Advisory Board
Sally Blount
Dean and Michael L. Nemmers Professor of Management & Organizations
Kellogg School of Management
Sally Blount became dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University on July 15, 2010. Dean Blount, an internationally recognized expert in the fields of negotiation and behavioral decision-making, has more than 20 years of experience in higher education. In addition, she has significant experience incorporating international and social impact perspectives into business education.
Dean Blount received her Ph.D. in management and organizations from Kellogg in 1992 after earning a joint bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s engineering and Woodrow Wilson schools in 1983. From 1992 to 2001, Dean Blount was on the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was consistently one of the most highly rated MBA and executive education professors. Earlier in her career, she worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
In 2001, Dean Blount joined New York University’s Stern School of Business, where from 2004 to 2010 she served as the dean of its undergraduate college and vice dean of the school. At NYU, she was the Abraham L. Gitlow Professor of Management and Organizations and also held an affiliated appointment at the Wagner School of Public Service. In 2007, she was appointed by NYU’s president and provost as their special adviser for global academic integration.
Rex Chisholm
Dean of Research
Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Chisholm received both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan where he was a trainee of the NIH training program in genetics. As a doctoral student Dr. Chisholm investigated recombination between DNA introduced into cells and cellular chromosomes, a process critical for the genetic modification of animal cells and animals. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he developed methods for analyzing the patterns of gene expression during development. Since 1984, Chisholm has been on the faculty of Northwestern University where his research program uses genetic and molecular genetic approaches to investigate the fundamental process of cell motility. These studies have contributed to our understanding of processes such as wound healing, tumor metastasis, and embryonic development.
Author of over 140 scientific papers and abstracts, Chisholm has served as a member of scientific review committees for the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. He also served as director of the Biomedical Hands-on-Laboratory of the Science Writing Fellowships Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Between 2000 and September 2007, Dr. Chisholm served as the founding director of the Center for Genetic Medicine, a partnership between Northwestern University, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hospital and Evanston Northwestern Healthcare that facilitates the development of new genetic knowledge and its application to medicine. In July 2007, he was appointed dean for research for the Feinberg School of Medicine.
Abigail Foerstner
Assistant Professor, Science Journalism
Medill School of Journalism
Abigail Foerstner teaches health, science and environmental journalism at the Medill School of Journalism’s Chicago newsroom, a multimedia news service operated by graduate students for the Medill Reports Web pages and a widespread client base. Foerstner helped develop Medill’s expanded health, science and environmental journalism concentration for undergraduate and graduate students. Her 35-year career as a journalist began when she initiated science and environmental coverage as a staff reporter for the Suburban Trib sections of the Chicago Tribune and received awards for investigative and environmental reporting. Foerstner currently writes as an art critic as well as a science reporter. She has freelanced hundreds of articles on the arts, photography, science, history and education for the Chicago Tribune, CityTalk, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Symmetry, North Shore magazine, the Detroit News, Camera Arts and other publications. Her award-winning biography, “James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles,” was just released in paperback. Her biographical essay for the book “Barbara Crane: Changing Vision” accompanies a retrospective exhibit of the Chicago artist that will open at the Chicago Cultural Center in October.
Foerstner: "I volunteered to serve on the ISEN Advisory Board to help integrate interdisciplinary research and science communications throughout Northwestern. Our university is a leader in teaching the next generation of scientists, doctors, engineers and economists as our programs contribute to critical areas in the search for energy alternatives and sustainability. I believe integrated research and communications is becoming ever more essential to assure the human community of adequate food, water and energy and to find solutions for the growing impact of climate change as well as the disease and political instability it threatens. I am eager for the opportunity to help drive solutions as a member of ISEN and to help prepare the coming generation of science journalists who will report on these issues."
Michael Kennedy
Director of Science
Outreach and Public Engagement
Michael Kennedy received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Saint John's University in 1991, followed by his doctorate in biochemistry from the Mayo Clinic in 1997. He then moved to Northwestern University, where his postdoctoral work focused on the biophysical properties of cationic lipids used as vehicles for gene-based therapies. In 1998 he joined Northwestern's Department of Neurobiology and Physiology as assistant chair, where he remained until his move.
In collaboration with Albert Farbman, Kennedy initiated one of Northwestern’s first annual public outreach events, the Science Outreach Series, geared towards informing citizens of developments in the life sciences. Through his work with the Science Outreach Series, Kennedy recognized a need to provide the public with an easy way to find educational events at the university. His idea evolved into Science in Society, a much broader web resource designed to communicate advances in science and their impact on society. After directing its initial design and implementation, Kennedy now serves as the editor for the site.
Kennedy's interest in science education extends into his work with Northwestern's undergraduates. In 1999 he helped establish a peer-led biology workshop to address the performance of students in Northwestern's sophomore biology curriculum. In the classroom, Kennedy taught a highly-rated and innovative undergraduate bioethics course focused on a wide range of genetically-related issues including genetic testing, stem cell biology, and human cloning. He won an Associated Student Government teaching award in 2005. He is also a faculty fellow in Northwestern’s residential college system, a program designed to extend the learning environment of the classroom to extracurricular life.
Richard Lueptow
Senior Associate Dean for Operations and Research
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Richard M. Lueptow is Senior Associate Dean for Operations and Research at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Co-Director of the Master of Product Design and Development Program, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and former Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern University. He received his BS in engineering (1978) from Michigan Technological University and his master’s degree (1980) and doctorate (1986) in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has five years of product development experience in the biomedical industry and 23 years of academic experience on the faculty at Northwestern University. His research interests and expertise range from fundamental flow physics to water purification on manned spacecraft to planetary acoustics. His current research focuses on nonlinear systems and granular dynamics. He has won numerous teaching and research awards and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Kelly Mayo
Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Kelly E. Mayo is Professor of Molecular Biosciences and Director of the Center for Reproductive Sciences at Northwestern University. He served as Chair of Molecular Biosciences (formerly Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Cell Biology) from 2004 - 2011, and is currently Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. His research investigates gene regulation in the mammalian neuroendocrine system, and is focused on the synthesis and actions of hormones that control key physiological processes including growth and reproduction. He has served as President of The Endocrine Society and as Chair of the Board of Directors of Frontiers in Reproduction. Dr. Mayo received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington, and completed postdoctoral studies at The Salk Institute before joining the Northwestern faculty in 1985.
Penelope Peterson
Dean
School of Education and Social Policy
Penelope L. Peterson (PhD, Stanford University) is Eleanor R. Baldwin Professor and Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) at Northwestern University. Since becoming Dean, Peterson has led SESP in bringing theory and research together with practice to improve learning and teaching in science and mathematics in local and national educational contexts. With Golden Apple Foundation and Inner-City Teaching Corps, she developed an Alternative Certification Program aimed at producing a cadre of talented new teachers for Chicago Public Schools, particularly in the areas of secondary mathematics and science. Currently, SESP faculty direct the Meaningful Science Consortium, which supports the transformation of high school science in Chicago Public Schools, and the Center for Curriculum Materials in Science, a national center that aims to create a knowledge base to enable development of science curricula and teaching strategies that reflect research on student learning in the sciences.
Peterson's research focuses on learning and teaching in schools and classrooms, particularly in mathematics and science. Peterson is past president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a multi-disciplinary national organization of 23,000 researchers who study learning, teaching, and education. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Study Panel on the "Science of Learning," which produced How People Learn, a comprehensive study of learning, based on a synthesis of research on cognition, cognitive neuroscience, learning, and design of educational environments that foster effective learning. Currently, Peterson serves on the Board of Trustees of the Adler Planetarium and is Co-Editor of the International Encyclopedia of Education.
Eugene Sunshine
Sr. Vice President
Northwestern University Business and Finance
Eugene Sunshine is the senior vice president for Business and Finance at Northwestern University. He has served in that capacity since 1997. Prior to joining Northwestern, he was senior vice president for administration at The John Hopkins University. He currently is a member of the boards of directors of Nuveen Investments, Inc., the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the Civic Federation, and the Pathways Awareness Foundation. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the District 65 Educational Foundation and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago. He currently serves as chairman of the board of Rubicon, an insurance affiliate of Northwestern University, and as a member of the boards of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and Evanston Inventure. He holds a B.A. from Northwestern University, and a Masters of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Jay Walsh
Vice President
Northwestern University Office for Research
Dr. Walsh is the Vice President for Research at Northwestern University where he oversees the research infrastructure on the campuses in both Evanston and Chicago, Illinois and where he develops and helps implement the strategic plan for the university’s research operations.NU Office for Research.
Dr. Walsh is also a Professor of Biomedical Engineering. His research area is the study of light-tissue interactions. He has an ~20-year history of investigating the photophysics and photobiology of laser-based ablation. He is currently investigating tissue birefringence feedback systems, the propagation of polarized light in tissue, optically induced stimulation of the auditory system, and nanostructured surfaces for biosensing applications. He is the principal investigator on two NIH grants: one that has resulted in the development of a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy glucose sensor; the other that has yielded a polarization based imaging system for identification of pathologic lesions without biopsy. Dr. Walsh has been a program chairman for 5 major conferences in his field in the past 15 years; most recently as the program chairman for the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society. He is a past-president of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Walsh conducted his doctoral research in the Wellman Laboratories at the Massachusetts General Hospital, received his Ph.D. from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, and BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT.
Rob Whittier
Director of Sustainability
Northwestern University
Prior to joining Northwestern University as the Director of Sustainability, Rob was a Manager in Deloitte Consulting’s Sustainability and Climate Change practice where he provided advisory services to clients in the areas of sustainably strategy, alternative energy and cleantech, greenhouse gas management and water, waste and resource management. He has led projects in a variety of industries and sectors, from financial services to aerospace to the public sector and more. Before joining Deloitte, Rob was a Director with General Electric’s ecomagination initiative and prior to that, he worked for GE Energy where he focused on wind energy and other alternative energy technologies.
Rob completed his MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with an emphasis on Strategy and Sustainability and his B.S. at Central Michigan University where he majored in Finance and minored in Environmental Policy.
Rob is Lean Six Sigma certified, LEAD GRI certified and a LEED Accredited Professional with the USGBC and he sits on the board of Directors of the Delta Institute – a Chicago based organization whose mission is to improve the sustainability of Chicago’s built environment and to promote green economic development.
Student Representatives
Joshua Kaplan
Undergraduate Student Representative 2012-2013
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Joshua Kaplan is currently in his fourth year at Northwestern, majoring in Chemical Engineering, while minoring in Environmental Policy & Culture. He also works for the Dow Chemical Company on an alternating term cooperative education internship. Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Josh matriculated to Northwestern with a desire to advance renewable energy. His Engineering Design and Communication project as a solar consultant and the ISEN pilot course solidified his passion for renewable energy in his freshman year. During his sophomore year, he joined Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) to work on the Centennial Solar Panel System (CSPS), a 17 kW solar photovoltaic array that now sits atop of the Ford Engineering Design Center. At the beginning of his junior year, Josh became the project manager for CSPS, and was responsible for seeing the installation, educational, and publicity campaigns through to opening. In an effort to maximize the impact of CSPS, Josh and an ESW colleague created ESW’s Clean Energy Plan, which aims to set Northwestern on a path towards sustainable energy consumption. Josh is also a part of the Siemens- NU K-12 Sustainability Initiative, where he works with other student environmental leaders to mentor a middle school green club in the Chicago area. When he is not working on renewable energy or his homework, Josh enjoys playing ultimate Frisbee and is a member of the Northwestern Club Men’s Ultimate Team (NUT).
Madison Fitzpatrick
Graduate Student Representative 2012-2013
Doctoral Student, The Graduate School
Madison Fitzpatrick is a third year doctoral student in the Transportation Systems Analysis and Planning program, in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Her research is focused on using public policy to improve the sustainability of urban passenger travel. She investigates how the use of psychological variables, like attitude and preference, in travel behavior models can improve our ability to understand and predict how individuals will respond to changes in land-use and transportation policy. This improved understanding will help researchers and planners identify policies that are likely to achieve significant emissions reductions.
Madison grew up in Atlanta, GA along the Chattahoochee River and first became involved in environmental issues through local river clean-up and preservation projects. In high school her interests expanded to alternative energy and sustainable architecture, and she came to Northwestern as an undergraduate to study civil engineering. As an undergraduate, she served on the executive boards of the McCormick Student Advisory Board and the Society of Women Engineers, and she interned with Kimley-Horn and Associates and Kittelson and Associates. When she's not working on her research, she is busy playing bass in the NU Philharmonia and dancing with the Ballroom, Latin and Swing Team.
