Beth Furtwangler, publisher

A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., Beth graduated from George Washington University in 2008. She's completed eight internships, including stints with USA Today, NPR, and the Washington Bureau of Cox Newspapers, and aspires to be a professional intern after graduating from Medill. If that doesn't work out, she'll settle with being an editor at People magazine or hosting the Today show. Beth lives in Evanston and embraces life in the 'burbs, although she has yet to adjust to the Central Time Zone and still doesn't understand why Old Orchard Mall is outside.

Lauren Hansen, editor-in-chief

Hailing from Orange, Conn., Lauren graduated from Kenyon College in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in English. She wasted little time moving to New York City, where she jumped into book publishing and ultimately settled at Phaidon Press. But Lauren still thirsted for the written word and moved to Chicago to pursue a graduate degree in journalism. After Medill, she would love to explore urban spaces and report her findings through text, videos, and photos. Her favorite Chicago spot is the Backstory Café on 61st Street and Blackstone Avenue, especially around 3 p.m. (also known as "cookie o'clock").

Ellen Thompson, articles editor

Ellen was raised in America’s first suburb—the picturesque Levittown, N.Y.—on Pepsi, frozen dinners, Charles in Charge, and classic rock. Before Medill, she attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, covered crime and education for a Queens, N.Y., weekly, and served as managing editor for its sister publication in Long Island. Now that Ellen’s sharpened her magazine skills, she’d like to edit at any bitchin’ culture/arts/music magazine that’ll give her a desk near the water cooler. Her best Chicago moment was when she figured out the three-man, ball, and cup scheme on the Red Line.

Hilary Gowins, projects editor

Hilary was born and raised in Delaware, Ohio, and graduated from Kenyon College in 2008 with a degree in English. She wrote for her college newspaper, and interned with her hometown paper and About.com in New York City before ending up at Medill…where she still hasn't figured out what's next. A creative genius, Hilary ultimately aspires to write a few best-selling novels, but in the meantime plans to float around Chicago, working and gathering fodder for her stories. She didn't know there was such a thing as a "Chicago-style hotdog" until she'd been living here for six months.

John Miley, departments editor

Born in Brockton, Mass., John grew up in nearby Hanson. He graduated from Bates College in 2008, where he wrote for the school newspaper’s opinion section and competed as a decathlete on the track team. During the summers he worked as a camp counselor at a local YMCA. After Medill, he plans to hone his writing voice and publish pieces that examine today’s world while challenging himself with great literature. Eventually he hopes to teach and coach too. John’s been buried in record-setting Maine snowfalls but was still upset at how cold the Chicago winter was.

Daniella Grossman, copy chief

Daniella hails from Vienna, Va., and graduated from William & Mary in 2006, where she interned for the college’s alumni magazine. On her long, winding path towards magazine innovation, she made a pit stop in New York, spending two years working at an elementary school before she landed in Chicago. After Medill, she plans to work abroad and eventually return to New York with lofty aspirations of senior editorship somewhere super happening. Her favorite Chicago spot is a Dollop, a coffee shop on the North Side where she has spent many an hour on the Internet for free.

Justin Cox, art editor

Justin is originally from Northern California and graduated from California State University Monterey Bay in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. After college he went on to work as a staff writer for a small-town weekly newspaper before applying to Medill and moving to the Midwest. Justin doesn’t know what he’d like to do once he graduates from journalism school, but he expects it will have something to do with sports, and it'll probably take place on the Internet. He currently lives at Elaine Place, the shortest street in the city of Chicago.

Matt Marquez, managing editor

Matt was born in California, grew up in Hawaii, and attended Stanford University until graduating in 2005. Later jobs in Japan and New York sharpened his English-teaching and advertising-research skills, but sadly, they did not adequately prepare him to identify local pizza-making cults in Chicago. For several months after moving to the city, Matt thought that Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria was a secret sect of dough-slinging Italians straight out of a Dan Brown novel (just say “Lou Malnati’s” five times fast if you don’t believe it). After graduate school, he hopes for a paying job.

Sheila Dichoso, production editor

Ashley Hopkins, design director, print

Born in Florida and raised in Virginia, Ashley graduated from James Madison University, where she studied media arts and design. Before coming to Medill she worked for a search engine optimization company as a social media specialist. After school, Ashley hopes to write and design for a national newspaper or magazine. When she first moved to the Windy City, she was surprised by how friendly everyone was and continues to be reminded every day. Her favorite Chicago eatery is Garcia’s Restaurant, which is known for its cheap and hefty burritos, up in Rogers Park.

Liz Hoffman, web designer

Born in Harrisburg, Penn., and raised in nearby Hershey ("the sweetest place on Earth!"), Liz earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University. She made her journalism debut as a sportswriter for her college daily, though soon learned that there isn't actually a market for Division III college field hockey writers. Plan B was an internship at the Patriot Ledger, a Boston-area daily, then graduate school. After Medill, she hopes to find work as either a web producer or reporter for...what do you call them again...oh yes, newspapers. Liz pretty much knows everything there is to know about BYOB in Chicago.

Hannah Kokjohn, web designer

Longing to find a place where a man was still a man even if he didn't love guns, trucks, and football, Hannah left her hometown of Dallas, Texas, to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of Oklahoma. Epic failure. Thus Hannah and her MacBook traveled up the Mighty Mississippi to Northwestern University for graduate school. She fell in love with new media at Medill, where she’s studying interactive journalism. Following graduation, Hannah has lofty dreams of unpaid internships at a newspaper or magazine, working with programming, databases, Flash, and web design.

Chris Kelly, web designer

Hailing from Manassas, Va., Chris, a University of Virginia graduate, is an experienced web producer and editor. Before graduate school, he worked for several magazines in the Washington D.C. area, including The American Scholar and Chemical & Engineering News. Once his time at Medill is up, he hopes to work as a web designer or developer for a publication that understands what’s possible online. He would like to remain in Chicago after graduation, but hopes the city learns how to shoot fireworks high enough on the Fourth of July so that they can be seen from any rooftop.

Amanda Hughes, chief financial officer

Amanda was born in Los Angeles but eventually escaped to Berkeley, where she graduated from the University of California in 2007. She apprenticed at the university's folklore archives and collected a veritable treasure trove of stories, dirty jokes and drinking songs from people all over the Bay Area. She also worked as a museum docent at Oakland's Chabot Space and Science Center. After Medill, Amanda hopes to cover environmental and animal rights issues. She doesn't know for whom, but then again, she also doesn't know why "Italian beef" is its own genre of restaurant in Chicago.

Kate Gardiner, brand extension

A Midwestern native, Kate swore she'd never move back to Chicago after college. Then the economy collapsed and her tiny Hawaiian newspaper died. Since July, she's been freelancing for local newspapers and Web sites while attending Medill, hoping against all hope she'll find her mecca: a full-time reporting gig. When she's not fussing with the Internet, Kate is tweeting about social media and the state of American journalism—occasionally from horseback at her parents' farm in Wisconsin. She loves more about living in Chicago than she'd ever expected—except, of course, the people who interrupt her lakeshore biking commute.

Sid Vaidyanathan, marketing director

Five years ago, Siddhartha left Mechanical Engineering behind for the attractions of traveling the world and covering sports. He wrote for the world's largest single-sport website and spent most of his time in remote corners of the world, following the Indian cricket team. After graduating he wants to work as a financial reporter. In the future, he hopes to use his entrepreneurial skills to start a media company.