People & Profiles
Heather Headley ’97 brings down the house with her performance of the original song, “Children of Privilege,” from Northwestern’s Waa-Mu Show. In the years since her time in Cahn Auditorium, Headley has won a Tony Award for Best Actress (for the Elton John/Tim Rice Broadway show Aida), a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album (for her album Audience of One), and starred both on Broadway and in TV shows like “Chicago Med” and “Sweet Magnolias.” She was also the recipient of The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s 2020 Alumnae Award. Read more about Headley from her days as a rising star in the Summer 2000 edition of Northwestern Magazine.
Chad Mirkin, the director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology and the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry, has played a central role in the rapid growth of nanotechnology at Northwestern and the invention of techniques that have revolutionized aspects of materials discovery.
Rebecca Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, was named the 17th president of Northwestern University by the Board of Trustees last October. Blank is an internationally renowned economist and researcher on poverty and the low-income labor market, and her appointment marks a return to Northwestern, where she served on the economics department faculty from 1989 to 1999.
Federico Burdisso made Northwestern history when he claimed two Olympic medals in Tokyo last July. The Italian swimmer became the first Northwestern athlete in 65 years to medal at the Olympics while enrolled at the University and the first Wildcat to medal since Matt Grevers ’09 earned two golds and a silver at the 2012 Games.
When Kim Weisensee Brown ’08, ’09 MS needed content creation help for her Chicago-based nonprofit, she turned to Northwestern to find an intern. To her surprise, she found the perfect fit more than 7,000 miles away: Benjamin Mwangi, a junior at Northwestern University in Qatar.
Juliet Litman ’08 always figured she’d be an English professor, not a pop culture authority. But thanks to a nudge from her Northwestern adviser, Litman is now The Ringer's head of production and a creative force in the making of pop culture and sports content and commentary that goes well beyond fandom.
Five international students share what foods they miss most from their home countries.
Dwight White II’s new mural in the renovated Black House is about what you can see — and so much more.
In August 2020 the Washington Football Team named the 38-year-old Jason Wright the franchise’s president, making him the first Black president in NFL history. His combination of on-the-field NFL experience and corporate boardroom chops made him an ideal candidate to guide the team’s cultural and business transformation.
Mara Lieberman ’98 MA, executive artistic director of Bated Breath Theatre Company, created Voyeur: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec, an interactive, outdoor performance that brings 1899 Paris to the streets of New York City.
