For more than 50 years, A Day With Northwestern in Evanston has drawn more than 300 alumni, students, parents, and friends for a full day of presentations and lectures on timely topics from prominent Northwestern faculty and alumni. Attendees may personalize their class schedule with different lectures that spark their interest—on the arts, science, journalism, medicine, and more—to continue their lifelong learning with fellow alumni and friends.
Registration is now open!
Past Events
Opening Keynote
Stack It High, Pile It Up, Sell It Low: The Founding Years of Crate & Barrel
Presented by: Dana Lamparello, Head of Public Services, McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives
Join Northwestern Libraries archivist Dana Lamparello as she shares what she has gleaned about Crate & Barrel’s earliest years from company records housed at Northwestern.
In December 1962, on the ground floor of a converted dumbwaiter factory in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, Trustee Gordon Segal ’60 and Carole Segal ’60 (’93 P) opened the first Crate & Barrel store, selling affordable and functional modern home furnishings. Despite the saturated market, Crate & Barrel took off and has endured for decades.
The company’s records—including correspondence, catalogs, ads, and artifacts—fill 235 boxes in the University Archives. Through examining the history of Crate & Barrel’s interior displays and layout, product selection, advertising, and retail model, Lamparello unveils a period of crucial business decisions and growth that positioned the independent retailer as an active and influential agent in the consumption of modern design in America.
Closing Keynote
An Odyssey of Music Images from Innovator Ron Hays
Presented by: Jacob Smith, Interim Radio/Television/Film Department Chair; Professor, School of Communication
Ron Hays ’67 went from being production manager for the Waa-Mu Show to become a multimedia producer of a unique type of visual music he called “music image.”
After the psychedelic lightshows of the ’60s and before MTV music videos in the ’80s, Hays created his own style of visual music that was a feast for the eyes and ears. From his pioneering work with video synthesizers and his pathbreaking 1979 visual album, Odyssey, to his role in orchestrating massive outdoor musical spectacles, Hays was an innovator who explored novel cultural niches for visual music.
School of Communication professor Jacob Smith provides an overview of Hays’s remarkable career with audiovisual examples from his productions, including experiments with the visual synthesizer, excerpts from his stunningly beautiful visual album, sequences from films including Grease, music videos, and outdoor spectacles such as the earliest Star Wars concerts.
Information on the morning and afternoon sessions will be added soon.
When
Saturday, April 18, 2026
8:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
Location
Norris University Center
Northwestern University
1999 Campus Drive
Evanston
Map
Schedule
| Check-in and Breakfast | 8:30–9:15 a.m. |
| Opening Keynote Panel | 9:15–10:15 a.m. |
| Break | 10:15–10:30 a.m. |
| Morning Sessions | 10:30–11:30 a.m. |
| Lunch | 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. An assortment of complimentary boxed lunches will be available. |
| Afternoon Sessions | 12:30–1:30 p.m. |
| Break | 1:30–1:45 p.m. |
| Late Afternoon Sessions | 1:45–2:45 p.m. |
| Break | 2:45–3 p.m. |
| Closing Keynote Discussion | 3–4 p.m. |
Pricing
| Alumni and friends | $65 |
| Recent alumni (undergraduate years 2015–25) | $40 |
| Current Northwestern students (graduate and undergraduate) | $10 |
Parking
Campus parking restrictions are waived on Saturday. Free parking is available in the South Campus Parking Garage, located at 1847 Campus Drive, or the adjacent Lakeside Parking Structure.
Accessibility
Handicapped parking spaces are located in the Locy Hall parking lot, located at 1850 Campus Drive across from the South Campus Parking Garage. Guests can also be dropped off on Arts Circle Drive and enter Norris using the accessible south ground entrance.