Campus
When Erin Gilchrist started digging through hundreds of 16 mm film and VHS recordings of Northwestern musical performances, she discovered some unexpected gems. Take the Second Annual Hoffnung Festival, a spoof of classical music concerts that in April 1980 featured a Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble performance on three vacuums, a floor cleaner and four rifles. “That was not at all what I expected,” says Gilchrist, a digital curation and metadata assistant.
In 1982, Northwestern students crowded into Norris University Center for a black-tie gala and retrospective exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rubber Teeth, a student-run humor magazine. Attendees strolled through a gallery of glass cases containing relics of Rubber Teeth’s past, admired how the magazine’s vintage covers had evolved over the decades and read the publication’s comedic takes on the events of the past half-century.
Fifty years ago, Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding. Though not the primary or only result of the legislation, participation in women’s athletics increased dramatically thanks to Title IX.
My players inspire me the most. These young women come in as 17- and 18-year-olds and leave as leaders with a degree from Northwestern.
The Human Longevity Laboratory is just one part of the ambitious, multicenter Potocsnak Longevity Institute, whose goal is to build on Northwestern’s ongoing research in the rapidly advancing science of aging. “The biological processes that drive aging may be malleable,” says Douglas Vaughan, director of the institute and chair of the Department of Medicine at Feinberg, “and we think we can slow that process down, delay it, even theoretically reverse it.”
Louis A. Simpson ’58 was a big believer in giving everyone access to education.
Undergraduates have taken on an expanded role at the Block Museum. The student associates now lead public and private tours, facilitate art discussions and even add acquisitions to the museum’s collection.
In 13 years as Northwestern University president, Morty Schapiro transformed the campuses, expanded international opportunities and supported faculty research — all while diversifying the student population. The University also faced financial challenges and several controversies, as well as an unprecedented pandemic.
In just a few months, Morton Schapiro will step down as president of Northwestern after 13 years at the helm. During President Schapiro’s tenure, the Evanston and Chicago campuses were transformed by more than 50 major construction projects and the creation of 17 new research institutes and centers.
Tech giant IBM has made a generous gift to endow two computer science professorships in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering in honor of Virginia M. “Ginni” Rometty ʼ79, ʼ15 H, the first woman to lead the company.
