Skip to main content

Voices

Professor Vicky Kalogera and her colleagues have been advancing innovation at the intersection of AI and astrophysics for years, positioning the University as a leader in this area. Northwestern’s ascent is reflected most recently in its leadership of the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI Institute), which will develop AI astronomy tools that will allow researchers to make breakthrough discoveries.

Read Kalogera’s essay

With her arms folded, professor Vicky Kalogera leans against a wall with the CIERA logo in the background.
Studies show that friendships have real, tangible health benefits. Northwestern experts offer advice on how to make more friends and why these relationships are more important now than ever before.

Read their advice

Main image SO option 1
Hillary Simms, doctor of musical arts student in Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music and the first woman trombonist on the faculty at the Juilliard School, explains her love-hate relationship with the trombone.

Get to know Simms

Hillary Simms, wearing a black blouse and jeans, smiles at the camera while holding a trombone in a grassy landscape.
Led by Megan York Roberts, the Reduce the Wait project provides virtual autism diagnostic evaluations to more than 1,000 toddlers across Illinois — focusing on families from underserved areas — with the goal of creating a diagnostic pathway that is more efficient than the current system.

Read Roberts’ essay

Megan York Roberts, wearing a purple long-sleeve top and jeans, stands smiling in a classroom full of children’s toys.
From a Rose Bowl upset in 1949 to a buzzer beater basketball win in 2017, alumni recall their favorite Wildcat moments.

Read the story

Dererk Pardon, in a black Northwestern basketball jersey, shoots a lay-up in a packed Welsh-Ryan Arena as a player from the University of Michigan, dressed in a yellow jersey, jumps to block him. One Northwestern player and two Michigan players approach in the background.
Alumni share stories of the people who shaped them.

Read alumni stories

Sound Off hero
Beau Tremitiere, counsel at Protect Democracy, is working to restore election integrity and push for more representative and responsive government.

Read Tremitiere’s essay

Beau Tremitiere sits on a ledge in front of a cement building with his arms resting on his thighs and his hands clasped as he looks off into the distance. He is wearing a black suit with a light blue dress shirt.
In this Q&A, Özge Samanci shares the inspiration for her new graphic novel, Evil Eyes Sea, which was published in summer 2024. Inspired in part by Samanci’s real-life experiences, the book examines political corruption, friendships and the threat of the male gaze.

Read the Q&A

A mixed media illustration depicts a woman wearing a black long sleeve turtleneck with an evil eye in place of her head and Medusa-like snakes for hair against a blue background resembling water.
Northwestern professor Melissa Foster ’96, ’01 MMus believes rap music should be accessible to everyone. She explains why she finds the genre so inspiring — and why learning its history is critical to becoming a good rapper.

Read the story

Michelle Foster leans against a brick wall, wearing a white turtleneck top, oblong hoop earrings and a necklace. She is smiling and holding a copy of her book.
Northwestern community members share the wisdom they learned the hard way.

Read their stories

Scissors cutting through a piece of paper that says “I can’t do it.”