Impact
Launched in 2015 in a converted space within a campus parking structure, The Garage has helped more than 10,000 students explore the world of entrepreneurship. Ten years later, it has expanded beyond the Evanston campus, utilizing Northwestern’s academic space in San Francisco to offer programming for Bay Area alumni who are a part of the startup ecosystem.
The Block of Museum of Art’s Woven Being exhibit showcases Chicagoland’s many Indigenous art histories, with more than 80 works of various materials — including painting, basket weaving, bead work, sculpture, photography and mixed media.
Northwestern’s Institute for New Music organizes workshops, symposia and residencies for visiting composers and ensembles and gives students opportunities to interact with and learn from prominent figures in the new music world.
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.
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.
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.
As the world’s population rises and the effects of climate change threaten crop yields, food insecurity is an urgent matter. With the support of University Trustee Melih Keyman and Zeynep Keyman, Northwestern researchers are pursuing a novel approach to farming with the potential to make a substantial impact on the global food crisis.
The Lucks Laboratory developed a home test that can detect common contaminants in water. The technology, called ROSALIND, harnesses the “molecular taste buds” found in bacteria and programs them to glow when they detect a contaminant.
Northwestern has been awarded $50 million over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation to establish the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) — the first institute of its kind in the U.S.