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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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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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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.

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2010s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Argelia Martinez (IMC12)

Justice for Migrant Women hired Argelia Martinez as the Chief Communications Officer to join the leadership team in advancing the organization’s vision of building a world where all migrant and rural women have equity, dignity, and safety. She will develop and lead the Communications practice, support J4MW’s narrative change campaigns, and increase public awareness of the experiences and priorities of migrant and rural women. Argelia will report to Monica Ramirez, the Founder and President.

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1990s Class Notes

Dr. Seretha Williams (BSJ92)

Dr. Seretha Williams retired from Augusta University and now holds the title of professor emerita of English. She is now associate dean of Undergraduate Studies and professor of English at Agnes Scott College.

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1980s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Jane E. Wilcox (MSJ84)

Jane E. Wilcox, professional genealogist with her company Forget-Me-Not Ancestry in Albany, NY, recently finished writing her first book, New York State Archives Guide: For Family Historians, Biographers, and Historical Researchers, published by the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society. This robust reference book has more than 500 pages of carefully curated information for researchers, including an introduction and comprehensive overview of NYSA’s holdings; a spotlight section; 21 detailed chapters; 2 appendices; and an index. Ms. Wilcox serves on the New York State Archives Advisory Committee and the NYG&B’s Family History Advisory Committee. Specializing in colonial and early national New York and area research, she speaks at national and regional genealogy conferences and institutes and local societies.

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2010s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Kalyn Kahler (BSJ15)

Kalyn Kahler reported and hosted an investigative podcast series called “Spiraled” which tells the story of Packers legend Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and several other ex-NFL players, like Colts star Robert Mathis, who joined an extreme religious group and left their wives and children behind to follow the group’s charismatic leader. Gbaja-Biamila was a local hero in Green Bay until a very strange and public incident turned him from a Packer to a pariah. As she figured out what happened to Kabeer, Kahler dug into the controversial history of the group, and uncovered more ex-NFL players who had a similar spiral. The podcast is an extension of Kahler’s three-part investigative series for Sports Illustrated, which was named an honorable selection in Best American Sports Writing, and won the Pro Football Writers Association’s annual enterprise award.

You can find “Spiraled” wherever you listen to podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiraled/id1763809519?i=1000666769306

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2000s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Craig Tiede (MSJ06)

Craig Tiede graduated from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in May 2024 as a member of the Class of 2024 Global Executive MBA program. He was conferred a degree in Master of Business Administration.

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1980s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Amy Wilen-Buckman (BSJ86, MSJ86)

Amy Wilen-Buckman received the Philadelphia Public Relations Association’s 2024 PRoActive Community Service Award. The award is given to a PR professional who dedicates their time to support the betterment of their community and serves as an exemplary model of selfless service. Buckman is the Director of School and Community Relations for the Lower Merion School District.