Northwestern Intersections

This fall, three distinguished alumni received the Northwestern Alumni Association's highest alumni honor: the Alumni Medal. Tune in for important life lessons and campus memories from Willard S. Evans Jr. '77, '81 MBA; Renetta McCann '78, '12 MS; and William Osborn '69, '73 MBA, '18 H.

Ditz cofounded STEM education nonprofit SparkShop in 2017 to help bring entertaining and informative science education to underserved schools in Chicago. Since then, her programming has reached over 8,000 Chicago elementary schoolers. Discover how Ditz used her Northwestern University education to build a successful program and career.

After earning his bachelor's degree at Northwestern, Bruce worked in Chicago Public Schools before returning to Evanston for his PhD. His research explores human relationships with water and how to ground teaching and learning within Indigenous knowledge and practice. Find out more about his personal journey and the important lessons from Indigenous culture and tradition he calls upon in his work.

Vice Admiral Crandall has served in critically important roles in the US military during his 40-year career, most recently as the 45th Judge Advocate General of the Navy. Learn more about his time in the armed forces and what serving has meant to him.

Berlanti and Plec were classmates and friends at Northwestern and have remained close throughout their incredible careers in Hollywood. Between the pair, they have directed, produced, and overseen countless memorable projects ranging from Riverdale and The Vampire Diaries to Dawson's Creek and Love, Simon—many of which they worked on together. Explore how they have maintained such a meaningful relationship and why they have stayed connected to Northwestern.

Digital advertising pioneers Jake Abraham and Drew Stein recently hosted the musical artist St. Lucia for their company during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, marking the first time they collaborated as concert producers since meeting as students nearly 30 years ago. Learn how they began working together again to run an award-winning technology company.

Gutierrez has won Emmy nominations and made the 2022 "Forbes 30 Under 30" list as the youngest-ever national correspondent for NBC News. She has also been featured in award-winning reports on MSNBC and on the news shows Dateline and TODAY. Join us as we discuss her skillful storytelling.

Raghav Khosla, an undergrad in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, came back from Paris with a lifetime of memories after working as an intern for NBC Universal at the Olympic Games. Learn about his summer dream job and Northwestern's many connections to the 2024 games.

Michael Herwitz is a director and producer and one of the youngest people ever to direct an original play on Broadway. His production, Job, is produced by fellow Northwestern alum Russell Kahn, who runs the Rachel Brosnahan-founded production company Scrap Paper Pictures. Learn more about the show and how the duo has worked together to make it possible.

Katz is a founding figure in the field of queer art history. As a professor and scholar, he has undertaken formative projects in gay and lesbian studies. While at the City College of San Francisco, he served as the first tenured gay and lesbian studies faculty member in the US; in 1995, he founded the Harvey Milk Institute, which was once the world's largest queer studies institute. Learn more about his pioneering career and current projects.