Dr. Brock Taylor ’18 is graduating from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, Illinois, in May 2022. Brock matched into the pediatrics residency program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and will work at Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest children’s hospital in the country, for the next three years.
Jacob Taitel ’18 earned a silver medal in the tuba artist competition at the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival, held virtually Aug. 7-8. Taitel is Adjunct Instructor of Tuba and Euphonium at IWU this semester, and a Graduate Student Instructor for the Musicology Department at the University of Michigan.
Congratulations to Emily Hardesty ’18, BFA Music Theatre ‘18, who will be playing Ilona in She Loves Me this summer and is featured in their Jerry Herman revue at Quisisana Resort!
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. 
A blog of Rotary International recently shared a story of Muyi Yang ’18 about his experiences of founding a school for marginalized youth in Syria, which you can find here. More information may also be found here.
Muyi has been nominated as the Coordinator for the Nordic and Baltic Region of the Rotary Peace Fellowship Alumni Association Europe. Dedicated to bridging cross-cultural dialogues, he recently published his first Arabic article on one of the biggest media platforms in the MENA region. The article highlights his appreciation of the rich culture in the MENA region and the resilience that the local populations embody. You can read the article as published here and here translated into English.
Zach Silver ’18 has been recognized in Smithsonian Magazine for his work in Laurie Santos’ Comparative Cognition Laboratory and the Canine Cognition Center. Read the Smithsonian article here.
