Life after IWU

What can you do with an English major? The short answer is, What can't you do with an English major?  A recent article in the Harvard Business Review told business leaders to hire from English and the humanities if they're looking for innovative thinking.  An English major is solid preparation for any number of fields.  Many of our graduates keep in touch.  Here's what some of them have been doing:


Anne Barker (‘96) is a research librarian at a law firm in the San Francisco area and Government Relations Chair for the San Francisco Bay Region chapter of the Special Libraries Association.

David Barrett (’92) is a Massachusetts civil litigation attorney, Vice-President of LawRex.com (The Legal Referral Exchange), and Director of Social Media for The Rainmaker Institute.

Sarah Bordson (‘06) is E-communications Associate for the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Katie Brokaw (‘02) is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of Michigan.

Dave Brown (’96) is Managing Editor at the Marine Corps Times and has interviewed Presidents Bush and Obama as part of his job.

Martez Clark (’98) got a law degree from Stanford and is practicing privately in the Chicago suburbs.

Katie Coleman (‘04) received an M.A. in Environmental Journalism from Michigan State University and is now a Development Associate at the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Emma Davidson (’06) is pursuing a Master’s degree in international development.

Emily Frantzen ('09) is teaching English as a foreign language in Romania for the Peace Corps.

Chris Fusco (’94) is an award-winning General Assignment Reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Gail Gaboda ('88) is a Special Sections Editor/Designer for The Daily Herald in Chicago.

Eric Gardner (’89) is Chair, Braun Fellow and Professor of English at Saginaw Valley State University whose experiences at IWU led him to pursue further research in the field of African American literature.

John Hagemann (’98) began as a journalist but is now in the Master’s program at Washington State pursuing a degree in English composition and rhetoric.

Charles Haugland (‘06) is literary fellow at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.

Richard House (‘94) is an Associate Professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Tariq Khan (’93) is Foreign News Editor/Film News Contributor for Fox News Channel in New York.

Rachel Marusarz (’04) is Manager of Grant Writing & Direct Marketing at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

Karin McDowell (’00) used her English-Writing major, Argus work and internship experience to rise on the corporate ladder at Country Financial, where she is now ITS Project Manager specializing in Change Management.

Molly McLay (‘06) is pursuing an MSW degree at the University of Illinois and a career in writing therapy.

Kay Mitchell ('06) is Children's Marketing Associate at Sourcebooks, Inc., a publishing company in the Chicago area.

David Moll (’90) is the Night Editor at the International Herald Tribune in Hong Kong.

Paul Morello ('09) is working at WJBC radio in Bloomington and was accepted into the University of Illinois Master's program in journalism.

Jennifer Christopher Nau (’03) is Senior Account Executive at JSH&A Public Relations in Chicago.

Jen Pasyk (’96) is teaching religion at a private high school in the Chicago suburbs.

Doug Pietrzak (‘05) is bicycling across South America as part of the Reach the World program, reporting on his journey via the Internet to thousands of Chicago public school students.

Robert Rave (’96) went on to work for a New York City public relations firm and turned those experiences into his first novel, Spin (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). His second novel is already written, and he is under contract to produce a third.

Erie Martha Roberts (‘06) was a double major in English and history who’s now a secondary English teacher in Abingdon, United Kingdom.

Sarah Rueth (’07) is pursuing a Master’s degree in environmental studies.

Laura Sahn (’04) found that the skills an English major develops prepared her to work as Merchandise Planning Manager for Textiles at Crate & Barrel.

Sehaj Sethie (‘08) is pursuing an M.F.A. in filmmaking at New York University.

Joshua Shull (’02) went on to form his own marketing company.

Rachel Slough (‘07) went to Chile as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and is now pursuing an MLS degree in Library Science at Indiana University-Bloomington

Jim Stahly (’91) worked as a reporter for a time before moving on to become an Advertising Analyst for State Farm Insurance.

Leah (Strege) Huffman (’08) earned a Master's in English at DePaul University and is working as an assistant editor in the books department at Quintessence Publishing.

Zach Summers (‘03) received a J.D from Yale Law School and is an associate in the law firm of Irell and Manella.

Asra Syed (’98) is teaching high school English in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Kate Weber (‘02) became managing editor of West Suburban Living upon graduation, then got her teaching certification and now teaches honors English at George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church, Va.

Rebecca Welzenbach (‘07) is Digital Publishing Project Manager at the University of Michigan Scholarly Publishing Office.

Landis Wiedner (‘06) is a teacher at the Gwendolyn Brooks College Prepatory Academy.

Nikki Williams (’98) is working at a vineyard in northern California and pursuing a Master’s in winemaking.

Melissa Marie Wilhelm (‘05) was a double major in English-Writing and dance at IWU, and combined those majors in a career as the circus performer for Cirque-tacular who handles all the public relations for her troupe.