In Memoriam

Louise Love ’76, ’79 MA, ’84 PhD, Nov. 6, 2021, Evanston, at age 77. A lifelong learner with 30 years of experience working in higher education administration, Love began her Northwestern education as a part-time student, earning her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and master’s degree in English over the course of 17 years. She went on to earn her doctorate in English with a specialty in English Renaissance drama from Northwestern in 1984, after which she accepted a position at Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies (SPS), then called the Division of Continuing Education. She spent 16 years working her way up to become vice dean of SPS before joining Roosevelt University as associate provost in 2000. She later joined Columbia College Chicago, where she held various positions until retirement. She received an Alumni Merit Award from the Northwestern Alumni Association in 2003 and was one of the founding members of the Association of Northwestern University Women. She is survived by her husband, Ernest Love ’94 MA; daughters, Mary Love ’94 and Sarah Love Penzell ’90, ’10 MA, an assistant clinical professor in the Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; and granddaughters, Alex and Ella.

Teruaki Aoki ’70 PhD, Tokyo, Aug. 17, 2021, at age 79. Serving for more than 30 years at Sony, including as president and chief operating officer, Aoki generated dozens of patents in the U.S. and Japan. He played a key role in the development of the DVD player, and in 1999 he accepted an Emmy Award for scientific and technological advancement on Sony’s behalf. As the former president of the NU Club of Japan, Aoki hosted events in Tokyo for alumni and families. He served on the McCormick School of Engineering Advisory Council, the Materials Science and Engineering Advisory Board and the Kellogg Global Advisory Board. The Northwestern Alumni Association honored Aoki with an Alumni Merit Award in 2000 for his contributions to the University and to society. He is survived by his wife, Reiko. Photo: Courtesy of Friends of U Tokyo Inc

Benno Ndulu ’79 MA, ’79 PhD, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Feb. 22, at age 71. A highly respected economist, Ndulu worked tirelessly to improve Tanzania’s economic stability and became a mentor to young African scholars. He began his career teaching economics at the University of Dar es Salaam before pursuing a doctorate in economics at Northwestern. During Ndulu’s decade as governor of the central bank of Tanzania, the country saw economic growth and reduced poverty. Ndulu also founded and developed the highly influential African Economic Research Consortium, an institution focused on advancing economic policy research and training in Africa. He served on the board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was the chair of the advisory board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics. After his retirement in 2018, Ndulu joined the University of Oxford as a visiting professor and worked on the World Development Report 2021. Ndulu is survived by his wife, Mariam; his children, Ndulika, Lindu and Sarah; and three grandchildren.

Photo: Blavatnik School, University of Oxford

Andre L. Bell ’70, ’74 MA/MS, Chicago, Oct. 28, 2020, at age 72. Serving in higher education for more than 40 years, Bell was Northwestern’s first African American director of financial aid and later became director of undergraduate admission at the University of California, Berkeley. Born in Chicago, Bell was the first in his family to attend college. At Northwestern, he participated in the 1968 Bursar’s Office takeover and was a founding member of the University’s Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity chapter. Survivors include his wife, Zina Jacque ’77; his former wife, Debra Avant Hill ’71, ’72 MA/MS; his children, Tiffany and Christian; and three grandchildren, Devon, Cayden and Carson.

Irene Duhart Long ’73, Merritt Island, Fla., Aug. 4, age 69. A trailblazing aerospace physician, Long spent 30 years overseeing health and safety at NASA. Long joined the organization in 1982 as chief of the Kennedy Space Center’s Medicine and Environmental Health Office. In 2000 she became the first woman and first person of color to become NASA’s chief medical officer, a position she held until she retired in 2010. Long also helped create KSC’s Spaceflight and Life Sciences Training Program, which encouraged more women and minority undergraduates to pursue science careers. Her many accolades include the 1998 Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2005 Women of Color STEM Conference Lifetime Achievement Award. She is survived by her aunt, Estella; cousin, Delphine; and close friends Dorothy and Novella. (See “Space Doctor.”)

Credit: NASA

Jean Harvey Lightfoot ’73 PhD, Chicago, Nov. 15, 2017, at age 81.

A powerful soprano with a wide vocal range, Ms. Lightfoot performed with the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a cappella ensemble at Fisk University that has performed spirituals around the world since 1871.

She toured Europe with the singing group in 1956, performing 66 concerts in 56 days. The tour included a performance for royalty in Portugal and an eight-encore show in Rome.

Ms. Lightfoot continued to perform spirituals with the John W. Work Chorale in Chicago. She went on to earn a doctorate from Northwestern, where she studied education and urban anthropology.

She taught English and served as an administrator at Hyde Park High School, Kennedy-King College and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She retired as dean of students at Columbia College.

Ms. Lightfoot is survived by her daughter, Jaronda, and two granddaughters, Jaya and Jorie.

Michele M. Marsh ’76, South Kent, Conn., Oct. 17, 2017, at age 63.

A five-time Emmy Award–winning newscaster, Ms. Marsh enjoyed a more than two-decade run as an anchor on nightly programs on CBS and NBC stations in New York City. 

Ms. Marsh studied theater at Northwestern and participated in the Dolphin Show. After graduating in 1976, she landed her first assignment, at WABI-TV, the CBS affiliate in Bangor, Maine, where Ms. Marsh reported in the field and anchored the late-night newscast. She even ran the teleprompter with her feet while on the air. 

Ms. Marsh moved on to KSAT-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Antonio, and then, in August 1979, to WCBS-TV in New York City. She started as a reporter and quickly became co-anchor of the 11 O’Clock Report. Ms. Marsh, then 25, was the youngest of five women who claimed anchor positions at the five New York TV stations with late-night news programs. 

She worked as an anchor and correspondent for WCBS for 17 years until she was let go in 1996 as part of move to improve sagging ratings. Ms. Marsh quickly joined WNBC, where she anchored until 2003.

The pioneering news anchor won five local Emmy Awards for news programming and helped pave the way for women in television news.

Ms. Marsh is survived by her second husband, P.H. Nargeolet, and a son, John Paschall ’14. 

Photo: Michele Marsh in the WCBS-TV newsroom in New York City in 1980. Photo by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.