Cover Story
A New Game Plan
Former Wildcat running back Jason Wright takes a new role as Washington Football Team president.
Winter 2022
Features
Increased financial aid has made a Northwestern education more accessible and ushered in a student population that is more diverse by almost every measure. More than $200 million in aid is awarded annually to thousands of undergraduates, and the University is one of just 19 institutions in the country that are need-blind in their admissions processes, meet full demonstrated financial need for domestic students and offer no-loan financial aid packages.
Voices
This past summer, women’s tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles launched a movement in Black women’s mental health by choosing not to compete in order to care for their mental health. In this essay for Northwestern Magazine and in her recent book, professor Inger Burnett-Zeigler shows the other side of what strong Black women display to the outside world.
From the lakefront to Alice Millar to buildings etched in memory, five alumni recall the places on campus that bring them joy.
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.
New works by Northwestern alumni challenge history, celebrate activists and uplift mundane, everyday moments.
Innovation
After learning that the majority of children’s books feature either white people or animals, Jacob Jordan ’20, ’21 MS launched the Equal Opportunity Book Box, a monthly subscription service that delivers picture books featuring characters of color, LGBTQIA characters, and/or characters with disabilities.
News
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.
Five international students share what foods they miss most from their home countries.
Northwestern’s student-run radio station, WNUR 89.3, turns 72 this year. In spring 1950 the station began broadcasting using a 10-watt transmitter with a range of 5 to 7 miles beyond Northwestern’s campus.
Alumni
Since its inception more than 140 years ago, the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) has connected alumni to one another and the University through programs that spark intellectual growth, social bonds and professional development. To help foster inclusiveness, especially among historically underrepresented groups, the NAA plans to broaden outreach to more alumni.
Joseph Sun ’96 MBA, president of the NU Club of Taiwan, shares what brought him from Taipei, Taiwan, to Evanston and what has kept him connected to the Northwestern community for more than 20 years.
My Northwestern Direction
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.
Impact
Thanks to a community of 174,380 alumni, parents and friends from around the world, We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern brought in an awe-inspiring $6.1 billion.
The Patrick ’59, ’09 H and Shirley Ryan ’61, ’19 H Family has given the largest single gift in University history to conclude the record-breaking “We Will” Campaign. The $480 million gift will accelerate breakthroughs in biomedical, economics and business research and enable Northwestern to construct a best-in-class athletics venue for the University community.
People
After just 10 years in her sport, triathlete Hailey Danz ’13 won silver in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo last summer. Through steadfast commitment to her training and resilience in the face of challenges, Danz has cemented her position as a world leader in triathlon.
Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Michael Paul Williams pushed Richmond to topple its Confederate statues.
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.
Daniel Polotsky founded CoinFlip in his Bobb Hall dorm room. Now it’s grown 2 million percent with more than 2,000 crypto ATMs across the country.
After working for more than a decade in finance, marketing and business development, Eunice Byun ’04 quit her role as vice president of global digital marketing at Revlon to launch Material, a kitchenware company.
In 1983 Nedda Jefferson Simon opened Freedom House, a walk-in domestic and sexual violence shelter in Wyanet, Ill., a village two hours west of Chicago. Serving more than 30,000 survivors to date, the shelter has moved three times to expand its services.
The Other Cover
Our small science makes a big impact. International Institute for Nanotechnology director Chad Mirkin shares how breakthroughs in nanotechnology have shaped his Northwestern direction.
