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Acclaimed poet and Northwestern alumna Angela Jackson is Illinois' fifth poet laureate. Previous poet laureates include Carl Sandburg and Jackson's idol, Gwendolyn Brooks.

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Angela Jackson Hero
Emergency medicine physician and former Wildcats offensive lineman Ryan Padgett ’97 was one of the first healthcare workers in Washington state to test positive for COVID-19. His harrowing story has become both a symbol of hope and a cautionary tale about the ­­­dangers of the global pandemic.

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Padgett Hero Image
In the early days of the pandemic, Whitney Owens quickly pivoted the Cincinnati Museum Center’s three institutions — the Duke Energy Children's Museum, Cincinnati History Museum and Museum of Natural History & Science — to virtual programming.

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Cincinnati Museum Hero
Artist Ryan Tova Katz painted a mural at 829 Foster St. in Evanston in honor of the 2020 Northwestern graduates.

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Mural Hero
When New York's Montefiore Medical Center admitted its first COVID-19 patient on March 11, Albert Einstein School of Medicine professor of medicine Kenneth J. Schaefle ’90 was pulled in alongside many others to help with the COVID response.

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Ken Schaefle
In a time of challenge and struggle, Northwestern alumni answer the call to help heal a wounded world in the wake of the coronavirus.

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Northwestern has a hard-earned and growing reputation for excellence, but that excellence is for a purpose: to be in a position to make the fullest possible contribution to our world precisely at moments like the one that we are in now.

Read President Schapiro's letter

morton schapiro feature
As communities across Illinois respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and brace for its long-term effects, mental health and wellness are central to the recovery strategy. Rachel Bhagwat ’12 and Anthony Guerrero ’14, ’18 MS are on the team leading that effort at NAMI Chicago, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

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Rachel and Anthony Illustration
Chinazo Opia Cunningham spoke out for patients and her medical colleagues while helping her New York City hospital through the worst of the pandemic. A physician and researcher at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, Cunningham has been working tirelessly to care for patients in one of the cities hardest hit by coronavirus.

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Chinazo Illustration
Karly Raber expected to spend her final months of medical school finishing up her last rotations, but her plans were upended by the pandemic. So Raber got involved in COVID-19 monitoring efforts, calling people across the Chicago area who had tested positive for the virus to track how they were feeling, monitor their symptoms and refer them to more intensive care as needed.

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