In Memoriam

Sheldon Harnick ’49, ’18 H, New York City, June 23, 2023, at age 99. Harnick, a highly acclaimed lyricist and composer, was best known for his work with Jerry Bock on the Tony Award–winning musi­cals Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof. Harnick and his collabora­tors won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize in drama for their work on Fiorello!. He also received the 2009 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre and the 2016 Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre. Harnick, who grew up in Chicago, served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. While stationed at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, he wrote songs and performed in shows for his fellow troops. After an honorable discharge in 1946, he enrolled at Northwestern, where he partici­pated in The Waa-Mu Show. Though Harnick moved to New York City in 1950 to pursue his Broadway career, he kept close ties with Northwestern. His musical Dragons pre­miered at Northwestern in 1984. A decade later, his musi­cal A Wonderful Life was one of the first shows that played in the newly remodeled Cahn Auditorium. In 2009 the American Music Theatre Project mounted a staged read­ing of Harnick’s adaptation of Molière’s A Doctor in Spite of Himself. Harnick is survived by his wife, Margery; their children, Beth and Matthew; and four grandchildren.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Stephen Lovekin

Margaret “Peg” Walker Aylesworth ’60, ’65 MA/MS, Golf, Ill., June 13, 2023, at age 84. Aylesworth served on Northwestern’s speech and language pathology faculty from 1968 to 2006 in what is now the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. During her tenure she developed one of the first state-funded interdisciplinary speech-language pathology early intervention clinics and facilitated early intervention credentialling for the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ISHA). An ISHA fellow, Aylesworth served as a clinic director and was instrumental in developing academic and clinical programming in feeding disorders and augmentative communication. “Peg was devoted to her students, colleagues and clients on both professional and personal levels,” says her longtime friend Sue Elle Krause ’73 MA, ’78 PhD. “She listened carefully with empathy and expertise and was fair in her decision making, [which was always] laced with a wry sense of humor.” Aylesworth is survived by her husband of 52 years, William Aylesworth ’76 DMA.

Ivan Menezes ’85 MBA, London, June 7, 2023, at age 63. The longtime chief executive of Diageo, Menezes helped grow the company into a global frontrunner in the alcoholic beverage industry. Born in India, Menezes worked for Whirlpool, Booz Allen Hamilton and Nestlé before joining Diageo at the time of its founding in 1997. He became Diageo’s CEO in 2013. He had planned to retire from that role at the end of June 2023. Under Menezes’ leadership, Diageo expanded its portfolio — which contains more than 200 brands, including Guinness, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan. Menezes is credited with cutting Diageo’s carbon emissions in half. He also worked to improve diversity and inclusion, hiring women and ethnically diverse executives into leadership roles. The company ranks No. 2 globally in gender equality, according to Equileap’s 2023 Gender Equality Report. Menezes also chaired Movement to Work, a collaboration among United Kingdom businesses, government, labor unions and charities that aims to provide job opportunities for young people (ages 16 to 30) who are facing barriers to employment. He was a member of the Kellogg School of Management’s Global Advisory Board. Menezes — a citizen of the U.K., U.S. and India — was knighted in January by King Charles III for his business achievements and commitment to gender and racial equality. He is survived by his wife, Shibani; a daughter, Rohini ’10, ’17 MBA; a son, Nikhil; two brothers; and one sister. 

Photo Credit: Diageo

Grace Bumbry ’58, Vienna, May 7, 2023, at age 86. An illustrious and trailblazing opera singer, Bumbry studied with German soprano Lotte Lehmann at Northwestern and later continued her studies with Lehmann at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif. Bumbry joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1958 and made her oper­atic debut at the Paris Opera in 1960 as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida. In 1961 she became the first Black performer to sing at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany with her performance as Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. She performed at the White House in 1962 during the Kennedy administration and at President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981. During her career she received the Kennedy Center Award for the Arts, a UNESCO Award, France’s Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, Italy’s Premio Giuseppe Verdi and four honorary doctorates. She also received the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Alumni Merit Award in 1969 and the Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Alumnae Award in 1997. She taught master classes at the Bienen School of Music in 1997 and 1999.

Photo Credit: Getty/Hulton Archive/Erich Auerbach

Newton N. Minow ’49, ’50 JD, ’65 H, Chicago, May 6, 2023, at age 97. An accomplished communications expert and attorney, Minow originated the idea for the first televised presidential debates and called TV a “vast wasteland” in a famous 1961 speech as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman. After graduating with his law degree, Minow served as law clerk to Chief Justice of the United States Fred M. Vinson and then as assistant counsel to Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson ’26 JD. President John F. Kennedy appointed Minow chairman of the FCC in the early 1960s, during which time Minow drafted legislation that expanded the broadcast spectrum and promoted the use of satellite technology. Minow served in the Kennedy Administration until 1963, then returned to Chicago in 1965 and joined the law firm Leibman, Williams, Bennett, Baird & Minow, which merged with Sidley & Austin. He was a partner there until 1991, when he became senior counsel. He was chair of the Public Broadcasting Service, co-chaired the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama ’06 H in 2016. Minow, the Walter Annenberg Professor Emeritus of communications and law at Northwestern, joined the Board of Trustees in 1975 and became a life trustee in 1987. His friends and colleagues established an endowment that funded a professorship in honor of Minow in 2014. The gift also created the Newton and Jo Minow Debate Series at the law school, first held in 2015. He received the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Alumni Medal in 1978 and an Alumni Merit Award in 1963. Minow and his wife, Josephine “Jo” Baskin Minow ʼ48, who died in February 2022, were married for more than 70 years. Minow is survived by his children, Martha Minow ʼ12 H, Nell and Mary.   

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

Jerry Springer ’68 JD, Chicago, April 27, 2023, at age 79. Springer became famous as host of The Jerry Springer Show, which premiered in 1991. Known for its heated con­frontations and raucous arguments among guests, the show ran for 27 seasons. A former lawyer, Springer worked for Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1968 and took part in antiwar protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that year. Springer held a position on the Cincinnati City Council and subsequently served as mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. Before creating his namesake talk show, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio and became a news anchor at NBC affiliate WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. In recent years he hosted a political podcast. In May 2008, he delivered the Commencement address at Northwestern’s law school. He is survived by his daughter, Katie.

Photo Credit: Getty Images Entertainment/Cindy Ord

Elizabeth “Beth” Newell Murphy ’76, Chicago, April 24, 2023, at age 68. Murphy was a respected figure in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, where she owned and ran Murphy’s Bleachers, an iconic sports bar just across the street from Wrigley Field, for the past 20 years. Her family has owned the bar since 1980, with Murphy taking over operations in 2003 following the death of her husband, Jim. She also owned Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, located in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Murphy was the leader of the Wrigleyville Rooftops Owners Association and spoke on behalf of neighboring business owners when the Chicago Cubs’ 1060 Project to renovate Wrigley Field caused their rooftop views to be blocked. After the Cubs’ World Series win in 2016, Murphy donated thousands of dollars in profits to programming at neighborhood schools. Murphy is survived by her stepsons, James and Brian; grandchildren Miles, Molly, Max and Maeve; siblings Frank Newell, Susan O’Connell and David Newell; and eight nieces and nephews.