MSiA Welcomes New Staff
MSiA has welcomed a number of new staff in recent months. Get to know them and their wide-ranging experience, and reach out with questions or suggestions for collaboration!
Stephen Dowling, Associate Director
Stephen joins MSiA and MSIT after six years at Northwestern's Center for Talent Development in the School of Education and Social Policy, where he coordinated residential, pre-college summer programs. A graduate of Kenyon College and two-time graduate of Northwestern with Masters degrees in music education and higher education administration & policy, he is enjoying the challenges of his new role and hopes to collaborate with many program alumni in the future. He lives in Evanston with his fiancée, Stephanie, who works with the Kellogg School of Management.
Kathy Benson, Program Assistant
Kathy is new to Northwestern and joined our MSiA/MSIT team in August 2021, when she returned to the traditional workforce full time, after 18 years as a stay-at-home mom, community/school volunteer, writer/blogger, group fitness instructor and coach. Kathy is an experienced recreation and program management professional, with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Leisure Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kathy was born/raised in Evanston and recently moved back with her husband Bob, along with their 18-year-old son Sean and 12-year-old daughter Abigail, after living on the SW side of Chicago in the Beverly neighborhood since 2003.
George Nejmeh, Program Facilitator
George is a seasoned veteran to Northwestern with 30 years of higher education experience. He joined MSIT in September of 1998 and joined the MSiA in March of 2021. George has been involved with many Northwestern groups including the Northwestern University Staff Advisory Council (NUSAC), McCormick Staff Strategy Steering Committee (MS3C), NU Natural Helper Program and the NU Mentoring Program to name a few. George has completed many training programs including NU Leadership Development Program, Mental Health Allies and Mental Health First Aid are the most recent completed. George is also a member of the City of Evanston’s Leadership Evanston Alumni and Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni. George is the recipient of the McCormick STAR award and the NU Service Excellence award. George is originally from New Jersey and has spent most of his life in the Chicagoland area with his family. After graduating from Illinois State University with a B.S. in Sociology/Business, George started his career in the corporate world, but found his niche in academia. George has lived in Evanston since 2006 with his partner Beulah, along with several family members in SW Evanston. George and Beulah enjoy sports because both are former college and world class athletes. Much of their time is spent attending their grandchildren’s school activities and Chicago’s professional sports teams.
Cate Herscher, Admissions Coordinator
Cate Herscher has been part of the Northwestern University community since 2008. She earned her B.A. in Art History with a minor in Sociological Research from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 2012. She brings specialized experience in admissions and recruitment from previous roles at the Office of Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment, the Kellogg School of Management’s Part-Time MBA Program, and The Graduate School. She would love to collaborate with any alumni interested in contributing to the recruitment of prospective students for future MSiA cohorts.
