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Tom Germuska (BSJ62)

Thomas Allen Germuska, Sr., 84, retired communications consultant, formerly of Palatine, passed away unexpectedly on February 12, 2025 at home in Rolling Meadows, IL.

Born in Cleveland, Tom graduated from John Marshall High School and received his undergraduate degree from Medill. He was a Chicago Sun-Times reporter for six years before taking on a public relations position at United Airlines. He was at United for two decades before starting his own independent consulting company.

Tom was devoted to his church, and for many years ran the PADS Overnight Shelter Program at All Saints Lutheran Church. He enjoyed building homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Tom gave deeply of himself, had a strong sense of duty, and celebrated over 46 years of sobriety. A skilled ceramicist, he enjoyed his time at Thrown Elements Pottery in Arlington Heights. He especially loved exhibiting and selling his work at art shows, including the Edgewater Arts Festival, where he had numerous repeat customers.

Loving father of Thomas (Megan) Germuska of Avon Lake, OH and Joseph (Jenni Grover) Germuska of Skokie, IL. Proud step-grandfather (“Mr. G”) of Regan and Emma Campbell.

Dearest older brother of Richard “Dick” Germuska and Marilyn Best; brother-in-law of Joanne Germuska; and uncle of Jennifer (Tina Cameron) Rhone, Jill (Michael) Rotkis, and Jamie Germuska.

Preceded in death by former spouse Constance Ann Germuska (nee Gorlo) and parents Ladislaw and Stella Elizabeth (nee Vernick) Germuska.

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Books

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club

Martha Hall Kelly (MSJ81)

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving after her mother’s death as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Devereaux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Devereaux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.

1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old aspiring writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend, Bess, start a book club, which grows both in members and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war . . . before it’s too late?

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Books

Lead Like an Editor

Victor Maze (MSJ03)

In today’s crowded marketplace, selling a quality product is not enough. To stand out, businesses must tell compelling stories and build relationships with potential customers—and prospective employees—who have become evermore discerning, supporting companies that align with their own values.

While this may seem daunting, it can be done. In fact, magazine editors have mastered these skills for decades, creating trusted brands that attract loyal followers in their longtime readers and dedicated staffers, who often live out the messages of the publications in their own lives.

With more than 20 years of experience building brands at the world’s largest media companies, Victor Maze spills the leadership secrets of top editors—many of whom are now leading content and marketing teams at giants like Netflix and Nike.

“Lead Like an Editor” covers essential strategies for hiring passionate teams, inspiring with vision, making decisive choices, and crafting compelling messages that resonate with audiences. Named an Editor’s Pick by Publisher’s Weekly, this book transforms the way you lead people, tell stories, build brands, and achieve success.

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Books

Intersections

Karen Florsheim Uhlmann (MSJ79)

Secrets and guilt collide as Charlotte Oakes’ perfect life unravels after a hit-and-run possibly involving her troubled daughter. She forms a bond with Officer Ed Kelly, who carries his own burdens. Both haunted by loss, they face choices that could fracture their connection. Will Charlotte protect her daughter at any cost, or will Ed’s duty to the law compel a decision neither can escape?

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Books

A Life of the Party

Dave Schechter (MSJ78)

The Story of a Jewish Woman Who Made Communism Her Way to Repair the World

An FBI informant called Amy Schechter “a regular ten–minute egg.” In other words, hard–boiled. The New York Times said that Amy became “one of the most ardent among the New York radicals.” A Jewish columnist called her “one of the few genuinely idealistic Communists; she lives up to her ideals in her private life, sharing what she has with others less fortunate.”

What propelled the daughter of a renowned Jewish scholar to join a movement on the fringe of American society that rejected religion, capitalism, and other mainstream ideals?

Amy Schechter, born in England and educated in the United States, devoted two–thirds of her life, more than four decades, to the Communist Party in a quest to improve the lives of working men and women. Party work took her across the United States, from textile mills and coal fields to shipyards and docks. During one of the most famed strikes of its time, her name frequented newspaper front pages as a defendant in a celebrated murder trial. In Russia, she lived in a little–known American colony in Siberia and attended the Party’s finishing school in Moscow.

A Life of the Party blends the historical record with narrative fiction fitting Amy’s life and times.

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Books

And Now, Back to Me

Rita Lussier (MSA79)

What does a mother do when her youngest child leaves home and her perfectly ordered (well, almost) life is suddenly thrown off its track, leaving her to wonder if she will ever again find that comfortable rhythm, that sense of belonging?

After twenty-seven years of motherhood, Rita Lussier sees her youngest child off to New York City and drives home to what she thinks will be the calm after the storm—only to find no comfort, nothing familiar. Welcome to the Great Big Empty Nest!

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Home Medill News

Christian Grönroos to receive 2025 Don Schultz Award

The recipient of the 2025 Don Schultz award for Innovation in Teaching, Theory and Practice of Integrated Marketing Communications.

Grönroos is a pioneering scholar in the field of marketing. He has developed an area of marketing scholarship known as service-dominant logic that closely parallels the approach of integrated marketing communications in prioritizing customer service and customer experience.

His articles are some of the most cited papers on IMC, and have advanced IMC thinking substantially.

“We are delighted to recognize Christian’s groundbreaking contributions to the marketing field,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “He is among the very best scholars in marketing in Europe, and thus, a worthy recipient of the Don Schultz Award which honors innovation.”

Grönroos is professor emeritus of service and relationship marketing at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. Besides his interest in service marketing and related areas, such as relationship marketing, service quality, and internal marketing, he has worked on new strategies for marketing and marketing communication.

In the context of marketing communication, he has particularly emphasized the role and power of customers. He has also advocated that integrated marketing communication must adhere to the numerous means of communication to become effective and not remain within a conventional range of communication channels.

He has published several books, translated to eight languages, and published extensively in scientific journals such as the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, European Journal of Marketing, Australasian Journal of Marketing, Marketing Theory, Journal of Industrial & Business Marketing, Management Decision, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Management, and Journal of Service Theory and Practice, and in several other popular journals.

In 1999, he received American Marketing Association’s Servsig Career Award for his contribution to the service field and in 2013 he was elected Legend in Marketing by the Sheth Foundation.

Medill’s Schultz award is named for long-time Medill Professor Don Schultz who played a pivotal role in creating the field of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and establishing the IMC department at Medill in the early 1990s. Medill was the first school to offer a graduate degree in Integrated Marketing Communications in the United States. Schultz is regarded internationally as the “father of IMC.” He died in 2020.

Grönroos will give a presentation to Medill faculty this spring and accept his award.

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Events

Medill +NU Connects Feb. 23 and 25

Medill Miami + NU Connects is Sunday, Feb. 23

Medill + Palm Beach County is Feb. 25!

Join Dean Whitaker and featured speaker Prof. Jeremy Gilbert at NU Connects 2025 in S. Florida.

RSVP

Dean Charles Whitaker invites you to an afternoon in Coral Gables with NU alumni and special guest speaker, Medill faculty member Jeremy Gilbert.

Generative AI Tools are Redefining our Relationship with Information.

Northwestern faculty, staff and students are exploring what AI tools can do, how we build new tools to take advantage of their capabilities and what information consumers want and need. This is a pivotal technology moment and an opportunity to experiment with how we teach, research and prototype. Many industries are being similarly transformed, but higher education is both changing how we work in our labs or classrooms and what we need to do to prepare students for when they leave us.

 

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1950s Featured Legacies Home Home Legacies

Howard Geltzer (BSJ58, MSJ59)

Howard Geltzer, longtime Medill board of advisers and Hall of Achievement member, died Jan. 7, 2025. He was 88.

Geltzer and his wife Sheila started their public relations agency, Geltzer & Co. public relations, in New York City in 1974. At the end of the 1970s, Sony gave the agency responsibility to launch the Walkman. Sony had low expectations for the product and wanted to keep down costs. No advertising; no promotion; only the Geltzer & Co. publicity effort. The contract was three months long. The Walkman exceeded all sales expectations. The three-month assignment lasted 12 years. Sony moved all of its product publicity business to Geltzer & Co. Other clients over the years included Black and Decker Housewares, Dow Chemical, Morton Salt, Samsung, and Toshiba.

The Geltzers also ran the 2000 New York presidential campaign of Dick Gephardt, a fellow Northwestern alumnus.

After 26 years in business, the Geltzers sold their agency to Publicis, the multinational advertising and marketing agency.

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2000s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Kristin Thorne (MSJ05)

Kristin Thorne won her third Emmy award during the 67th Annual New York Emmy Awards on October 26, 2024. She won for her investigative piece on unidentified human remains at the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office. Missing of the Morgue can be streamed on Hulu or Disney+ under Kristin’s original true crime series, Missing.