In Memoriam

Nancy Poore ’91 MA, Elgin, Ill., July 27, 2025, at age 85. A feminist activist, writer and publisher, Poore was a pioneer of the women-in-print movement. In 1973 she co-founded Helaine Victoria Press in Santa Monica, Calif., using a vintage letterpress to publish stories and images of little-known heroines. The press, a founding member of the U.S. Alliance of Lesbian and Feminist Printers, printed postcards showcasing women from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as images of the labor, suffrage and temperance movements. Poore became interested in social justice and feminism while living in California during the ’60s and ’70s. She left Helaine Victoria Press in 1981 and moved to Chicago, where she ran a design, research and writing business. She earned a master’s degree in English from Northwestern and worked at what is now the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. In 2005 Poore and her partner, Christine Johnson, moved to Michigan, where they owned vacation rental cottages and ran a kayak rental operation. Johnson died in 2015. Poore is survived by cousins Lois, Celia and Marilyn and nephews Ben and Edwin. 

Thomas Z. Hayward Jr. ’62, ’65 JD, Naples, Fla., July 24, 2025, at age 85. A life trustee, Hayward was president of the Northwestern Alumni Association from 1976 to 1980 and chaired or co-chaired numerous Reunion committees for the class of 1962. He was vice chair of the Northwestern Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2009 and chair of its Alumni Relations and Development Committee from 2000 to 2010. From 1998 to 2003 Hayward co-chaired Campaign Northwestern, which raised over $1.5 billion, and he later served as co-chair of several committees for We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern, the largest fundraising initiative in University history. Hayward was honored with an Alumni Service Award in 1974 and a Northwestern Alumni Medal, the highest distinction awarded to alumni, in 2012. An expert in land-use and general corporate law, Hayward retired from K&L Gates in 2013 after working at numerous Chicago law firms. He is survived by his wife, Sally Madden Hayward ’61; sons Thomas Hayward III ’89, ’93 MBA, MD, Wallace Hayward ’90 and University Trustee Robert Hayward ’94, ’97 JD; 10 grandchildren; and several other relatives. 

Roger Dennis ’71, ’74 JD, Cherry Hill, N.J., July 17, 2025, at age 75. Dennis shaped antitrust policy in the U.S. and had his work cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. He served as dean of the Rutgers University–Camden School of Law for six years before becoming the Rutgers–Camden provost. In 2007 he helped found the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and served 10 years as dean. Earlier in his career, Dennis was a special assistant to the assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice and deputy staff director of President Jimmy Carter’s National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures. As a law student at Northwestern, Dennis was senior editor of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. He is survived by his wife, Deborah Ellis Dennis ’72; children Andrew and Ethan; a sister, Paula; and grandchildren Elizabeth and Harry. 

Photo Credit: Rutgers Law School

D. Cameron Findlay III ’82, Chicago, July 11, 2025, at age 65. A respected attorney and public servant, Findlay served as general counsel for three Fortune 500 companies — Aon Corp., Medtronic and Archer Daniels Midland Co. After earning a bachelor of arts in political science, Findlay attended New College at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, receiving a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics. He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1987. Early in his career he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and held senior positions in two presidential administrations, including as deputy secretary of labor under President George W. Bush. Findlay served as a University trustee for more than 25 years. During the 1990s he taught as an adjunct professor in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He and his wife, Amy Scalera Findlay, established the Cameron and Amy Findlay Undergraduate Research Fund to support Northwestern students’ summer research projects and the Cameron and Amy Findlay Fellowship, which supports recent Northwestern graduates studying in the United Kingdom. Findlay is survived by his wife; his sons, Alexander Findlay ’14 and Mac; his mother, Judy; his sister, Anne Findlay Vail ’86; his brother, David; and several nieces and nephews.  

Patricia Louis Peterson ’48, New York City, June 15, 2025, at age 99. As fashion editor of The New York Times from 1957 to 1977, Peterson chronicled shifting trends in hemlines and the rise of pantsuits, tie-dye and other fashion evolutions as measures of societal change. She frequently collaborated with her husband, photographer Gösta Peterson, on visually bold editorial shoots. In 1967, for example, she oversaw Fashions of The Times’ groundbreaking cover photo by Gösta featuring Naomi Sims — the first Black model to appear on the cover of a major American fashion magazine. (Fashions of The Times was a seasonal section of The New York Times Magazine.) In 1977 Peterson took on an executive marketing role at Henri Bendel, a women’s department store in New York City. There, she and her husband created whimsical, eye-catching ads that often ran in the Sunday edition of The Times. An art theory and practice major at Northwestern, Peterson was fashion editor for The Purple Parrot student magazine and began her career at Marshall Field & Company before joining Mademoiselle in New York City. Later in life, she served as a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, working at its Costume Institute until 2015. She is survived by her children, Annika and Jan; and Jan’s wife, Lori Barrett-Peterson ’93 MA/MS. 

Ramona Lenny Alpern ’49 MA/MS, Frisco, Texas, June 6, 2025, at age 97. An expert in dialect and speech, Alpern spent much of her career working with preschool children to address speech challenges. She developed a method to integrate speech therapy into broader special education programs and published her research in Academic Therapy and other journals. She also worked as a public speaking and dialogue coach for corporate executives, former athletes, and actors and performers. A member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Alpern appeared in movies as an extra, voiced commercials and radio shows, and briefly served as the automated voice behind 411 directory assistance. She earned her master’s degree in speech pathology from Northwestern, where she met her husband, Melvin Alpern ’50 MA/MS. He died in 2009. She is survived by her children, Jill, Kyle and Ed; and seven grandchildren. 

Alexander Pancoe ’09, Lake Forest, Ill., May 5, 2025, at age 38. A courageous and daring mountaineer, Pancoe summited Mount Everest and completed the Explorer’s Grand Slam, which entails skiing to the North and South Poles and climbing the Seven Summits — the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Fewer than 80 people have completed this challenge. A brain tumor survivor, Pancoe raised money for Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where he had a tumor removed while he was attending Northwestern. Pancoe was recently diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and died while scaling the world’s fifth-highest mountain, Makalu, in the Himalayas. His Makalu climb raised funds for the pediatric blood cancer program at Lurie Children’s. Throughout his life, Pancoe helped fund clinical trials and other programs at the hospital. He is survived by his wife, Nina; his young children, Zephyr and Venice; his mother, Mariann; and several other family members.