Northwestern University and the Northwestern Alumni Association invite you to reflect on just a few of our community’s exciting accomplishments in 2019, many of which were made possible by the generous support of Northwestern alumni and friends through the “We Will” Campaign. You may view this video for a sample of the many ways we came together to show our Purple Pride, advance research and discovery, create global connections, honor Northwestern women, open new spaces, support our current and future students, and more.
Having trouble viewing the video? Try this version.
Want to learn more? Read on for information about Northwestern’s 2019
highlights.
By attracting more students, alumni, and fans to a Chicago Cubs game than any
other college or university, NU Day @ Wrigley 2019 became the largest
collegiate special-ticket event in Cubs history. More than 3,100 Northwestern
community members purchased tickets, including more than 1,200 undergraduate
students who received discounted rates through the Northwestern Alumni
Association, with Student Enrichment Services providing additional support. In
addition to setting attendance records, NU Day @ Wrigley raised $9,725 for
Northwestern’s Student Activity Assistance Fund.
Northwestern’s annual sponsored research funding increased to a record
$797.8 million in fiscal year 2019. This represents a 13.6 percent increase
over 2018 and a 67.3 percent rise since 2009.
Northwestern administrators canceled classes and other University functions
due to extreme temperatures that reached 20 degrees below zero in January.
Northwestern has closed its campuses because of weather only seven times since
1918.
An interdisciplinary team of professors and researchers—including
undergraduate students like McCormick School of Engineering senior Ian Odland
’20—developed soft, flexible wireless body sensors for babies in
the NICU. By eliminating the wires typically used to monitor infants, these
sensors have allowed parents to cuddle and bond more easily with their
newborns.
Four Northwestern professors were elected to the National Academy of Medicine
in 2019. Joining more than 2,200 active members are David Cella ’76, the
Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor and Chair of Medical Social Sciences; Susan
Quaggin, the Charles H. Mayo, MD, Professor of Medicine; John Rogers, the
Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and
Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery; and Catherine
Woolley, the William Deering Chair in Biological Sciences.
The Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center
officially opened on the Chicago campus in June. It is the largest new
building solely dedicated to biomedical research at an American medical
school.
“Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across
Medieval Saharan Africa”—a first-of-its-kind
exhibit—showcased the splendor and power of lost kingdoms and commercial
centers of Africa at The Block Museum of Art. The exhibit, which was curated
by art historians and graduate fellows like Sarah M. Estrela ’18 MA,
’22 PhD, will be on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum
of African Art in 2020.
To mark the 150th anniversary of coeducation at Northwestern, the University
began a year-long celebration of women who led the struggle to open doors. The
commemoration, which kicked off in the fall of 2019, includes an exhibit at
Deering Library that was curated by University archivists, historians, and
student researchers like Keerthi Krishna Yalamanchili ’21.
Lisa M. Franchetti ’85, Bridgette Proctor Heller ’83, ’85
MBA, and Yie-Hsin Hung ’84 received the Alumni Medal, the Northwestern
Alumni Association’s highest honor, for the positive impact they have
made in their careers and communities.
The Wildcats women’s basketball team, including guard Lindsey Pulliam
’21—a recipient of the Jay and Michaela Hoag Basketball
Scholarship—advanced to the National Invitational Tournament
championship game.
The Wildcats women’s lacrosse team won its first Big Ten Championship
and advanced to the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Final Four.
Transforming the Student-Athlete Experience
In November, the University opened newly renovated student-athlete training
facilities: the Trienens Performance Center,
Gleacher Golf Center, and Patten Gymnasium.
Northwestern Trustee Jeff Ubben ’87 MBA and Laurie Ubben made the
largest gift to financial aid in the University’s history. Their $50
million commitment will support scholarships for undergraduate, graduate, and
professional school students. More than 60 percent of Northwestern
undergraduates receive financial aid, including Sophie Ruark ’20, a
recipient of the Northwestern QuestBridge Scholarship and a student director
of the
Northwestern Alumni Association Board of Directors.