These Kenyon alumni who are striving to make a difference in the world through the arts, politics, technology and other fields came into the national spotlight for their efforts in 2025.
John Green ’00 H’16
It’s a rare year when bestselling author John Green does not do something worthy of a spot on this list. In 2023, he became a prominent champion for public health when he used his platform to urge drugmaker Johnson & Johnson to make generic treatment for tuberculosis available in almost every country with a high burden of TB — and it worked. This year, his latest nonfiction book, “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” brought fresh attention to the world’s top infectious killer, which according to the World Health Organization, killed 1.23 million people last year — despite it being both preventable and curable. The book earned coverage in The New York Times, The Washington Post and, of course, the Kenyon Alumni Magazine. Green was also profiled in the Times (“The Interview: John Green Doesn’t Want You to Lose the Magic of Your Teenage Self”) and appeared on “The Daily Show.”
Arjav Ezekiel ’10
Arjav Ezekiel is no stranger to our annual newsmakers list, having received numerous honors in recent years as sommelier and co-owner of Birdie’s, an Austin restaurant that blends fine dining with counter service and an employee-first philosophy. Ezekiel has become something of a sensation in the food world. This year, he took things up a notch, winning a James Beard Award — a top honor for professionals in the food industry — and made the Time100 Next list with his spouse and co-owner, Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel. (He’s also the cover star of the fall 2025 Kenyon Alumni Magazine.) With a model built on fair pay, work‑life balance and accessibility, Birdie’s, Time declared, proves “that excellence and equity can share the same table. That’s not just a model for restaurants — it’s a model for the future.”
Bridget Brink ’91
A career diplomat, Bridget Brink’s profile soared in 2022 when she was appointed U.S. ambassador to Ukraine shortly after the country was invaded by Russia. She made headlines again in April when she resigned from the post in protest, citing a change in U.S. foreign policy by the Trump administration in an op-ed to the Detroit Free Press in her home state of Michigan. Brink — who gave a keynote address during Bicentennial Reunion Weekend at Kenyon in 2024 — further discussed her reasons for leaving her post on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and CBS’s “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Then in June, Brink, who served as ambassador to Slovakia earlier in her career, launched a congressional campaign in Michigan, a decision that was covered by major outlets including The New York Times and Politico.
Allison Janney ’82 H’00
Allison Janney isn’t a politician, but she made headlines this year for playing one — again. After becoming a household name as White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg on NBC’s “The West Wing” (1999–2006), Janney returned to political drama in Netflix’s “The Diplomat.” She joined Season 2 as Vice President Grace Penn and appears in the newly released Season 3, where her character is suddenly elevated to president. In a New York Times profile, Janney described reuniting with her West Wing co-star Bradley Whitford — who plays her husband on “The Diplomat” — as “like putting on an old comfortable shirt.” She also generated buzz through an “All Things Considered” interview with co-star Keri Russell, and an intimate conversation with Monica Lewinsky on Reclaiming (in which she name-checked Kenyon). Janney even went viral for her appearance at the Las Culturistas Culture Awards in a bodysuit and blazer, and for being part of a celebrity-packed birthday-bus sing-along to “Closer to Fine.”
Daniela Edmeier ’15
While still a graduate student, Daniela Edmeier co-edited a pioneering new collection of photos, “Picturing Black History: Photographs and Stories that Changed the World.” The book gathers more than 250 photographs from the extensive Getty Images archive along with 35 interpretive essays that explore the sweep of American history through the Black experience. The New York Times Book Review called it a “stunning array of images” that provides “fresh perspective on historical photographs and snapshots of Black life captured across the country.” Edmeier’s introduction was excerpted in Oprah Daily; the book was featured in The Guardian; and it was nominated for Outstanding Literary Work (nonfiction) at the NAACP Image Awards in February.
Nandi Rose Levine ’11
A singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name Half Waif, Nandi Rose Levine received national attention this year for her sixth full-length album, “See You at the Maypole,” which came with a heartbreaking origin story: While working on it, she suffered a miscarriage after a few months of pregnancy. “The album, at its core, is about choosing to look and hope for spring, even when winter feels as though it may never end,” explained a feature in The Washington Post prior to a January concert by Levine. Her recent work — a stripped-down sound compared to her usual electronic pop — also was written up in the Chicago Reader, which highlighted her “vulnerable and turbulent search for understanding through a moment of loss.” Levine, who recently had a baby boy, was listed among “Young Alumni to Watch” in a 2017 Kenyon Alumni Magazine article.
Gabe Schine ’05
When a series of wildfires devastated the greater Los Angeles area earlier this year, an unlikely hero emerged in the form of a free app from the nonprofit organization Watch Duty. Launched in 2021, Watch Duty provides real-time information about fires, including live maps, evacuation information and updates on firefighting efforts. And at the heart of this project is Gabe Schine, a principal engineer at Watch Duty, who originally joined the organization early on as a volunteer. Schine, a software engineer who moonlights as a firefighter and EMT, currently resides in Middlebury, Vermont. He was name-dropped in Wired, and Fast Company named Watch Duty the world’s most innovative nonprofit in 2025.
Tyler Williams ’08
Tyler Williams was appointed in February to serve as counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, where he advises on digital assets and blockchain technology policy. The Global Treasurer noted his background in financial regulation in both the public and private sectors and said “his appointment suggests a more informed and structured approach to cryptocurrency regulation — one that balances compliance with innovation.” At a time when the government is still grappling with how to regulate blockchain technology, and you’re grappling with how to explain it to your parents, Williams is at the nexus of whatever comes next.
Katherine Elkins
A professor of comparative literature and humanities, Katherine Elkins has her feet firmly planted in both the humanities and AI. In 2016, she co-developed a human-centered AI curriculum and co-founded the College’s AI Lab. An early advocate for leveraging AI in the service of humanities and social science research, Elkins was interviewed by Forbes magazine in November about the AI Lab and a liberal arts approach to AI. She also is a principal investigator on a project to develop systems using AI to help rescue endangered archives in small and underrepresented communities; it recently received funding from the nonprofit Schmidt Sciences as part of its Humanities and AI Virtual Institute.
P.F. Kluge ’64 H’20
In September 1972, Life magazine published the article “The Boys in the Bank,” which described “a fouled hold-up that moves step by step from threats to farce to violence,” by P.F. Kluge, now retired Kenyon writer-in-residence, and Thomas Moore. Sidney Lumet’s acclaimed film “Dog Day Afternoon” retold the tale in 1975, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale, reuniting the “Godfather” Corleone brothers. Kluge’s version made news on the movie’s 50th anniversary this year in the Boston Globe and The Wrap. His story is also being retold on Broadway in a play starring Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, as noted in Deadline and the New York Daily News, set to open in March.
Chris Creighton ’91
A Kenyon hall of fame quarterback who now is the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University, Chris Creighton was highlighted twice this year by ESPN. His accomplishments as a player at Kenyon — setting single-season conference records for passing yardage and touchdowns and leading Kenyon to a share of its only North Coast Athletic Conference title in 1989 — got him spotlighted in a ranking of current head coaches based on their own collegiate careers. After leaving Gambier, Creighton also helped a professional Swedish team to a national title as player-coach. He has spent the past 12 seasons leading the Eastern Michigan Eagles and is the program’s only head coach to guide it to multiple bowl appearances. His longevity was noted in an article about the longest-tenured coaches in college, as well.
Abigail Wadsworth Serfass, Ryan E. Smith, Molly Vogel ’00 and Elizabeth Weinstein contributed reporting.