Northwestern creates and maintains a profile for every member of the Our Northwestern community. At this time, we do not allow community members to delete their profiles entirely.

Yes, we do. A detailed explanation of the information about you that Northwestern holds, collects, and updates is contained in our Privacy Policy. You should also be aware that Northwestern periodically updates your profile with new information gathered via business processes: For example, if through a transaction with Northwestern, you provide a mailing address that is different from the one currently on file, the system will assume that this address—because it was provided by you voluntarily—is correct and add it to your profile as a “new” address. It will display in your public profile if that address type—home or work—is selected by you as “preferred” and your privacy settings allow it to be shown to others.

Your profile is composed of several different categories, such as “Personal and Contact Information.” In the “Edit Profile” mode (which can be selected on the slider at the right corner of your profile), you can click on the “Edit” button to the right of each of these categories. The fields in that category will cascade below, and those that you can edit will either have a dropdown menu or an editable field. You’ll notice that some fields do not allow updating or editing; such fields include “Northwestern Degrees,” “Varsity Sports,” and “Northwestern Alumni Volunteer Activities.” These fields may not be altered or deleted because they include information Northwestern is responsible for verifying as an educational institution or alumni association. If your profile contains erroneous information that you are not able to correct yourself, please detail the changes needed in an email to bioupdate@northwestern.edu or call toll-free (877-211-0703) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Updates made by staff will take 24-48 hours to appear online.

To control what information is visible to other Our Northwestern users, use the “Visible/Hidden” slider button that is next to most fields when editing your profile. When you modify the privacy on these fields and select “Save,” the changes will take effect immediately. As the owner of the profile, you’ll still be able to view and edit your information. The only fields you cannot hide are your first and last name and select degree information.

Yes. To view your profile as others see it, select “View Public Profile” on the slider button in upper right corner of your profile.

Navigate to the Our Northwestern directory, log in (or register, if you’re new), and find people you know by name, school, class year, or other criteria. Names displayed in search results link through to a user’s individual profile. Please note that only Northwestern alumni, staff, and students can search the directory, and only alumni and students are listed in search results. Parents, and friends have the ability to register a profile with Our Northwestern in order to update contact information and manage email subscriptions, but they will not be able to search and will not be listed in search results.

Our Northwestern is a private information portal for the Northwestern community of alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as current students and their parents. To access your Our Northwestern profile, you must first register. Once registered, log in to view or edit your profile. Northwestern alumni, students, faculty, and staff also have the ability to search the community directory, though only alumni and current students will be included in search results. Parents do not have the ability to search the directory. If you’re having trouble registering or logging in, consult our Login FAQ, which answers the most common questions. You may also email ONsupport@northwestern.edu, or call toll-free (877-211-0703) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time.

In Our Northwestern, you can choose to allow other users to contact you via the directory’s messaging functionality. This preference is accessible by editing your “Personal and Contact Information.” If you do choose to allow this, other users will be able to email you via the directory. Your email is not disclosed as a sender crafts their subject line and message in the directory tool, and Our Northwestern sends the message to your preferred email. If you do respond or have an auto response running, the other user will see your email address and be able to respond via his or her email service.

Users will see a message saying "The email has been sent" that confirms an email was sent successfully. They will not receive a confirmation email in their own sent folder. 

For the "Send an Email" function to work, both the sender and the recipient must have an email address in the system. If you do not have an email address in your contact information, you will not be able to send an email. If you continue to have issues with the "Send an Email" function, please contact ONsupport@northwestern.edu.

Class notes are a way for Northwestern alumni to share personal and professional news with other alumni in the pages of Northwestern magazine, which is published and sent to homes approximately three times a year. These class notes are available only in the printed magazine. If you submit a class note, you may be contacted by the editors of the magazine for fact-checking purposes.

The athletics department verifies all participation in varsity sports. Please contact wildcatfund@northwestern.edu to update your information.

If you need to make any changes to your name or degree information, you can submit that update to bioupdate@northwestern.edu with “Name/Degree Change Request” in the subject line, and it will be amended promptly. Please note that updates made by staff will take 24-48 hours to appear online.

We use it to send alumni communications, solicitations, and other Northwestern University–related updates that may interest you. We do not sell any of your data—including email address, phone number, address, educational history—to third parties.

There are two ways: Call 847-491-4357 (select option 7) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time, or email our records maintenance team at bioupdate@northwestern.edu to make corrections to your profile information. For technical support, email ONSupport@northwestern.edu.