2022 Service and Club Awards

2022

NAA President’s Award

Presented to alumni in recognition of loyal service rendered to the Northwestern Alumni Association.

Mark Ledogar ’89

Mark Ledogar was director and officer of the Northwestern Alumni Association (NAA) Board and served in various capacities for more than two decades, including as board president and trustee of the University. He also served as chair of several class reunions and as a member of the School of Communication Advisory Board and Alumni Admission Council. Ledogar received the NAA’s Alumni Service Award in 2005. A veteran of the event and communication industry, Ledogar most recently worked as senior vice president of PRA Events, a business event management firm, and president of One Smooth Stone, an event and communication agency. Previously, he led the Convention and Tradeshow Division of SmithBucklin, the world’s largest association management firm. Ledogar earned a bachelor’s degree in radio, television, and film from the School of Communication at Northwestern.

Service to Northwestern

Presented to alumni in recognition of leadership and service excellence rendered to the University via the Northwestern Alumni Association, an affiliated alumni group, school or unit, or other University associated program.

Deborah Hudson ’75, ’93 MS

Deborah Hudson is chair of operations for the Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Continuing Education program. The Alumnae Continuing Education program is entering its 54th year and prides itself on “engaging minds and enriching lives” of thousands of lifelong learners who have enrolled in courses taught by Northwestern professors. Hudson has devoted her life to education, both as a volunteer and as a middle school teacher. She holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a master’s degree in education from the School of Social and Educational Policy at Northwestern.

Erick Ellsweig ’89 (’25 P)

Erick Ellsweig is co-chair of the Alumni Admission Council (AAC) Advisory Board and serves as the Council’s codirector for Southeast Florida. An alumni interviewer since 1998, he previously served as AAC director of North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region. Ellsweig also mentors undergraduates through the Northwestern Network Mentorship Program and David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program. He and his wife, Kim Ellsweig ’90, are members of Northwestern’s Parent Leadership Council. He also serves as a board member of the Omega Sigma Chi Home Association. Outside of Northwestern, Ellsweig is a managing director, sports and entertainment advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where he has worked since 2001. After graduating Northwestern with a BA in political science, Ellsweig received a JD from Brooklyn Law School. He resides in Palm Beach County in Florida.

Club Leader of the Year

Presented to alumni in recognition of leadership and service excellence rendered to an affinity, international, and/or local club.

Annie Krall ’19, ’20 MS
Northwestern Club of Chicago

Annie Krall is copresident of the Northwestern Club of Chicago, the 2021 NAA Club of the Year. During her term, she spearheaded an exclusive dinner and theater night with famed restaurateur and chef Rick Bayless and a “tri-coastal” virtual movie night in collaboration with the Northwestern University Entertainment Alliance-West and NU Club of Washington, DC, that brought club members into conversation with Northwestern filmmakers in the entertainment industry. Krall is a broadcast journalist who has taken her on-air talents from ABC News in New York City to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the heart of Packerland. Krall earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a master’s degree in health, environment, and science journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

NAA Rising Wildcat

Presented to alumni in recognition of emerging volunteer leadership in a current role.

Kefu Dorion ’08 MS
NU Club of Virginia

Kefu Dorion has served as the NU Club of Virginia ’s vice president of programs since 2020. A board member at large for the club since 2018, she loves to organize fun professional, social, and virtual events and meet Wildcats across Virginia and around the globe. Dorion is a full-time Chinese teacher in Richmond, Virginia. In her spare time, she loves fitness and traveling with her family. It is also her passion to volunteer and advocate for disability inclusion because her eldest son is on the autism spectrum. Dorion was born and raised in Fuzhou, China, and came to the United States in 2007 to earn a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

The Rock

Presented to alumni in recognition of longtime service in a volunteer role and/or demonstrated advancement of alumni engagement at Northwestern.

Susan Kraus Jones ’71, ’72 MS (’98, ’02 P)
NU Club of West Michigan

Susan Kraus Jones was the founding president and long-time treasurer of the NU Club of West Michigan . A member of the Northwestern Alumni Association Board of Directors for several years, Jones was honored with Northwestern’s Alumni Service Award in 2007 and inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement in 2008. She is also a former member of the Council of One Hundred and served for 20 years on the Alumni Admission Council. Jones is a full, tenured professor of digital marketing at Ferris State University and the author of more than 30 books. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in advertising from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern.

NAA Campus Partner Award

This award is given to the unit, school or program that serves as a valuable and key player in partnering with the NAA on various initiatives to cultivate alumni relationships and connections to Northwestern.

Amit Prachand ’95
Associate Vice President of Information and Analytics
Office of Administration and Planning

Amit Prachand is associate vice president, Information and Analytics, in Northwestern’s Office of Administration and Planning. He leads efforts to collect, integrate, and analyze institutional and external data to support decision making, planning, and policy development at the University. Prachand is also an instructor in the MS in Higher Education Administration and Policy program in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern. Before joining the Office of Administration and Planning, he was managing director, Planning and Administration, at the Kellogg School of Management, and helped advance the school’s thought leadership initiatives and strategic plan. Prachand received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern and his master’s degree in engineering from Vanderbilt University.

NAA Staff Appreciation Award

The NAA has a team of dedicated individuals that work to ensure diverse and robust programming and engagement opportunities throughout the year and around the world on behalf of all Northwestern alumni. The NAA Staff Appreciation award is given each year to recognize one member of the professional staff who embodies that vision for an engaged global alumni community.

Jay Mastin ’10 MS
Director of Alumni Engagement

Jay Mastin ’10 MS has more than 20 years of experience in higher education alumni engagement and service to the NAA leadership team. Mastin is currently the director of alumni engagement at Northwestern, where he works closely with the Alumni Regents and the NAA Board of Directors, manages the Northwestern Alumni Medal and NAA Travel programs, and has launched key initiatives stemming from the NAA’s ongoing strategic visioning plan. In 2021, Mastin led the Alumni Community Census—which was awarded a bronze medal in 2022 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education—to better understand who alumni are and how they identify. He also created the Alumni Perceptions and Interests Survey, which is designed to identify alumni passions, interests, and perceptions of the University. He has helped to shape the evolution of the NAA and its efforts to be a more inclusive community, co-leading a work group of NAA board and staff members in reimagining the NAA’s vision, mission, and core values. Mastin joined the University in 2000 as director of alumni education and travel. During his tenure, he has earned a master’s degree in communication, as well as several certificates, from Northwestern.

Clubs of the Year

Presented to alumni clubs who have had exemplary alumni impact as well as club growth and innovation. Winning clubs must have also excelled in governance, finance/scholarship, programming, membership, and communication and achieved either the Wildcat or Arch levels in the Leading Strategies Model (LSM) in fiscal year 2022 (September 1, 2021–August 31, 2022).

Northwestern University Pride Alumni Club (NUPAC)

NU Club of Philadelphia

NU-Kellogg Club of Singapore