Northern Star inducts nine
to newspaper's Hall of Fame

Membership in the Northern Star Hall of Fame grew to 47 last month with the induction of nine new alums, including two who later returned to work for NIU.

Thomas Woodstrup, editor of the campus newspaper in 1949, became director of alumni relations for the university in 1966. Chuck Shriver, news editor in 1962, served as associate athletic director for marketing in the mid-1980s.

Woodstrup and Shriver are among a class that includes the author of more than 80 books, a New York City-based consumer journalist and a dot-com pioneer and survivor.

Heather McLindsey Dean, a 1999 alum and senior product manager for TAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Steve Dennis of The Marketing Store, and a 1992 alum, received the annual BridgeBuilder award.

The induction ceremony was held Saturday, Feb. 26, in newly renovated Altgeld Hall, NIU’s flagship building.

“It’s always a little awe-inspiring to see how the Northern Star has launched so many great careers from so many generations,” Northern Star adviser Jim Killam said. “To be able to honor a few of these alumni every year is a real privilege.”

The Northern Star Hall of Fame honors former students, advisers and friends of the Northern Star who significantly affected the Northern Star, journalism or related fields, or who have otherwise received acclaim based in part on experience gained at the Northern Star.

Created in 2000, the Hall of Fame serves as a means to keep alumni actively involved in support of the Northern Star and to encourage Northern Star students toward excellence in their chosen career paths.

“It’s great for our current students to hear some of America’s best journalists talk about their Northern Star days,” Killam said. “It says you can get there from here – that all the hard work really does pay off.”

More information is available online at http://www.northernstar.info/alumni/index.html.

This year’s inductees are:

• Mary Butler, a 1985 alum who went on to Consumers Digest in Chicago, where she stayed until 1997 and rose to senior Internet editor. She also spent five years learning personal finance while writing for the company’s “Your Money” magazine. More recently, she helped to launch cars.com. She also served 10 years as a member of the Star’s publication board. 
• Shelley Epstein, class of 1974, has spent his entire career writing, reporting and editing for the Peoria Journal Star. In 1990, he became associate editor for the paper’s editorial page. He also has taught at Bradley University and served as the unofficial, long-distance adviser for the newspaper at Emory University in Atlanta when his son, Reid, was editor.
• Bruce Gill, a 1973 Star alum and 1972’s “Best Damned Reporter,” has concentrated his newspaper career in DeKalb, Decatur and Milwaukee, his home for 25 years. He is senior editor/suburban news at the Journal-Sentinel, leading about 30 reporters and editors. He also was a teacher, grooming Marquette University journalism students for 16 years.
• Jim Murphy, class of 1993, leads the Chicago sales office for Yahoo! Inc. He began at the Chicago Tribune a year after graduation, where he spent five years selling entertainment and retail advertising and helping develop products such as chicagotribune.com and metromix.com. At Yahoo!, he has built partnerships with companies such as State Farm, Discover Card and Miller Brewing.
• Chuck Shriver, class of 1962, began his career as a news writer for WGN radio. In 1967, while filling in for a WGN-TV sports producer, he began working under Cubs broadcast legend and WGN sports director Jack Brickhouse. That led to a PR career that included 10 years (1967-76) with the Cubs and seven more in two stints (1977-78, 1980-84) with the White Sox. In 1988, he became a copy editor for the Daily Herald, where he retired in 2003.
• Jan (Gilarski) Touney, a 1975 alum, began her career at the Herald & Review in Decatur, Ill. She later became managing editor of the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa. Last March, she coordinated a project – “From Iraq to Iowa” – that examined the impact of the Iraq war on communities across Iowa. Touney also has trained and developed curriculum for assignment editors.
• Dean White, class of 1988, spent five years with the Chicago Tribune circulation department before relocating to Las Vegas in 1993. White joined the Las Vegas Review-Journal as home delivery manager, was promoted to circulation manager and, in 2004, became the director of marketing and promotions. He also formed the Las Vegas chapter of NIU alumni.
• Thomas Woodstrup, the 1949 graduate who later became NIU’s director of alumni relations, began the first national alumni clubs and created the first commercially published alumni directory. He is a past president of the DeKalb County Historical Society and has just completed four years as president of the Sycamore Historical Society and Museum, an organization he founded.
• Allan Zullo, class of 1969, is the author of more than 80 books, ranging from Simon & Schuster’s 11-book “The Baseball Hall of Shame” series to a kids’ ghost-stories series to titles such as “World’s Dumbest Crooks.” Zullo began his career at the Rockford Register Republic and spent almost a decade at the National Enquirer. His “Hall of Shame” books, first published in 1985, have sold more than 2 million copies.

3-14-05