The American Gastroenterological Association recognized the research of Vijeta Pamudurthy ’10 in their August 2020 issue of Gastroenterology. She is one of twenty-five fellows making huge strides in GI patient care. Viji works as a D.O. at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee.
Read more on Meet the 25 fellows making huge strides in GI patient care from American Gastroenterological Association.
Justin Zamirowski ’97 was named Better Therapeutics’ chief commercial officer.
Read more on Justin Zamirowski Appointed as Chief Commercial Officer from Benzinga
Thomas Welge ’92 was named president and chief executive officer of Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. by the company’s board of directors.
Read more on Gilster-Mary Lee board names Tom Welge CEO by Josh Sosland from Food Business News
Illinois Wesleyan University celebrated more than 380 graduating members of the Class of 2020 in a virtual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 2.
Read more on Class of 2020 Honored at Virtual Commencement
Through Illinois Wesleyan’s Action Research Seminar, Katie Cavender ’21 earned a $3,310 “Beyond the Books” grant to fund a student literary and art journal for local high school students.
Read more on Cavender ’21 Earns Grant for Local High School Literary and Art Journal
The Hart Career Center’s annual First Destination Survey found that 97.2% of 2019 graduates were employed or enrolled in higher education programs within six months of graduating from Illinois Wesleyan.
Read more on Survey Finds 97% of 2019 Graduates Employed or Continuing Higher Learning
Qinfan Jiang ’12 was awarded the most prestigious Ph.D. dissertation award in musicology by the American Musicological Society, an Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Fellowship for “Toward a Global Enlightenment: Music, Missionaries, and the Construction of a Universal History in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century China and Europe.”
She graduated from IWU in 2012 and went on to earn a Master’s in Music from Rice University. She is currently pursuing her PhD (also in Musicology) from Columbia University.
Faizal Chaudhury ’96, Vice President of Customer Centricity at Salliemae, recently joined the advisory board for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Philadelphia Chapter.
Read more on Faizal Chaudhury from CAIR Philadelphia.
Shannon Zenk ’95 has been named director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at the National Institutes of Health. A registered nurse and leading nurse researcher, Zenk is currently Nursing Collegiate Professor in the Department of Population Health Nursing Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing, and a fellow at the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy. She is expected to begin her new role as the NINR director in early fall.
Read more on NIH taps Dr. Shannon Zenk as director of the National Institute of Nursing Research from National Institutes of Heath
Tonya Horn ’01, president of Rogards Office Plus and a past Central Illinois Business 40 Under 40 honoree, was featured in a series spotlighting local leaders.
Read more on Beyond the Boardroom: Tonya Horn by Jeff D’Alessio from The (Champaign) News-Gazette
Chris Fusco ’94, who has presided over a growth period at the Chicago Sun-Times as editor-in-chief, has been named executive editor.
Read more on Sun-Times Names Nykia Wright CEO and Chris Fusco Executive Editor by NEWSWIRE from “Economy Watch”
Jim Ott ’91 was named the NCAA Division III Dave Williams Coach of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of America for a second-straight year.
Read more on Illinois Wesleyan’s Jim Ott earns Division III Coach of Year award for second straight season by Jim Benson from “The Pantagraph”
Emily Cour ’02 was promoted by Brandt to associate general counsel and named assistant corporate secretary to a number of recently created Brandt subsidiaries.
Read more on Brandt promotes Cour to Associate General Counsel by By Lazzarini Sabrina from “North America Farm Equipment Magazine”
Acclaimed actor Frankie Faison ’71 appeared on the cover of Theta Chi’s quarterly magazine, The Rattle, this winter. The issue includes an extensive Q and A interview covering a range of topics, including his decisions to attend IWU and pledge Theta Chi.
View the magazine here.
Dr. Sandra Steingraber ’81 is a biologist, author and cancer survivor. Sandra will be sharing her life’s work regarding links between human health, cancer, and environmental toxins during a virtual event hosted by Wellness House (a nonprofit that provides free programming for people impacted by cancer) on June 4 at 6:30 p.m.
For here for more information and registration.
Burke Nihill ’00 was recently promoted to President/CEO of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
Read more on Titans Name New President: Burke Nihill Elevated to President/CEO as Steve Underwood Retires from Full-Time Role By Jim Wyatt from “Tennessee Touch”
Ben Killey ’99 is volunteering as an ER doctor with COVID Care Force (CCF). CCF is an organization founded by combining the resources of “Docs Who Care”, a staffing agency serving rural hospitals in the Midwest, and “Heart to Heart International”, a global disaster response organization. CCF was designed to quickly mobilize a group of healthcare professionals to deploy to hotspots and areas of critical healthcare staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After signing up on April 27, Dr. Killey flew to the Navajo Nation in Gallup, New Mexico 4 days later.
The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States at about 25,000 square miles, approximately the size of West Virginia. There are 5 healthcare facilities within this region, with Gallup Indian Medical Center the largest and busiest. After New York and New Jersey, the highest coronavirus infection rate in the U.S. is the Navajo Nation. Because of the overwhelming number of patients coming to GIMC, many patients are flown to Albuquerque or Flagstaff once stabilized. On May 1, the day Dr. Killey arrived, the Governor of New Mexico placed the city of Gallup on lockdown with all roads into the city closed to non-residents.
Illinois Wesleyan University graduating senior Tatum Zsorey ’20 has been awarded the 2020 Technos International Prize in recognition of her academic excellence and her great contributions to broadening global awareness and understanding.
Read more on Tatum Zsorey ’20 Awarded Technos International Prize
Director of the Hart Career Center Warren Kistner ’83 offered insight into what the job market might look like for graduating seniors. “We are going to come out on the other side of this [pandemic] and things may likely will look different,” said Kistner.
Read more on With Job Offers Pulled Back, Career Advisors Urge College Grads To Stay Open-Minded By Cindy Hernandez from “WGLT Radio”.
Chad McGehee ’03 was named the University of Wisconsin-Madison athletic department’s first director of meditation training. McGehee said, “From a neuroscientific perspective, we have so much untapped potential in our minds. So here’s a way that we can start to explore ways of training the minds to improve, both in well-being and performance. And I don’t think those are mutually exclusive things. They’re deeply intertwined.”
Read more on Unique position as Badgers’ director of meditation training offers Chad McGehee chance to explore mental performance by Todd D. Milewski from “Wisconsin State Journal”
Molly (Ehlert) Lamb ’03 has been named the new executive director of the University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership.
Prior, Lamb served as deputy director of the Office of Health Protection in the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). She had been with IDPH for 11 years.
Read more on Lamb to head Center for State Policy and Leadership at UIS from “The Lincoln (Ill.) Courier”.
Sixth-grade social studies teacher Kenneth French ’84 was named a finalist for the Vanderburgh County (Indiana) Outstanding Educators of the Year awards.
Read more on Outstanding Educator of the Year 2020: Middle School Finalists By Abbey Doyle from “The Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press”
Dr. Zerth discussed ER conditions and treating COVID-19 patients at Amita Hinsdale Hospital, in a story written by Pamela Lannom Lister ’88.
Read more on Hinsdale ER handling patient load well By Pamela Lannom ’88 from “The Hinsdalean”
Jessica Schaeffer ’11, Senior Director with LaSalle Network, recently appeared in two segments on ABC7 regarding how the coronavirus has impacted the labor market.
View Tips for navigating job search, employment opportunities during COVID-19 pandemic
View Flexibility key in job hunting during COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago staffing expert says
