board of Directors, Kristin McDonnell is excited to lead an organization dedicated to the personal and intellectual growth of a diverse, international community of more than 260,000 alumni. A graduate of the McCormick School of Engineering, McDonnell mentors student entrepreneurs and serves on the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board and Kellogg Tech Council.
For Lindsay Vahl Dean, the opportunity to shape how Northwestern interacts with its global alumni community was too good to pass up. “I am thrilled by the chance to create spaces where alumni can deepen their experiences with the University and one another,” says Vahl Dean, who became assistant vice president of alumni engagement and executive director of the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) in July after a national search.
Since 2019 Marc McClellan ’81, a resident of Palm Springs, Calif., has served as president of the NU Club of Coachella Valley, a small but active group that has hosted game watch parties and cultural events, receptions for the Northwestern softball team and alumni filmmakers, and joint gatherings with other Northwestern groups to expand the club’s reach and unite Wildcats in the area.
Traditions for the graduating class create a bridge to the alumni community.
