Jessica Hunter Pearce, ‘09, has been accepted into the doctoral program of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She will pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in French horn beginning in August 2015 as a student of Bernhard Scully, a member of the Canadian Brass. Jessica is the guest principal horn of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra for the 2014-2015 season, assistant principal of the Illinois Symphony and principal of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. Her website is www.jessicahunterpearce.com.

February 16th is Thank A Giver Day — a day when the Illinois Wesleyan campus community celebrates the generosity of our supporters. We celebrate Thank A Giver Day on February 16th because at this point we’re 70% of the way through the school year. Since tuition covers 70% of the total cost of an IWU education, it’s a fitting time to draw attention to the fact that outside support from alumni and friends of the University plays a key role in delivering the kind of educational experience we expect from our alma mater.

Last year, over 8,000 people made gifts to Illinois Wesleyan University and, regardless of the size, each and every one played a role in keeping Illinois Wesleyan strong. If you would like to take a moment to make your annual gift, we invite you to do so at iwu.edu/give.

Go Titans!

We are pleased to announce Adriane Powell as the Director of Alumni Relations at Illinois Wesleyan University. Adriane has been an adopted Titan since 2010, and has lived in the Bloomington-Normal community for over 30 years. She loves to meet IWU alumni where they live, work, and play. Adriane has experience working with a diverse group of IWU alumni and is looking forward to continuing to connect with Titans all over the world!

Aaron Gierhart ’09 will publish an article in Spring  2016 in the New Teacher Advocate. This article focuses on curriculum mapping and is targeted toward new teachers. Aaron is a third-grade teacher at Millikin Elementary in Geneso, Ill.

The memoir by Katie Heaney ’09, Never Have I Ever, was a semi-finalist for the 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Humor. You can read a preview of her memoir or check where the book is sold on the Goodreads website. Great job, Katie!

Crain’s Chicago Business featured Allison (Hebron) Heddon ’09 on their recent list of ‘Twenty in their 20s’. Read more about Allison’s accomplishments with her start up firm Resonance Medical, LLC  – an early-stage medical device company that is developing a suite of technologies focused on hearing restoration and preservation, including novel brain-machine interfaces and drug delivery technologies.

Greetings, Titans!

For all of you who attended Homecoming, I hope you had a wonderful time visiting campus, reuniting with fellow classmates, and making memories to last a lifetime. If you took photos while you were here, please send them to classnews@iwu.edu with names and captions. We will post them to your Online Class Newsletter. Check here to see if you or your friends were featured in the campus Homecoming Album.

We were thrilled to offer outstanding Back to College classes taught by our talented alumni and esteemed faculty. If you weren’t able to attend the Back to College classes, you’re in luck! Click here to view the classes available.

Alumni award winners, Kyle Pfortmiller ’92, Sean Parsons ’01 and Kris Condon ‘84 gave heartfelt tributes to faculty mentors and their alma mater at the Oct. 18 Homecoming luncheon where they were honored. Those speeches can be viewed here.

Please take a few minutes and give us your feedback so that we can make Homecoming even better. We hope to see you next year. Mark your calendars for October 9–11, 2015!

Go Titans!

Adriane Powell
Office of Alumni Relations
Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University student Jenny Prochotsky ’16 (Libertyville, Ill.) has organized a gleaning project to distribute free fresh produce at pop-up produce stands in west Bloomington. As the project continues to grow, she’s been able to collaborate with IWU alumni, like Daniel Burke ’09. Daniel worked to have Electronic Benefits Transfers accepted at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market.
Thanks to their efforts, more than 700 residents have received fresh produce through this project.
Read more about the project here.