Career Paths: 10 years after SLU

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  4. Career Paths: 10 years after SLU

English majors quickly discover how to translate their passions for writing, reading, and persuasive argumentation into a variety of vocations. As numerous studies have detailed, English majors gain enormous career satisfaction as they move along their career paths.

Our graduates pursue careers that excite them, challenge them, and impact the world in a positive way. English majors change the world.

We find our majors routinely employing their writing skills and powers of critical analysis (close reading is "valuable") in a wide variety of applications: from management to medicine and from the Peace Corps to the performing arts.

Here's just a quick sampling of the variety of vocations curated by some of our English graduates. We’ve highlighted the six most popular professional categories for English majors. 

Note: these are the career paths our alums typically end up in after exploring various career paths. These are the vocations that they have found ten years beyond graduation. To find out more about career options for the first few years after SLU, click the First Jobs tab. 

Noteworthy Alumni:

JOURNALISM

  • Cathy Woodruff '80 -- Reporter (transportation and business beats) for The Times Union, Albany.
  • Julia Carlisle '82 -- Reporter for KTOO-FM, Juneau Public Radio.
  • Andrea de Leon '82 -- Northeast Bureau Chief, National Public Radio.
  • Ron Moss '84 -- Associate Production Director at Time Inc.
  • Christopher Williams '84 -- Reporter for Dow Jones & Co.
  • Joy Ciarcia-Levy '85 -- Producer, ABC News 20/20.
  • Colleen De Baise '92 -- Small Business Editor, The Wall Street Journal.
  • Chris Morris '06 -- News Director, KWBZ, Saranac Lake, New York.

ADVERTISING MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

  • Barbara Goldberg '80 -- Media Specialist (focus on healthcare communications), Chandler Chico Agency.
  • Lauren Podesta Salamone '81 -- Marketing Consultant, eBusinessWriting.com.
  • Jennifer Day '86 -- President, Connect Healthcare Communications, Inc.
  • Samantha Semerad Guerry '88 -- President and CEO, Sightline Marketing.
  • Edward Parham '90 -- Director of Public Relations, Rueckert Advertising & Public Relations LLC.
  • Joe Kerper '00 -- Owner, J. Kerper Group: Visual Media Services.
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  • Rachael '05 -- Associate Director for Running Start, an advocacy group that advises women interested in entering politics.
  • Christopher Peterson '05 -- President, Arroyo Creative.

LAW

  • Susan Schultz Laluk '80 -- Partner at Boylan, Brown, Code, Vigdor & Wilson LLP. Susan practices business and corporate law, with special emphasis on intellectual property, internet law, and employment law.
  • Wade Kennedy '86 -- Partner at McGuire Woods LLP. Wade represents national financial institutions in credit facilities, leveraged finance transactions, and leasing transactions.
  • David Echigian '87 -- Attorney at Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP. David practices in the areas of civil and business litigation, torts, and insurance defense.
  • John Anderson '87 -- Partner, Harter Secrest & Emery LLP. John gives legal counsel to a wide range of business entities, including not-for-profit enterprises.
  • Douglas McGill '88 -- Managing Member, Douglas J. McGill, LLC. Listed on the "Super Lawyers" website.
  • Madeleine Dowling '89 -- Partner at Sidley Austin LLP. Madeleine represents broker-dealers, hedge funds, and investment banks in various compliance, enforcement, and regulatory matters.
  • Kevin Raphael '91 -- Partner at Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP. Kevin works in criminal law, primarily with cases involving white-collar crime.

EDITING AND PUBLISHING

  • Stephen Kirk '82 -- Editorial Assistant at John F. Blair, Publisher (and author of First in Flight: The Wright Brothers in North Carolina).
  • Daniel Conaway '83 -- Editor/British-Rights Manager, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  • Douglas McCollum '84 -- Senior Vice President, Pearson Prentice Hall.
  • David Gray '85 -- President, Gray & Company Publishers.
  • Heidi Kilgras '87 -- Editorial Director, Random House Children's Publishing. Heidi is also the author of several children's books.
  • Lara Bonomo '92 -- Bookings Editor/Director, Teen Vogue magazine. 
  • Jenn Jackson '93 -- Literary Agent, Donald Maas Literary Agency.
  • Genevieve Shaw Brown '99  -- Senior Editor, Travelocity.
  • Janice Brabaw '01 -- Owner, Tangled Up In Blue Productions/PublishingA
  • Alexa Brazilian '03 -- Fashion News Editor, Elle Magazine
  • Nicole Collen '06 -- Associate Editor, Fence literary magazine.

TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES

  • Susan Aasen '80 -- Producer, ABC News Productions.
  • Joe Whelan '84 -- Producer, Live Sports TV at Madison Square Garden.
  • Carolyn Dahm Mulry '86 -- Vice President (New York) for 'Bel Films.
  • Ben Odell '91 -- President, Panamax Films. Ben has also taught screenwriting and production at Columbia University and The New School.
  • Michele Fazekas '93 -- Most recently, writer and consulting producer for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.
  • Pete Matson '01 -- President, Taquet Films.
  • Chris Sepulveda, '03 -- Partner, Logolite Entertainment.

HIGHER EDUCATION

  • Wendy Schweigert '81 -- Associate Professor of Psychology, Bradley University. 
  • Timothy Cahill '82 -- Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Loyola University, New Orleans.
  • William Chaisson '82 -- Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester.
  • Thomas Chiarella '83 -- Associate Professor of Creative Writing, DePauw University.
  • Bill Gillard '88 -- Assistant Professor of English, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley.
  • Joe Allen '88 -- Professor of English, Dutchess Community College.
  • Priscilla Finley '89 -- Humanities Librarian, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
  • Zubeda Jalalzai '91 -- Associate Professor of English, Rhode Island College.

We can only update this list if alumni give us explicit permission to add their name and title. Please send us an update!