In Memoriam

Kenneth Cornwall ’58, Alameda, Calif., Nov. 4, 2023, at age 93. A scenic painter, designer and technical director at Cahn Auditorium for 40 years, Cornwall was known by the Northwestern community as an all-around tech wizard with an encyclopedic knowledge of theater. After earning his bachelor’s degree in communications, he returned to Northwestern as technical director and became a mentor to generations of theater and music students. By the time he retired in 2000, Cornwall had contributed to nearly 50 Waa-Mu Shows — as an undergraduate student and staff member. With a sharp eye for set-building, prop selection and theater upkeep, he meticulously maintained Cahn Auditorium, as well as Guild Lounge, an event space in Scott Hall where he built original display cases using leftover wood from Cahn stage sets. Cornwall was honored with a Waa-Mu Wall of Fame plaque in the Cahn Auditorium lobby. The Ken Cornwall Award — a Waa-Mu Show award presented annually by Northwestern’s theater department — honors students who show excellence in technical theater. Cornwall is survived by his husband of 25 years, Kenneth Walsh.

Melvin Sembler ’52, St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 31, 2023, at age 93. Known for his business acumen, Sembler founded The Sembler Company, a shopping center development firm in St. Petersburg. In 1976 Sembler and his wife, Betty Schlesinger Sembler ’53, whom he met at Northwestern, founded a drug treatment program that operates today as the Drug Free America Foundation. Sembler also became involved in Republican politics. He served on President George H.W. Bush’s first presidential campaign and was appointed U.S. ambassador to Australia and Nauru following Bush’s election in 1989. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1993, Sembler served as finance chairman for both the Republican Party of Florida and the Republican National Committee. He was then appointed U.S. ambassador to Italy by President George W. Bush in 2001, a position he held until 2005. Sembler is survived by his sister, Delores; his sons, Martin, Brent and Greg; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. His wife died in 2022. 

Photo Credit: Fairfax Media 

Marilyn Faye Katz ’68, Chicago, Oct. 26, 2023, at age 78. Katz dedicated her life to social and political activism. As a Northwestern student in the mid-1960s, she joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), then left her studies to organize against the Vietnam War. In 1966 she marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago’s Marquette Park to protest housing segregation. At age 23 Katz served as SDS’s security director to protect antiwar protesters during the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She was a member of numerous women’s rights organizations and an advocate for reproductive rights. After serving as a media consultant for Harold Washington ’52 JD during his successful 1983 mayoral campaign, Katz founded MK Communications, a progressive public relations firm, in 1984. She helped organize a rally in 2002 with Chicagoans Against War in Iraq, at which Barack Obama ’06 H was a featured speaker. She later worked for Obama as a consultant and strategist during his presidential campaigns. Katz co-wrote three books, produced multiple films and served on several boards, including Human Rights Watch Chicago. She is survived by her husband, Scott Chambers, and children, Halley and Grady. 

Njoki Hampton McElroy ’70 MA/MS, ’73 PhD, Dallas, Oct. 16, 2023. A masterful storyteller, playwright and performer, McElroy graduated from Xavier University in 1945, then taught in public schools in Illinois and Indiana. She earned her graduate degrees from Northwestern’s School of Communication. As an assistant professor of performance studies at the University, she established and taught several iterations of Performance of African American Literature from 1970 to 2002. She taught at Southern Methodist University as well. McElroy gathered traditional African and Caribbean folktales as a Ford Foundation Fellow. She also taught storytelling workshops and wrote several plays exploring Black history and experiences. She founded and directed the Cultural Workshop of North Chicago, which provided performing arts training for Black youth, as well as the annual Back Home With the Folks Festival. Her memoir, 1012 Natchez: A Memoir of Grace, Hardship and Love, was published in 2010. The Queen Professor Holds Court, a documentary about McElroy, premiered in 2022. She co-founded Black Fox Enterprises, a cosmetics and hair care company, with her husband, Clenan McElroy, who died in 1978. She is survived by her children, Ronald, David, Harry, Larry and Marian McElroy ’79 JD. 

J. Landis “Lanny” Martin ’68, ’73 JD, ’22 H, Denver, Sept. 1, 2023, at age 77. Martin was one of Northwestern’s most generous benefactors. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1999 and served as chair of the academic affairs committee and vice chair of the Board. As chair of the Board from September 2017 to August 2022, he oversaw a period of tremendous growth and a return to balanced financial operations, in partnership with former Northwestern President Morton Schapiro ’23 H. Martin attended the University thanks in large part to a generous financial aid package. As a result, Martin became passionate about providing scholarships to Northwestern applicants. After earning both his undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern, Martin joined the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He became chairman and CEO of Titanium Metals Corp. and later founded Platte River Equity in 2006. He was the firm’s chairman and managing director. Martin and his wife, Sharon, gave nearly $45 million to the University, supporting the Pritzker School of Law, the Department of Athletics and Recreation, the Bienen School of Music, the Block Museum of Art and undergraduate scholarship funds. They also created the J. Landis Martin Professorship of Law and Business and helped establish Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, the University’s lakeside soccer and lacrosse field. Martin’s most recent gift established the Law Community Professorship Fund at the Law School. He received the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Alumni Merit Award in 1996. Martin is survived by his wife; children Mary, Sarah and Emily; and nine grandchildren. 

Vernon W. Ford Jr. ’68, ’71 MA, Chicago, Aug. 28, 2023, at age 77. A real estate attorney by trade, Ford was community oriented and deeply committed to combating racism. At Northwestern, he played basketball, studied sociology and participated in the 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover. He went on to earn his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, then returned to Chicago’s West Side and encouraged middle-class Black families to help reinvigorate the community. A trustee of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, Ford encouraged young people to pursue education and start careers, and he generously offered his time and legal skills to his community. A voracious reader, Ford wrote reviews for the American Library Association’s Booklist journal. He is survived by his wife, Vanessa; his son, Vernon J. Ford; his “bonus” sons, Parone E. Mulrain and Aaron C. Ellis; his siblings, Verona, Lafayette and Ronald; his grandchild, Evren; and many other relatives and friends. 

John Kezdy ’88, Highland Park, Ill., Aug. 26, 2023, at age 64. Kezdy was best known as the vocalist of the Chicago punk rock band the Effigies. Born in Belgium, Kezdy moved to Evanston with his family when he was 3 years old. He attended Evanston Township High School and then the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but he left in 1980, after one year, to join the Effigies, one of Chicago’s first punk bands. Kezdy enrolled at Northwestern and graduated in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in English. The Effigies broke up in 1990, and Kezdy earned his law degree from DePaul University in 1991. He spent several years as a prosecutor in Kankakee, Ill., and went on to work in the Illinois attorney general’s office. Kezdy revived the Effigies in 2004, and the band released two albums and an EP. Kezdy was among those injured in the mass shooting during Highland Park’s Independence Day Parade in 2022. He is survived by his wife, Erica; children Lena and Lucas; and a brother, Andre.