Inductees to Medill Hall of Achievement to speak on panel

Five new inductees to Medill’s Hall of Achievement — two Pulitzer Prize winners, a U.S. ambassador, the executive editor of NPR and a top marketing executive — will talk about their experiences at Northwestern University and the challenges they have encountered in their professional lives to date.

Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications will induct six alumni into its Hall of Achievement at a ceremony Thursday, May 18. A panel discussion will take place at 3 p.m. in the MFC-Forum, 1870 Campus Drive, Evanston. The event is free and open to the public.

The Inductees

Jonathan S. Addleton BSJ79

Addleton served as U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia as part of a 32-year career in the Foreign Service. After graduation, he worked at the World Bank and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Mary L. Baglivo MSJ81

Baglivo has spent her career leading marketing communications for top global brands and has brought her skill and talent home to her alma mater. She is now chief marketing officer and vice president of global marketing at Northwestern. Before joining Northwestern, Baglivo was chairman and CEO of the Americas for Saatchi & Saatchi, a global advertising agency. 

Kai Bird MSJ75

Bird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer who is the author of five books. Bird and co-author Martin J. Sherwin won the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award, the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for biography or autobiography and the 2008 Duff Cooper Prize for “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” Oppenheimer is considered “the father of the atomic bomb.”

Mara Brock Akil BSJ92

Brock Akil is writer, creator and producer of several hit television series, including “Being Mary Jane,” starring Gabrielle Union; “Girlfriends,” which ran for eight years on UPN and The CW; and the “Girlfriends” spinoff, “The Game,” which finished its history-making run with 147 episodes and nine seasons on The CW and BET.

Edith C. Chapin BSJ87

Edith Chapin is the executive editor of NPR New. After graduating from Medill, Chapin worked her way up the ranks at CNN from intern to vice president and deputy bureau chief of CNN’s Washington bureau. She served as CNN’s New York bureau chief and managing editor during the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks. She has also produced groundbreaking reports across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

R. Bruce Dold BSJ77, MSJ78

Dold is a Pulitzer Prize winner and publisher and editor-in-chief of the Chicago Tribune. After graduating from Medill, he joined the Chicago Tribune as a reporter for the Suburban Trib. He spent 12 years as a reporter before becoming a columnist and later the editorial page editor. Dold was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 1994.

About the discussion

Addleton, Baglivo, Bird, Chapin and Dold will participate in a panel discussion.

“These alumni truly represent the best of Medill,” said Medill Dean Bradley J. Hamm. “They have distinguished themselves in their fields and are a credit to their alma mater. We are proud to recognize their outstanding achievements.”

The panel discussion will be moderated by Ceci Rodgers, a Medill lecturer and award-winning journalist living in Chicago.