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KO

KO(they/them) is a Tony Award-winning associate professor in the School of Communication's Theatre department and the Donald G. Robertson Director of Music Theatre. They are most widely known for their acting work that spans the last 25 years on Broadway and TV.

KO now works at the collegiate level facilitating workshops on interpersonal communication, classroom culture, critical analysis of the Musical Theater canon, and education ethos retooling while mentoring artists privately.

They also co-created the Mosaic Training, a bi-annual 8 week workshop for young artists from underrepresented identities to build community and engage in training free of charge in partnership with Project Broadway and Broadway workshops.

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Greg Berlanti ('94)

The Emmy-nominated film and television screenwriter and director is also Hollywood’s most prolific TV producer—he holds the record for most live-action scripted series airing concurrently. Credits include The Flight Attendant, Love, Simon, Dawson’s Creek, Brothers & Sisters, You, and many more.

“I often say that Northwestern is the first period of my life that I would repeat—not to change anything, but I loved it so much I’d do it all over again,” he said. “I found my calling at Northwestern.” 

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Mel McDaniel, Human Communications Sciences Major

When I got to Northwestern, I thought I’d work on language with kids with autism and other learning disabilities,” said human communication sciences major Mel McDaniel. “Then I learned what a wide range there is in speech-language pathology, with all the different populations you can treat. So I thought it’d be interesting to work with people with aphasia. Now I’m working with kids with hearing loss, and I really like that too. A cousin of mine has cerebral palsy, and there are language interventions in that area. Most recently I’ve gotten interested in treatment for stuttering and dysphasia. I can go in all these different directions. I love the diversity of being able to treat different populations and getting to know a lot of different fields before settling on one.”

McDaniel is currently enjoying her work in the Early Intervention Research Group. The lab is led by professor Megan Roberts, who received a grant to study early communication interventions in toddlers with hearing loss. “We have our intervention group and our control group,” McDaniel explains. “I’m the recorder, so I collect videos—hundreds for each kid. I’m blinded to their conditions so I can observe how they improve, whether or not they’ve received intervention.”

Outside her major, McDaniel is minoring in psychology and pursuing a module in childhood communication. But even as her academic work pulls her in multiple directions, she finds time to devote to Northwestern’s Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance. A member of the Maidu tribe, she cochaired NAISA’s annual spring powwow and serves on its knowledge keepers committee, which works to preserve the group’s archives. She also honors her Mexican and Black heritage through work with other campus cultural groups, including the Black Mentorship Program and For Members Only.

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