Northwestern University Alumni

Keller received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She employed her degree as a caseworker for the Cook County Department of Public Aid before transitioning to the private sector as a trust administrator at Continental Bank. Keller received a JD from Loyola University Chicago in 1977 and began her legal career as an associate at McLaughlin & Irvin, a boutique employment law firm in California. Subsequently, she was senior counsel for litigation and employment law at Pacific Enterprises, a Fortune 500 company. Keller has taught business law to undergraduate and MBA students at California State University Northridge and Los Angeles and at Pepperdine University. She also has given lectures about the American legal system to visiting Chinese business owners and government officials.

Keller has been a member of the Alumni Club of Los Angeles, an officer of the Alumni Club of Orange County, and a member of the Class of 1968 reunion committees. She currently serves on the Northwestern University Leadership Circle Los Angeles Regional Board. Keller and her husband, David Auchterlonie, have been football season ticket holders for 25 years. They are pursuing their bucket list goal of watching Northwestern play in every Big Ten stadium.

Kullavanijaya earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering, where he was a Murphy Fellow, and his Master of Management (Business Administration) from the Kellogg School of Management. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from McCormick, Kullavanijaya worked as a project engineer at General Motors Electromotive Division. He then moved into investment banking and built various industry businesses for Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Smith Barney (Citigroup Global Markets) in the US and Asia. Kullavanijaya worked with companies across different sectors but predominantly focused on financial services and technology. He also cofounded a private equity and advisory firm focused on US community banks before moving into sustainability and investment management.

Kullavanijaya has served and continues to serve on boards of public and private companies in the US and Asia spanning various industries. He is also an advisor to private companies in renewable energy, financial services and related technologies, and education software, building on his experience in these sectors as well as in governance and strategy. Kullavanijaya is a member of the Pacific Pension and Investment Institute and is a frequent speaker at education and industry events. At Northwestern, he has served on the McCormick Advisory Council since 2012 and lectures at McCormick in NUvention courses and at Kellogg in impact investing.

A first-generation college student, Bernal-Vega chose the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications because of her passion for writing and the desire to put herself in more challenging situations. After graduating from Medill, she earned her MBA from Florida International University and worked at public relations and wealth management firms in Miami before launching CANVAS.

Bernal-Vega also serves as protector and special committee member for the Aida and Mike Feldman Philanthropic Trust. She and husband Ernesto—a fellow Cuban American and Miami native who she met as a first-year student at Northwestern—are the proud parents of two current Northwestern students, Michael ’23 and Matthew ’25.

Mlsna is a graduate of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and studied at the Kellogg School of Management’s executive education program. She has been featured for her leadership in multiple management books and authored widely published articles on high-performing boards. She has remained deeply involved with Northwestern through various organizations and committees, including serving as co-chair of nearly all of her class reunions. In 2004, Mlsna was honored with the NAA Service to Northwestern Award.

Mlsna has served on several other boards, including the Promotion Marketing Association (as chair), the Association of Corporate Counsel Chicago, and the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago. She and husband Timothy ’74 JD live in Florida, where they are active members of the NU Club of Greater Naples. They have three adult children, two of whom are Northwestern alumni.

Merritt earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and a master’s degree in communications from California State University Northridge. She is a veteran of corporate marketing and communications, having worked to advance the positioning of Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits in the automotive, telecommunications, media and entertainment, energy, health care, and child welfare arenas. Merritt has been part of a number of disruptive technologies and product innovations, including Saturn, GM’s electric vehicle, the early stages of BellSouth’s internet service, and over the top video.

Merritt has served as a big sister with Cool Girls, an Atlanta-based mentoring program, and as a board member for both the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta and the National Urban League of New Orleans. She is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Atlanta and Midtown Leadership Atlanta, and was recognized by the

Katzenmeyer earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. Prior to joining the Field Museum, Katzenmeyer was senior vice president for external affairs at the Adler Planetarium and chief development officer at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He also held development positions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the American Bar Association, and Northwestern University. His professional leadership was recognized in 2012 with the Benjamin Franklin Award, an honor presented by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Chicago.

In 2015, Katzenmeyer was named the inaugural chair of NU Loyal, the University’s giving society that recognizes donors who give three or more years consecutively. Since graduating in 1985, he has volunteered for every reunion committee. He has also served on the board of the NU Club of Chicago, University Sesquicentennial Committee, Northwestern Annual Fund’s Executive Committee, Northwestern’s Delta Tau Delta fraternity house board, and the Donor Recognition Task Force.

Kroot was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 1987 and graduated from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in political science in 1988. Her extracurricular activities included membership in Kappa Alpha Theta women's fraternity and serving as makeup artist for the Waa-Mu Show. Kroot subsequently attended the University of Chicago Law School, earning her J.D. in 1991.

Kroot has volunteered for many years for the Northwestern Alumni Association, primarily by interviewing Northwestern University student applicants through the Alumni Admissions Council. She and her husband, Barry Kroot ’88, a graduate of the School of Education and Social Policy, are members of the Northwestern University Leadership Council and proud supporters of the Wildcat Fund.

Since moving to Indianapolis, Kroot has performed various volunteer roles for her children’s schools and at several nonprofit organizations. Currently, she is a board member and vice president of the Indianapolis Tennis and Education Foundation.

Kroot’s proudest accomplishment is her family, composed of three biological sons and four South Sudanese young men whom the Kroot family has raised since 2011. Together with her husband and all of her sons, Kroot is a founding member of Passkey-South Sudan Inc.—an organization that facilitates aid, family placement, and educational opportunities in the United States for imperiled South Sudanese youth.

Arain moved to Boston to earn a master’s degree in education with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, then spent several years as a classroom teacher. Following the birth of her two daughters, Arain combined her skills as a management consultant with her experience in education to lead a multi-year initiative in her daughters’ public school system to rebuild the community after a leadership change. Currently, Arain is working with an independent school in Boston to create a more inclusive culture by restructuring the parent-school partnership. She also serves on the board of her town’s public library.

All three of Arain’s siblings, along with her two sisters-in-law, attended Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, Arain served as the president of the Muslim Cultural Students Association. Combining her love for the University with her passion for building a more equitable society, Arain supports scholarships and fellowships to make a Northwestern education accessible to outstanding undergraduates and is a Northwestern University Leadership Circle member.

Hochkammer received her bachelor of science in education from Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy. She is a former board member of the American Red Cross of Detroit, the Heat and Warmth Fund, and the Junior League of Birmingham (Michigan). She also is a former committee member of the Village Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Hochkammer is a third-generation Northwestern alumna. Her husband and daughter also graduated from the University. Hochkammer is a former Alumni Admissions Council volunteer and has hosted several new student send-offs. She is a member of the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s Dean’s Circle for her support of the Motion to Lead Campaign. In 2013, Hochkammer and her husband, William, endowed the William O. and Marcia A. Hochkammer Scholarship for law students with demonstrated financial need.

Abraham earned his bachelor's degree in economics and political science from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. After graduating, he initially spent 14 years on the West Coast as a technology investment banker—in 2005, he was promoted to head of capital markets; in 2010, he became global co-head of investment banking and capital markets; and in 2018, he became CEO.

Abraham sits on the board of trustees for the Nature Conservancy’s Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota chapter, as well as for the Blake School in Minneapolis. He is the father of four daughters, one of whom graduated from Northwestern in 2021 and another who currently attends Northwestern.

Prior to joining AlixPartners, LaVelle was an executive vice president at the PNC Financial Services Group. In that role, she led origination and structuring activities of the financial services advisory and banking platform. Her teams covered clients in the asset management, insurance, and leasing industries. During her career in finance, LaVelle also has been employed in the capital markets and investment banking divisions at Morgan Stanley, Citi Securities, and RBS/Greenwich Capital.

Lavelle served as treasurer of the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018 and acted as an officer liaison to the Alumni Giving Committee. She also interviewed prospective students as an Alumni Admission Council volunteer.

During Morey’s tenure as general manager, Houston compiled a 640–400 (.615) record, the second-best of any NBA team during that span. Among executives with at least 1,000 games of experience, Morey’s record is top 5 in league history, alongside the likes of R.C. Buford and Jerry West.

Prior to joining the Rockets, Morey served three years as senior vice president of operations for the Boston Celtics. Originally from Ohio, Morey earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern and his MBA from MIT, where he serves as the co-chair of the school’s annual Sports Analytics Conference.

Morey is a 2015 NAA Alumni Merit Award recipient and a past Alumni Admission Council volunteer. He was a member of his 15th Reunion committee and is a former member of the NU Club of Houston.

Wander, who graduated from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, was a walk-on swimmer at Northwestern for two years. Previously, she worked as a vice president at Merrill Lynch Capital Market in institutional sales for the Southwest region. She facilitated IPO roadshows, delivered research analysis, and offered stock ideas to large institutional clients throughout the region. She also worked as an equity trader at Oppenheimer Capital, initiating and executing trades on the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges.

Wander has been married to Northwestern alumnus, John Wander ’89, for 30 years. They enjoy cheering on their twin 17-year-old daughters’ dance and drill team and have welcomed members of the NU Club of Dallas/Fort Worth into their home during the holidays.

Later in his career, Gotera was director of business development at Maverick Engineering and director of corporate growth and development at Evonik. He currently is retired.

Gotera has been involved with both industry and community organizations, serving on the boards of Houston’s Instituto Argentino del Petroleo y Gas, the LaSalle Language Academy, and the Cinco Ranch High School Band Boosters. He also has dedicated time to Rebuilding Together Home Repairs Crews, the MS Society 150 Support Team, and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators. In addition to his engineering degree from Northwestern, Gotera holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Gotera maintains ties to the Northwestern family via his affiliations with the NU Club of Houston. He also has served as director of both the Alumni Admissions Council and the NUMBALUMS. Gotera was born in Cuba and now lives in Katy, Texas, with his wife, Carmen. His son, Daniel, is a 2006 Medill graduate.

Gottlieb earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. As an undergraduate student, he was a four-year member of the Northwestern debate team, winning the National Debate Tournament championship in 1998 and 1999—he has continued to promote academic debate as a member of the board of directors for the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues for the past eight years. Today, along with being an alumni regent, Gottlieb sits on the Northwestern School of Communication National Advisory Council.

Gottlieb served in the administration of President Barack Obama for five years in senior executive branch positions, including as special assistant to the president and associate White House counsel. He also was deputy director of Joint Task Force 435 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Earlier in his career, Gottlieb was an assistant US attorney for the Central District of California and a staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, he served as a law clerk to US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Gottlieb lives in the Washington, DC, area with his wife, two children, and rambunctious pugabull.

Kilty earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern and went on to receive his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. His career in operational experience includes time at Abbott Laboratories, several start-ups, and Visa Inc., where he was responsible for multiple global client service departments with teams across the US, Asia, and Europe.

Kilty spent four years on the fundraising committee of Self Help for the Elderly, a Bay Area organization helping Asian immigrants live independently as seniors. More recently, he served on a committee working to fund a new amphitheater in Seattle and provided a pro-bono analysis to the Seattle Art Museum on enhancing future membership. Kilty and his husband, Stoddard Lambertson, are also passionate about family, travel, and DIY projects. They’re currently remodeling two 100-year-old homes, surrounding each with purple and white gardens.