Ten Alumni Enter Medill’s Hall of Achievement
“Medill’s alumni are among our greatest assets, and we’re delighted to recognize these 10 alumni who lead in media, marketing, communications and law. All have been honored with many awards throughout their careers, but we hope this induction into Medill’s Hall of Achievement will carry special meaning for them.”
— Charles Whitaker, Dean
The 2026 Inductees
Danielle Austen (IMC98)
Founder and CEO of fluent360, Austen is a marketing leader focused on multicultural consumer segments and was honored as the 2023 Advertising Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation.
Brad Bentley (IMC99)
President of NRG Consumer commanding a $12 billion portfolio, Bentley is a veteran executive whose career spans high-growth leadership roles at Expedia Group, WarnerMedia, Inspire Clean Energy, AT&T and DIRECTV.
Lisa Byington (BSJ98, MSJ99)
A trailblazing sports broadcaster, Byington is the first female full-time television play-by-play announcer for a major men’s sports team, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, and the first woman to call March Madness for the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Mark Ferguson (BSJ80)
A founding partner of Bartlit Beck LLP and fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Ferguson has spent 40 years as a nationally recognized trial lawyer in business, financial and technical litigation.
Gabe Gutierrez (BSJ05)
Senior White House correspondent for NBC News, Gutierrez has reported on major breaking news events around the world, from Hurricane Maria and the murder of George Floyd to the war in Ukraine and the Trump and Biden administrations.
Dawn Hasbrouck (MSJ99)
A Chicago native, Hasbrouck anchors the weeknight 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts on WFLD Fox32 Chicago, only the second woman to anchor the station’s flagship 9 p.m. broadcast.
Sally Kestin (BSJ87)
A Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter, Kestin co-founded Asheville Watchdog in 2020, a nonprofit local news outlet in North Carolina that has grown to five full-time journalists.
David Rudd (BSJ88)
Executive vice president and senior counselor at Rudd Resources, Rudd is a strategic communications adviser with a career spanning the Chicago Tribune, Motorola, Weber Shandwick and University of Chicago Medicine.
Kimberley Rudd (BSJ88)
President of Rudd Resources, which she founded in 2014, Rudd brings 38 years of communications experience counseling brands, philanthropies and policy initiatives, and was named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ Notable Black Chicagoans in 2024.
Robert Samuels (BSJ06)
A national enterprise reporter for The Washington Post, Samuels won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for his co-authored book His Name is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice.