Dr. Timothy Pritts ’91 of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center was among the doctors who provided updates on Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin after his injury in a January 2 game. You can read more here.
Jan 172023
Aug 312022
In the past two years we’ve witnessed the Titan community come together in new ways to share stories, expertise, and friendship. However, we have long awaited the chance to welcome you back to campus for a true Illinois Wesleyan Homecoming! We look forward to sharing a meal, a drink, and a story with all of you in person, September 23-25, 2022.
Click here for a full schedule of events and to register.
Mar 292022
Doris (Spencer) Sanders ’91 presented a recital on Feb. 28, 2022, as part of the Quincy (Ill.) Sunday Music Series. The program, Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, included Hedy Rothfuss (piano), Sarah Boren (harp) and Sadie Brown (violin). Titles performed included: “On Eagle’s Wings”; “Laudate Dominum”; “Didn’t My Lord Deliver”; “Daniel”; “Amazing Grace”; “His Eye is on the Sparrow”; “In Paradisum”; “Be Thou My Vision”; and several others. Doris will present another Sunday Music Series recital on Dec. 18, 2022, at 4 p.m., at Quincy’s Unitarian Church. The recital, The Songs of Christmas, will include many familiar carols as well as seasonal selections. The public is invited to attend.
Feb 082022
Robert Donalson died Dec. 22, 2021. He was 87. Bob was a professor in Illinois Wesleyan’s School of Music for 30 years; he retired in 1994 with emeritus status. Bob felt the call to become an educator while serving in the U.S. Army in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. He obtained a master’s degree at San Jose State University and a doctorate at the University of Colorado Boulder. He began his teaching career at Pepperdine University before landing at IWU. Bob loved beauty in all its forms — nature, art and poetry among them — but music was his emotional home. He was active in religious life and often shared his gift of music in the church. Bob was always learning and educated himself on subjects ranging from theology and philosophy, to computer science and financial investing, to home repair and carpentry. He enjoyed traveling, sports, his cats and, most of all, his family. He is survived by his wife, five children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Bob’s Celebration of Life will be held on February 12 at 1 p.m. CST and will be live-streamed at christlutheranchurchffg.org.
Jan 112022
Tim was recently elected president of the Central Surgical Association, an organization of surgeons from the central US and Canada that is dedicated to furthering the practice of surgery and the study and practice of surgical problems. He will serve one year term in this position.
Well-deserved congratulations, Tim!
For more of Tim’s accomplishments, see his full bio below:
Timothy A Pritts, MD, PhD BIO
A native of Decatur, Illinois, Dr. Pritts received his BA in biology magna cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan University and MD from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. After completing surgery residency, a PhD in Physiology, and a fellowship in surgical critical care at the University of Cincinnati, he joined the faculty where he has served in roles as program director of the general surgery residency, vice chair of education, vice chair of professional development, vice chair of compensation, and vice chair for clinical operations. He is currently professor of surgery and chief of the section of general surgery, where he leads programs providing care for trauma, general surgery, bariatric surgery, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care patients for the UC Health system. His clinical practice includes trauma, general and acute care surgery, and surgical critical care. Dr. Pritts has served on the executive councils of the Central Surgical Association, Society of University Surgeons, Association for Academic Surgery, Shock Society, and the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He is currently president of the Central Surgical Association and the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He is the recipient of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s Research Service Award as well as the College of Medicine Excellence in Mentoring Award. Dr. Pritts’ research seeks to advance care for injured and critically ill patients, with a focus on resuscitation strategies and blood product improvement. His research is funded by the NIH and the United States Air Force.
Oct 182021
Christopher Stucky ’91 was a contestant on “Jeopardy!” on Sept. 22, finishing as the episode’s runner-up to record-setting contestant Matt Amodio. You can view the full article here.
Oct 182021
Juan Salgado ’91 was appointed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to the Future of Work Task Force. You can read the full article here
May 172021
In anticipation of sending her son off to college in the Fall of 2021, Krista ’91 earned a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Judson University in May of 2020. Krista is working as a therapist at Centennial Counseling Center in St. Charles, IL.
Feb 052021
Monday, February 8 is Thank-A-Giver Day at Illinois Wesleyan and we’re eager to celebrate generous Titans!
Thank-A-Giver (TAG) Day is the symbolic point during the academic year — about 70% of the way through — when tuition dollars are exhausted and Illinois Wesleyan relies on donor generosity to continue providing a world-class education and rewarding collegiate experiences.
Each and every year, every gift matters. Contributions benefit students and faculty, enhance academic excellence, and strengthen the IWU community.
Thank you to all who give back to move IWU forward. 
Jan 182021
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Dr. Stephanie A. Whyte, a 1991 Illinois Wesleyan University graduate, will present the 2021 combined Founders’ Day Convocation and Martin Luther King Jr. Teach-In keynote address titled “COVID-19: The great disruptor.”
Due to event restrictions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Founders’ Day Convocation –– including prelude music, an invocation, remarks by President S. Georgia Nugent, Dr. Whyte’s address, a Alma Wesleyana performed by Elena Gjata ’23, and postlude music by organist Kevin Chunko –– will be pre-recorded and made available for the public to stream on-demand beginning on Founders’ Day –– Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
In addition to Dr. Whyte’s prerecorded address, she will also lead a live, virtual talk during Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw’s American Healthcare Policy class on Wednesday morning. In the evening, Dr. Whyte will deliver a live, virtual presentation on the topic of the intersection of Blackness and U.S. healthcare.
Dr. Whyte is a Senior Clinical Solutions Medical Director for Aetna Medicaid, overseeing the medical director team serving Florida, Kentucky and Louisiana covering over 560,000 lives. While at Aetna, she has participated in the Health Care Equity Committee and National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee as well as serving as the Interim Chief Medical Officer for the Aetna Better Health of Illinois plan.
Prior to joining Aetna in 2015, Dr. Whyte was the first ever Chief Health Officer for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) –– the third largest school district in the nation. She established a new office to focus on student health and wellness policy and programming, with an emphasis on removing barriers to learning. During her tenure, CPS became the first large urban school district to put undesignated epinephrine auto-injectors in each school for emergency use, and as a result, saved 70 lives. Before CPS, Dr. Whyte served as the Medical Director of Mobile Care Chicago, where she spent over a decade caring for children with asthma in Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods.
Dr. Whyte is a board-certified pediatrician. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University, an M.D. from the Chicago Medical School (now Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science) and completed her pediatric residency at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. Dr. Whyte also holds an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Saint Xavier University; is a certified health care insurance executive; and board certified in Health Care and Quality Management. Dr. Whyte has been honored with the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from both the Chicago Medical School (2013) and Illinois Wesleyan University (2015). Dr. Whyte is a published author, lecturer, media spokesperson, and has served on various local, regional and national advisory boards.
Dr. Whyte’s Founders’ Day Convocation and Martin Luther King Jr. Teach-In keynote address complements Illinois Wesleyan’s annual theme, “Health, Healing, and Humanity.” The Martin Luther King Jr. Teach-In, held annually at Illinois Wesleyan, coincides with this year’s Founders’ Day, which honors the 30 civic and religious leaders who came together in 1850 –– 171 years ago –– to establish “an Institution of learning of Collegiate grade.”
Formerly held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the MLK Teach-In was moved to later in January, beginning in 2020, to include students who do not have classes during the national holiday. Meanwhile, faculty and staff will participate in a day of celebration during the national holiday, with a professional development objective to listen, reflect, cultivate deeper levels of awareness, learn, and practice what it means to hold space individually and collectively to begin the essential expansion required for anti-racism action and racial justice.
By John Twork