 | | Matt durno, associate director, donor relations, office of development |
How long have you been at NU?
I’ve worked at Northwestern University for nearly four years, entirely in the Office of Development. Where are you from?
I’m Canadian, born in Toronto. In 2002, at the age of 28, I moved to Boston with my Chicagoan fiancée (we met in 2000 at a wedding in Indiana). We moved to Manhattan after Boston, and then to Chicago in 2005. I became an American citizen in September 2008 in a courtroom full of people who had traveled considerably further, in every sense, than my 500 mile drive west. What’s your educational background?
I majored in psychology with minors in English and philosophy at the University of Toronto; I graduated with an honors Bachelor of Arts degree. Before that I graduated from high school, but I can’t recall much of the educational aspect. What is your role at the department?
In the broadest sense, I’m a writer. I arrange letters and words in a meaningful way. Breaking that down, I try to communicate progress made possible by philanthropy — research advances, education initiatives, and community engagement efforts that are supported by private contributions. So many people want to improve our collective capacity to care for each other — our office works daily to convince people that supporting Northwestern University is the best way to make that happen sooner. We advocate on behalf of Northwestern’s leadership, faculty and programs because we believe the best chance for improving the world’s health is by supporting the people we work alongside here at Northwestern. What’s a typical day like for you?
The only thing typical about my days is the physical location of my office; if a day repeats itself beyond that I’ll be shocked. I’m fortunate to work with an office full of dedicated people who raise funds for the medical school’s priorities. Every day is an education (often a humbling one). I write about the importance of scholarships to students in the morning and about the genetics involved with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the afternoon. Most days are rewarding; I’d be lying if I said some days weren’t confounding. Why did you choose to work here?
Our culture encourages people, whenever possible, to work for more than 40 hours a week, which is a good chunk of my waking life. It’s better to spend that time increasing people’s happiness and/or decreasing their suffering. My only talent is writing, so this gig made the most sense. What do you like/dislike about your job?
The glass ceiling of a medical doctorate stands between me and the chance to perform surgery (legally) — this gets me down at times. But the same glass ceiling keeps me from ever closely examining an eyeball or a fungal infection, something for which I will always be grateful. What are your hobbies or favorite books, movies?
I play guitar, sing, write songs, record them and still think people need to hear them. Ghostbusters contains the only secrets to life anyone really needs to know (movie or screenplay): there’s more to this all than anyone can know, the world’s full of people who will tell you what you can’t do and all that matters in the end is that you keep trying (even if your girlfriend helps summon giant possessed marshmallows to take you down). What do you like do to in your free time?
Listen to my wife laugh and marvel at the fact that she still uses a timer when boiling pasta “because the recipe says seven minutes.”
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