In Memoriam

James Jerger ’51, ’52 MA, ’54 PhD, Lake Oswego, Ore., July 24, 2024, at age 96. A pioneer of modern audiology, Jerger joined the Northwestern faculty after earning his doctorate in 1954 and became director of the Audiology Research Laboratory while still in his 20s. He left Northwestern in 1961 and spent several years as director of research at the Houston Speech and Hearing Center before becoming a professor of audiology and director of the Division of Audiology and Speech Pathology at the Baylor College of Medicine. He spent 30 years at Baylor, building the audiology program. After retiring from Baylor in 1997, he was a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1988 Jerger founded the American Academy of Audiology and created the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, for which he served as editor in chief for more than 25 years. He received the American Audiology Society’s Raymond Carhart Memorial Award, which is named for longtime Northwestern professor and audiology program head Raymond Carhart ’34 MA/MS, ’36 PhD. Jerger also received the American Auditory Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the first Lifetime Career Research Award from the American Academy of Audiology, which was later named the James Jerger Award for Research in Audiology in his honor. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and three sons. 

John Vander Sande ’71 PhD, Newbury, Mass., June 28, 2024, at age 80. A physical metallurgist, Vander Sande made significant contributions to electron microscopy. A longtime professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Vander Sande brought the first scanning transmission electron microscope to the U.S. This microscope uses a beam of electrons to scan material samples and investigate their structure and composition. Vander Sande was instrumental in leading research on weak-beam microscopy as director of a microscopy laboratory at MIT, and he was known as a gifted teacher and devoted mentor. Vander Sande also launched American Superconductor, an energy technology company that produced high-temperature superconducting wires. Beyond his scientific pursuits, Vander Sande had a passion for antiques and was a self-taught expert on 17th- and 18th-century furniture — expertise that earned him a production credit for the 1996 film The Crucible, which was set in 1692. Vander Sande is survived by his wife, Marie-Teresa Vander Sande ’71 MS; children John and Rosse; and grandchildren Gabriel, Sophia and John. 

Peter Ernest Holmes ’61, Southern Pines, N.C., June 21, 2024, at age 85. During his nearly four-decade career on Capitol Hill, Holmes worked for the U.S. Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), now known as the Department of Health and Human Services. As director of HEW from 1973 to 1975, he led the dismantling of the segregated elementary and secondary school systems in 17 Southern and border states. Holmes also worked to develop the regulatory and enforcement program for the newly enacted Title IX program. In 1974 President Richard Nixon named Holmes a U.S. representative at the United Nations Human Rights Conference in Ohrid, Yugoslavia. Earlier in his career, Holmes was a writer and editor for the weekly news magazine Congressional Quarterly and also served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Robert Griffin. After leaving the federal government, Holmes worked for General Electric and the Puerto Rico-USA Foundation. Holmes is survived by his wife, Anne; children James, Robert, Michael, Lammot, Ridgely, Bill and Stuart; and 13 grandchildren. 

Steven Albini ’85, Chicago, May 7, 2024, at age 61. A legendary indie rock and post-punk performer and studio engineer, Albini was a Chicago music scene fixture. He fronted the bands Big Black and Shellac before becoming a sought-after sound engineer. He recorded many well-known albums, including Nirvana’s In Utero, Pixies’ Surfer Rosa and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, and founded the Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio in 1997. He was a longtime critic of exploitation in the music industry, refusing to accept royalties from record companies for his work. Albini first ventured into Chicago’s music scene while at Northwestern, where he wrote music criticism, worked at local record stores and recorded the first Big Black EP, Lungs (1982), using borrowed equipment. While on campus, he studied painting with art theory and practice professor Ed Paschke and contributed to both The Daily Northwestern and Rubber Teeth, a now-defunct student-run humor magazine. Later in life, Albini became a champion poker player, winning nearly $200,000 at the World Series of Poker in 2022. He is survived by his wife, filmmaker Heather Whinna; and his mother, Gina.

Click here to read a tribute to Albini by Zeki Hirsch ’24.

Photo Credit: Getty/Matt Winkelmeyer

Hazel Marie Hitson Weidman ’51, Hope, Maine, April 22, 2024, at age 100. Weidman served during World War II as part of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service program. As a flight instructor, she taught U.S. Navy pilots to fly by instruments, radio navigation and celestial navigation. Weidman graduated cum laude from Northwestern in 1951 under the GI Bill. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and majored in anthropology, then went on to earn a doctorate in social relations from Harvard University. Weidman was a pioneer in the field of medical anthropology, teaching at the College of William and Mary and the University of Miami, where she helped establish and directed the medical school’s Office of Transcultural Education and Research. She helped organize the Society for Medical Anthropology within the American Anthropological Association. The society’s Hazel Weidman Award for Exemplary Service honors her legacy. Weidman is survived by her son, Charles; grandchildren Shani, Liana and Farin; nieces Karen, Leslie and Anny; and nephews Bruce and Brian. 

Martin Aliker ’54, ’58 DDS, Kampala, Uganda, April 15, 2024, at age 95. A skilled dental surgeon, businessman and higher education administrator, Aliker founded the first private, African-owned dental practice in Kampala. He attended Northwestern on scholarship, then received a Fulbright Award to complete his doctorate in dental surgery. After establishing his practice, he served as a senior presidential adviser and foreign affairs minister in President Yoweri Museveni’s administration in Uganda. Aliker was on the board of directors of nearly 40 companies, including Coca-Cola. He became the founding chancellor of Gulu University from 2004 through 2014 and later served as chancellor of Victoria University in Kampala. A generous Northwestern benefactor, Aliker donated an operatory to the Northwestern University Dental School and spoke at the Dental School’s Convocation in 1993, the same year his son, Okello Aliker ’93 DDS, graduated. Martin Aliker is survived by his son and his wife, Camille.  

Helen “Meg” Bennett ’70, Los Angeles, April 11, 2024, at age 75. A former Northwestern Homecoming queen and Miss America contestant, Bennett moved to New York City after graduation and earned roles in productions of Grease on Broadway and Godspell off-Broadway. In 1975 she began a long and successful soap opera career as the ingenue Liza on Search for Tomorrow. Bennett went on to play Julia Newman in The Young and the Restless beginning in 1980. She began scriptwriting for The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Santa Barbara and Sunset Beach and received five Daytime Emmy nominations for writing, with a win for General Hospital in 1995. She also received five Writers Guild of America nominations, with wins for General Hospital and Sunset Beach. Bennett is survived by her husband, Robert Guza Jr.; two stepdaughters; four grandchildren; two siblings; and many nieces and nephews.

Photo Credit: Getty/CBS Photo Archive