In Memoriam

Curtis “Curt” Gentry ’77 MA/MS, Durham, N.C., Oct. 29, 2022, at age 85. After several years in the military, Gentry played four varsity sports — basketball, baseball, football and track — as a student-athlete at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, then called Maryland State College, while serving as student body president. After graduating, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1965 and at age 29 become one the oldest rookies to make an NFL roster. A defensive back, he played for the Bears from 1966 to 1968 and once recorded three interceptions in one game, a Bears record. After the NFL, he coached football at several universities, including Northwestern. Gentry also played minor league baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization. After his coaching career, Gentry was a physical education professor at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill. He is survived by three sons, Chris, Jimmy and Edward; one daughter, Julia; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; nephew and caregiver Thomas; and two sisters, Mary Hamilton and Mary Campbell.

Photo Credit: UMES Sports Information

Frank Apantaku ’75 MD, Wilmette, Ill., Feb. 22, 2022, at age 75. One of Chicago’s first trauma surgeons, Apantaku performed lifesaving vascular and cardiothoracic operations during his four-decade career at hospitals on Chicago’s South and West Sides. After graduating from Colby College, Apantaku earned his medical degree from Northwestern and then spent a year in India and England as an IBM Watson Fellow, exploring cultural implications on the development of tropical medicine. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1946, Apantaku became an avid tennis player and played for the Nigerian national team. He won several titles for Colby College and competed on the Nigerian Davis Cup team in 1971–72. He also wrote the “Health Talk” column for the Chicago Defender. Apantaku is survived by daughters Elyse, Elora and Erisa and four grandchildren. 

Amos Sawyer ’70 MA, ’73 PhD, Feb. 16, at age 76. An activist, academic and politician, Sawyer was a significant figure in Liberia’s recent progressive age. After earning his doctorate in political science from Northwestern, he ran as an independent for mayor of Monrovia and founded the Liberian People’s Party in 1983. Following the murder of President Samuel Doe, Sawyer was voted as the country’s interim president. He served from 1990 to 1994. Sawyer was active outside his political work as one of the founding members of Movement for Justice in Africa. He taught political science at the University of Liberia, where he received his undergraduate degree, and in December 1980 he became dean of the College of Social Sciences and acting director of the university. Sawyer received the Gusi Peace Prize in 2011 for his work in Africa. He is survived by his wife, Comfort, and their children.

Sherry L. Jones ’71 MS, Washington D.C., Feb. 14, at age 73. After receiving her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern, Jones got her start in the film industry working as a field producer for Oscar-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim. Jones then started her own production company, Washington Media Associates. Her films won many awards, and during her career she received eight Emmy Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, three Peabody Awards and three Edward R. Murrow Awards. Her 2008 documentary and one of her last films before retirement, Torturing Democracy, investigated the history of the George W. Bush administration’s detention and interrogation program where detainees were subjected to various torture methods such as sleep deprivation and waterboarding. It received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. During retirement, Jones worked as a volunteer at an organic farm and screened her films at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Alan Stone, and her brother.

Photo Credit: National Security Archive

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