Summer 2017

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Gita Pullapilly ’01 MS

Gita Pullapilly is embarking on a new cinematic adventure. Titled Crook County, the screenwriter’s new feature film will detail the work of Terrence Hake, an undercover lawyer who wore a wire to unearth Cook County judges’ patterns of case fixing and bribe taking three decades ago. Pullapilly and her husband and writing teammate, Aron Gaudet, began researching Operation Greylord, which brought down 15 Cook County judges and 92 public officials, after learning about it at a 2012 meeting of Northwestern magazine’s editorial board. The film is scheduled to begin shooting in late summer or early fall. Pullapilly lives in Los Angeles. (See "The Inside Story," fall 2013, and “Plot Points Toward Peace,” summer 2007.)

Gita Pullapily and Aron Gaudet
Gita Pullapilly, left, and her husbamd, Aron Gaudet. Photo by Jenny Risher.

Lauren Pond ’09

Lauren PondLauren Pond, a documentary photographer who specializes in faith and religion, won the 2016 Duke University Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography for her color series Test of Faith. The work documents the lives of a family of Pentecostal serpent-handlers, whom she has photographed since 2011. The prize includes publication of a book of her photography, for which Pond will write an afterword. Pond, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, works as a multimedia producer at Ohio State University and manages Fresh A.I.R. Gallery, an art gallery for artists affected by mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders. (See “Test of Faith,” fall 2012.)

Sudip Bose ’95, ’99 MD

Sudip Bose is a practicing emergency medicine physician at the Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, Texas, where he is the city medical director. He is a clinical professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and an associate clinical professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He’s also a mentor with the Alumni Physicians of Feinberg, where he shares personal stories, career guidance and professional perspective with rising medical students. Bose, a Bronze Star recipient and U.S. Army Iraq War veteran who treated Saddam Hussein after his capture, also advocates for veterans. (See “Saving Soldiers,” winter 2005.)

Sudip Bose

Elizabeth Brown Pryor ’73

Elizabeth Brown PryorBefore she was killed in a car accident in April 2015, Elizabeth Brown Pryor wrote the manuscript for Six Encounters with Lincoln: A President Confronts Democracy and Its Demons, which has been posthumously published by Viking Press to acclaim. The New York Times calls it “fascinating reading,” especially “at a moment when questions about the efficacy of democracy are on everyone’s lips.” Before her career as a biographer, Pryor was a distinguished diplomat. She was one of the first American diplomats to re-enter Sarajevo to participate in arms reduction negotiations after the Bosnian War. She later wrote the “Pryor Paper” that urged the United States to rejoin UNESCO in 2003. (See Passings, fall 2015.)

Stephanie D’Abruzzo ’93

Northwestern theater students got to play with puppets during a special class taught by Tony-nominated actor and puppeteer Stephanie D’Abruzzo in February. “The suspension of disbelief is the cornerstone of puppetry,” the radio/TV/film alumna said. “We all know Elmo isn’t real, but when it’s brought to life by a skilled and talented puppeteer, then he can be as real as any human being.” D’Abruzzo, who lives in New York City, also conducted two firesides at the Communications Residential College, where she lived as an undergrad. (See “From Sesame Street to Broadway,” winter 2004.)

Stephanie D'Abruzzo

Agnes Eckhardt Nixon ’44

Agnes NixonAgnes Nixon’s memoir, My Life to Live: How I Became the Queen of Soaps When Men Ruled the Airwaves (Crown Archetype, 2017), was released in the spring. The memoir tells of Nixon’s trailblazing rise to the top of the television industry and includes behind-the-scenes stories from some of the most beloved soaps of all time. Nixon died in September at age 93. (See Passings, winter 2016, and  “The Queen of Soaps,” fall 2011.)