Cover Story
The Incredible, Adaptable Greta Lee
The actor’s Northwestern years prepared her for the reality of Hollywood.
Fall 2024
Voices
Beau Tremitiere, counsel at Protect Democracy, is working to restore election integrity and push for more representative and responsive government.
In this Q&A, Özge Samanci shares the inspiration for her new graphic novel, Evil Eyes Sea, which was published in summer 2024. Inspired in part by Samanci’s real-life experiences, the book examines political corruption, friendships and the threat of the male gaze.
Alumni share stories of the people who shaped them.
Innovation
The Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has launched a new course, Innovate for Climate, which encourages students to engage in climate-conscious problem-solving and business ventures.
Manufacturing and design engineering majors Gass Iyacu ’24 and Emma Jackson ’24 teamed up with classmates Pratham Bansal ’24, Alicia Cabrera ’24 and Kevin Kaspar ’24 to invent an expandable bike helmet that accommodates thick, curly and voluminous hair while prioritizing safety and ventilation.
News
Haiti is embroiled in a humanitarian crisis, with gangs controlling around 80% of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Freelance journalist and Haitian democracy activist Monique Clesca ’81 MS, who has been sheltering in place at her home in Port-au-Prince, spoke with Northwestern Magazine about the origins of the crisis and how the country might restore stability, democracy and equity.
Where’s your phone right now? Brandon Kondritz, a junior journalism major, asks listeners that question in his podcast episode “The Day I Ditched My Devices,” which chronicles his day as a Northwestern student — completely unplugged.
Our alumni will travel the world for a scoop. Meet the foreign correspondents, filmmakers and producers who are shining lights on stories from India, Colombia, Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere.
My Northwestern Direction
Julie Plec showed up at Northwestern in September 1990 with big dreams of a future in Hollywood, inspired by everything she’d ever read in Entertainment Weekly and Premiere magazine. Nothing prepared her for life in entertainment more than “tech week” for student theater productions.
Impact
An accomplished scholar of European and global history, Deborah Cohen has led the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs since January 2024. During this time, her team has launched a raft of programs that build on the institute’s mission of fostering interdisciplinary teaching and research about the world beyond U.S.
The voices of people incarcerated in Illinois are rarely heard outside their institutions’ walls. Students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) are changing that.
A gift from Northwestern Trustee Steven A. Cahillane ’87 and Tracy Tappan Cahillane ’88 is kickstarting the renovation of the Donald P.
A health crisis motivated Victor Su and Patricia Kou to help expand Northwestern’s speech and language services to a wider community. Their gift establishes the Su Family Community Impact Fund, which will support the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and create a scholarship fund for undergraduate students in the McCormick School of Engineering.
People
Harris Forbes ’19 serves as associate producer and postproduction supervisor for America in Black. Produced by CBS News in partnership with BET News, the show airs monthly and covers a range of stories about Black America, from profiles of prominent movers and shakers to deep dives into the Black maternal health crisis and the fight to teach Black history in schools.
Inspired by her son, Isidoro, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, Annah Abetti Korpi is working to make school playgrounds inclusive for children with disabilities. Korpi began a campaign that raised nearly $365,000 to finance a playground renovation at her son’s school, Alexander Elementary School, in Albany, Ohio.
Stage adaptations of books, movies and even music albums are nothing new. But this spring Christina Rosales ’11 brought an unusual production to Northwestern’s Wirtz Center Chicago: a stage adaptation of a video game.
Growing up, Cristina Henríquez ’99 would regularly visit Panama, her father’s home country, on family trips. Those experiences inform her latest novel, The Great Divide, which follows three characters whose lives intersect during the construction of the Panama Canal.
Fresh off a 10-show European tour to Paris, London and Florence, Italy, singer Stella Cole shared the story of her viral rise and how Northwestern helped launch her career. Cole, who double majored in theater and international studies and now lives in New York City, will release her debut album in August.
Chelsea Jeon and Ryan Jeon co-founded Immigo, a peer-to-peer English learning platform powered by AI.
Sarah Wills Carlsson collaborated with fellow alums to publish the ’ittle Bear children’s book series. The books, which follow a stuffed animal who travels the world, aim to increase cultural education.
Genesis Garcia honors her ancestors by crafting decorative sugar skulls for Día de los Muertos. After selling around 60 skulls on Facebook Marketplace in 2020, she decided to grow her hobby into a small business called Chicago Calaveras.
Ryan Cook ’12 and Mitch Lee ’11 met at Northwestern, where they both studied mechanical engineering, and later worked together at Boeing. They co-founded Arc in 2021, and in early 2024 the company unveiled its first mass-market model, the Arc Sport, a high-performance EV boat designed for wake sports.
Matt Houchin is breaking records by wearing a Hard Rock Café T-shirt every day in 2024, all in the name of charity. His Hard Rock Shirt-a-thon is raising money for the nonprofit Free Guitars 4 Kids.
