Babb comes to Northwestern from the University of Denver,where she served as associate vice chancellor for Equal Opportunity and Title IX/Title IX Coordinator.Her responsibilities included overseeing the receipt,response and resolution of all reports of discrimination,harassment,and gender-based violence and Title IX hearings.“I am delighted to welcome Emily to Northwestern,”Schill said.“The Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance is not only acritical resource for students,staff and faculty in times of need but also asymbol that Northwestern will never tolerate discrimination or harassment.I look forward to working with Emily and other leaders to ensure Northwestern is asafe and welcoming community for all.”The Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance previously was called the Office of Equity.The University announced the unit’s planned name change in 2022,calling it abetter reflection of the office’s primary responsibilities of ensuring compliance with anti-discrimination and accessibility policies,and responding to reports of sexual misconduct,discrimination and harassment within the University community.The unit’s website was updated today,March 23,to reflect the name change.“My career has been dedicated to civil rights compliance,and Iam honored by the opportunity to grow this office at Northwestern,”said Babb,who will report directly to Schill.“I look forward to working with an administration that is committed to creating acomprehensive approach to civil rights and Title IX,and providing resources and policies focused on addressing discrimination and harassment of various forms.”Babb emerged from anational search of candidates conducted by acommittee representing Northwestern students,faculty and staff.The committee was chaired by Robin R.Means Coleman,vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion,chief diversity officer,and the Ida B.Wells and Ferdinand Barnett Professor,Department of Communication Studies,and Stephanie M.Graham,vice president and general counsel.“I am thrilled to welcome Emily to Northwestern University,”Means Coleman said.“The search committee was impressed with the depth of her experience,leadership,and legal and scholarly understanding of Civil Rights and Title IX compliance work.Additionally,Emily is astrong communicator backed by great emotional intelligence.I am looking forward to our close partnership in support of the Northwestern University community.”Babb joined the University of Denver in 2021.Prior to that,from 2017 to 2020,she was the assistant vice president for Title IX compliance and Title IX coordinator at the University of Virginia.At both institutions,she collaborated with various departments to respond to and resolve discrimination,harassment,gender-based violence and other cases,as well as coordinated Title IX hearings.Before entering the world of higher education,Babb spent over adecade as an attorney with the U.S.Department of Education Office for Civil Rights(OCR)in both the Dallas and Cleveland regional offices,where she conducted and managed investigations into school districts,colleges and universities to determine compliance with the civil rights laws enforced by OCR,including Title VI,Title IX,Section 504,the ADA and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.Babb holds her juris doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.As an undergraduate,she studied at DePauw University where she earned abachelor’s degree in communications and English literature.She and her husband,Kencade,have three children,Cicely,Finn and Virginia. 查看详细>>

Northwestern graduate students have voted to unionize and will join the United Electrical,Radio and Machine Workers of America(UE).The National Labor Relations Board(NLRB)moderated the election held Jan.10 to 11 on the Evanston and Chicago campuses.Its final tally shows that,of the 2,893 students eligible to vote,1,644 voted in favor of unionization and 114 voted against.Graduate assistants,teaching assistants,research assistants and fellows enrolled in Northwestern degree programs will now be represented by UE when they provide instructional or research services for the University.“Northwestern deeply values the contributions that graduate students make to its research and teaching missions,and we are proud to provide firsthand experiences that serve as excellent preparation for arange of career outcomes,”said Provost Kathleen Hagerty.“We thank the voters for casting ballots and respect their decision.We look forward to beginning the process of negotiating acollective bargaining agreement that works for both the University and graduate students within the bargaining unit.”As collective bargaining begins between Northwestern and UE,the University will provide updates on the process via the graduate student unionization website,where students,faculty and staff are invited to submit questions.By voting to unionize,Northwestern students join asmall but growing list nationwide,which includes students at schools from Yale,Harvard and MIT to the University of Illinois and the University of Washington,among others.Students at the University of Chicago filed recently for aunion election,also in affiliation with UE.“Northwestern has been and remains dedicated to cultivating its relationship with graduate students,keeping the lines of communication open and working collaboratively on issues important to students and the University,”said Kelly Mayo,dean of The Graduate School and associate provost for graduate education.“Because of this commitment,the University attracts the best graduate students in the world and prepares them to be scholars and thought leaders of the future.” 查看详细>>

Peter Barris’74,chair of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates,Inc.(NEA),was elected chair of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees,effective Sept.1.Barris received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.Elected to the Northwestern board in 2001,Barris has served as vice chair since 2014.He served as the chair of the Presidential Search Committee,which was composed of trustees,faculty,staff,students and alumni leaders.He led the creation of the Board’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee and served as its first chair between 2011 and 2016.During those early years,the committee spearheaded the establishment of The Garage.Barris remains amember of that committee as well as several others,including the executive,educational properties,investment and Northwestern Medicine committees.He previously was amember of the academic affairs and the alumni relations and development committees.“I am proud of how far we have come as auniversity,and Ihave no doubt my fellow trustees,the faculty,students,staff and alumni share that sense of pride,”Barris said.“I am equally energized by how far we have the potential to go as an institution,and Igreatly look forward to working with incoming President Rebecca Blank to realize Northwestern’s next chapter.”Barris and his wife,Adrienne,have been generous supporters of the University throughout their lives.The Barrises spearheaded the University’s ongoing CS+X initiative—to hire an additional 20 faculty members in computer science and other areas—with agift to endow the Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science,held by Samir Khuller.They endowed the merit-based Gus and Diane Chagares Music Scholarship,named for Adrienne’s parents,to help the Bienen School of Music attract and support top undergraduate student musicians.Another scholarship fund endowed by the Barrises is supporting undergraduate students who come to Northwestern from Chicago Public Schools.Other gifts from the couple have advanced the Ford Motor Company Design Center,the implementation of smart classrooms and more.Barris serves as amember of the McCormick Advisory Council and co-chaired the Washington,D.C.,Regional Campaign Committee for We Will.The Campaign for Northwestern.He was an honorary member of his class’s 45th reunion committee and co-chaired his 40th reunion committee.He also delivered McCormick’s 2012 convocation address.“Peter has been astalwart trustee for over two decades,and as one of our outstanding vice chairs,he served as an invaluable partner to me and adeft leader in the selection of Northwestern’s next president,”said J.Landis Martin’68,’73 JD(’02,’08 P),chair of the Board of Trustees.“I very much look forward to the leadership he will provide to the University at this consequential time.” 查看详细>>

Melissa Kaufman,Northwestern’s founding executive director of The Garage,who helped create avibrant and inclusive startup hub for student entrepreneurs,will be leaving the University this spring.In more than six years at the helm,Kaufman has built The Garage into apremier campus destination for students to experiment,innovate,fail and,ultimately,grow.Since opening the door to its 11,000 square-foot space carved out of the North Campus parking structure,The Garage has served more than 3,000 students ayear,incubated more than 1,000 startups and created anetwork of more than 500 mentors and experts.“Building The Garage has been one of my proudest professional accomplishments,”Kaufman said.“When Ifirst got here,I asked,‘What would happen if we brought the culture of Silicon Valley to Northwestern and empowered our students with an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set?’And the answer is magic.”Young leaders from The Garage have gone on to join startups and innovative firms.They’ve also raised millions of dollars from investors to form their own companies like Flyhomes,Zcruit,Stable,Lendable,Brinc,The Graide Network,Brewbike,IFM,finlit,Hubly Surgical and Amper,among many others.The Garage,a popular tour stop for prospective students and visiting alumni,has been recognized as aleader in entrepreneurial education and student development.This month,its Propel program for women entrepreneurs was awarded the top prize for innovation in co-curricular education by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.Offerings at The Garage include the Residency program for the most committed student entrepreneurs to incubate aproject that involves hardware,software,arts,music and more,as well as Activate,an immersive learning experience for Black students,and the Opportunity Fund for undergraduates who identify as low-income. 查看详细>>

In 2018,Fodor and ateam of four directors and one program assistant played asubstantial role in developing nearly 60$100,000-plus research proposals from every school and unit across Northwestern.The resulting funding commitment from the team’s efforts last year resulted in more than$50 million in private foundation funding.The University regularly submits more than 300 such proposals and receives more than 100 private foundation grants each year.The team’s involvement can range from asimple proofread of aproposal,to providing substantive and editorial feedback on as many as two dozen drafts.As aconsulting rather than compliance office,Foundation Relations learns as much as it can about afaculty member’s research to properly highlight aspects of the work that will be most compelling to funders.Translating research into lay terms can be achallenge;however,Fodor says the benefit of doing it well is often substantial. 查看详细>>