Northwestern Intersections

Mallory Thompson graduated from the Bienen School of Music in 1980 and is now only the third person in the university's history to hold the director of bands position. Beloved by the Northwestern music community, Thompson shared stories about helping students and alumni network with each other, but even more importantly, make lasting connections with one another in informal settings. She talked us...

In honor of one year of incredible alumni stories on this show, the Northwestern Alumni Association hosted a live panel of recent alumni who shared stories about what it takes to make a major transition early in their careers. You won't want to miss what our panelists, Victor Shao '13, Brittany Croone '13, Colette Ghunim '14, and Michael San Gabino '13, had to share about taking feedback and makin...

Sometimes, taking one step in the right direction is all you need to go from feeling stalled to having momentum in your career journey. Carol Ross '83, '87 MS hosted a webinar for the NAA in April 2019 where she coached three volunteers, with three common career challenges, to get back on track with their careers. After the webinar, Carol had a conversation with Northwestern Intersections host Cas...

To celebrate the podcast turning one on April 12, 2019, we wanted to share what resonated with our alumni through their voices. We asked alumni to share their name, class year, and what stuck with them from a Northwestern Intersections episode thus far. Tune in to hear what career stories have inspired alumni over the last year.

Take a tour through Northwestern University's Evanston campus with this specially curated audio guide by the University Archivist and alumnus Kevin Leonard '77, '82 MS. Leonard shares stories of what campus life was like after worldwide historic events as well as perceptions of spaces on campus over the years all while talking you through the history behind the buildings that make up this great ca...

After being let go from his first job after college, Tony Wilkins '79 learned to always plan for the next step even before knowing what that next step would be. This perspective on how to prepare and his drive to be financially independent have led to a successful journey from one role and industry to the next. Wilkins started in engineering, transitioned into finance after earning an MBA, and is...

At graduation, she didn't know if she would find a job she would enjoy that allowed her to use her communications degree, but Deena Beach '03 was able to do just that. Though she didn't start out on a traditional career path, Beach quickly found her way into a media agency and on her way to leadership positions: she is currently the Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Disney ABC Television Gro...

Founding Mariachi Northwestern while he was a student at Northwestern was just one of the many ways that Daniel Flores is leaving a legacy within his communities. Flores is heavily involved with QuestBridge, the organization he earned a scholarship from to come to Northwestern, and has touched many lives through his work with this program. Flores has now found a role where he is aligning his caree...

She came to Northwestern's law school to start her successful legal career. What Celeste Vogel '94 JD didn't know was that she would also meet her husband and decide to move to Switzerland shortly after graduation. This was the first leap of faith Vogel made in her life, but it wasn't the last. Vogel has taken on different functions each time she transitioned from one job to the next, learning new...

In his first role after graduating from Northwestern, John MacFarlane '00, was working three jobs simultaneously – as a performer, concertmaster, and teacher – but he didn't stop there. MacFarlane continued down a long and successful career in music doing a variety of things, most recently of which is at the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra as the Assistant Principal Second Violin. Don't miss this fa...

She never received a poor performance evaluation throughout her successful career in the legal industry, even through years of alcohol and drug addiction. Lisa Smith later had a panic attack and checked herself into rehab. She found herself writing to her family about her situation and recently published her book "Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir," about her descent into and recovery from addicti...

She always knew that she would tell her mother's story. Maudlyne Ihejirika '87 MSJ moved to the United States with her mother and siblings as refugees from the Nigerian civil war because her father was studying at Northwestern. Ihejirika earned her Master's in Journalism from Medill and has been a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times for 25 years. She recently published her first book, Escape from N...

Though he found himself to be older than his classmates, he knew he came to Northwestern for a reason, to become a marriage and family therapist after a long career in consulting. Neil Venketramen '16 MS has made many transitions throughout his life from growing up in South Africa under apartheid to moving to the United States consulting for Deloitte to getting a degree from and later working at N...

Kathy Khang '92 knew when she left print journalism to pursue a career at InterVarsity that she would come back to her Medill roots and continue writing down the road. Khang is the author of "Raise Your Voice," which encourages people to speak up and make decisions based on their own set of values, and she is currently the Director of Campus Access Initiatives at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/...

He stepped out onto the stage and had to tell the student body that the Beach Boys weren't able to play that day…though this might not have been the exact moment, David Friendly learned about his passion for producing while a student at Northwestern. Friendly has been a journalist, a movie executive, the producer of films like Little Miss Sunshine, and now he is the President of Friendly Films.

Tune in to hear some of the best insights from our most listened to episode of the year. You'll hear Kellogg professor, venture capitalist, and author, Carter Cast '92 MBA, talk more about the five archetypes that most often derail careers along with other advice he has to share around finding a career that has meaning to you. You will also learn more about an opportunity to enter in for a chance...

Sam Kleiner '09 went to law school after graduating from Northwestern. He has held a number of roles in the legal industry, but his story doesn't end there. He spent countless hours researching and writing a book after discovering a trove of love letters from a WWII pilot. His book, The Flying Tigers: The Untold Story of the American Pilots Who Waged a Secret War Against Japan, was released in May...

Linda Gartz '70, '72 MS didn't start her career thinking she would become an author. Through the skills she learned through her years teaching and then producing documentaries, she gained the necessary skills to eventually write her book after she discovered hidden letters in her parent's former home. "Redlined: A Memoir of Race, Change and Fractured Community in 1960s Chicago" is a story about bo...

Dino Gane-Palmer '11 MBA is a British entrepreneur based in Chicago. Gane-Palmer moved from the UK to earn his business degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern with the goal of leveraging an MBA to launch a company. He tells the story of starting his company PreScouter, a platform that enables innovation professionals to get things done through utilizing a global network of sc...

Carol Ross '83, '87 MS worked as an engineer for years before making a transition. Ross started working with her HR department to get experience working with and training colleagues as an engineer a few years before she was let go from her long-standing position. Through that experience, dabbling in training and facilitating, she was able to get an idea of what she would be good at, and even more...

Greg Schwem '84 started his career in print journalism after graduating from the Medill School of Journalism. He worked his way into the broadcast side of reporting through his ability to learn quickly what the story was. He transferred this skill again later in his career during his transition into corporate entertaining through comedy. He has been in the world of comedy for almost 30 years , fin...

Dorothy Tucker '78 knew that she wanted to be a reporter since she was 16 years old so she came to Northwestern for the program in radio and television. Tucker has been a reporter ever since she graduated from Northwestern, working her way back to the community she grew up with, in Chicago. She has been at CBS 2 Chicago since 1984. Tucker talks about having three children throughout her time as a...

Emily Farr '03 went to law school after graduating from Northwestern not knowing exactly what she would do with that degree. Farr has since launched her own firm focused on corporate, employment, and health law . As she became a successful attorney she went looking for a women's speakers bureau to get involved with. She couldn't find what she was looking for so she started her own. Myra is Chicago...

Tune into a conversation with the Northwestern Alumni Association Board President, Samir Mayekar, as we discuss pivotal career concepts from the 2018 Northwestern Alumni Medalists. The Northwestern Alumni Medal is the highest honor given by the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA). It will be bestowed this fall on two Fortune 500 CEOs, a movie studio executive, and a Smithsonian museum director....

Ben Parr '08 may not have found the perfect fit in his career right after graduating from Northwestern but he quickly transitioned to an organization where he thrived. Parr stayed at Mashable for over 3 years as it grew into one of the largest tech publications in the world. In the ten years since leaving Northwestern, Parr has been a journalist, investor, entrepreneur, and even an author of Capti...