Staff bios
Learn more about the University of Chicago Magazine staff.
Mary Ruth Yoe, Executive Editor
Mary Ruth Yoe became editor of the Magazine in July 1989. With a
B.A. in American studies from Washington College (1973), she earned her
M.Litt. from the University of Edinburgh (1976) for her thesis, "The
Fairy Tale in Post-modern American Fiction." From 1977 on, she has
helped edit alumni magazines for a baker's dozen of institutions, including
Grinnell College and Johns Hopkins University (where she headed the Alumni
Magazine Consortium). She enjoys writing headlines that include lyrics from
her favorite songwriter, and no doubt her epitaph will contain a typo.
Amy Braverman Puma, Editor
Amy Braverman Puma joined the Magazine in June 2002, returning
to her native Chicagoland from Washington, D.C., where she worked as deputy
editor for NationalJournal.com. She earned a master's degree from Northwestern's
Medill School of Journalism in 1999 and a bachelor's degree in journalism
from the University of Illinois in 1998.
Lydialyle Gibson,
Associate Editor
Lydialyle Gibson came to the Magazine in August 2005, after one
year as a magazine and newspaper freelancer and four years as staff writer
for a weekly newspaper, the Chicago Journal. She earned a bachelor’s
degree in 1998 from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism
and a master’s degree in 1999 from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins
University. She contributes features to the Magazine, edits its Investigations
department, and manages the staff interns.
Jason A. Kelly, Associate Editor
Jason A. Kelly joined the Magazine in February 2009 after 14 years as a reporter, columnist, and editor at the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Notre Dame in 1995. At the Magazine he edits the Chicago Journal and College Report sections, and he writes feature stories.
Allen Carroll, Art
Director
Allen Carroll has designed the Magazine on a freelance basis since
1990. By day, he is chief cartographer at National Geographic Maps. A graduate
of Connecticut College, he has worked for the National Geographic Society
since 1983, including positions as art director of the Historical Atlas
of the United States and director of design for the Society's Cartographic
Division. From 1991 to 1995, he was art director of National Geographic
Magazine. Prior to joining the Society, Carroll was a free-lance illustrator
and designer in Washington, DC, serving clients such as the Washington
Post, Smithsonian Institution, the New Republic, and Johns Hopkins
University. He loves birding and canoeing.
Ruth E. Kott, AM’07, Alumni News Editor
Ruthie Kott joined the Magazine as a student assistant in September 2006. When the Alumni News Editor position opened up, she jumped at the chance to stay. Ruthie earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology from Colgate University in 2005 and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago in 2007. She spent the 2005–06 school year teaching English to seventh graders just outside of Boston, where she had the opportunity to develop a serious eye for spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and sentence fragments. Ruthie edits the “back of the book” section, including Alumni News and Deaths.
Elizabeth Chan, Proofreader
Elizabeth Chan joined the Magazine in September 2008. As proofreader, she reads for style and grammar and fact-checks the features and department stories. Previously, she was the books/back-of-book editor at Vox magazine in Columbia, Missouri, and spent summers as an editorial intern at In Style magazine in New York. Elizabeth studied magazine journalism at the University of Missouri and is a member of Kappa Tau Alpha journalism national honor society.
Erick Delgado, Graphic Designer
Erick Delgado helps with all aspects of the Magazine’s graphics and design. He is into amateur caption writing. He’s also a contrarian. No, wait, he isn’t.
Chris Wilczak, Web
Developer
Chris has fifteen years experience in graphic design, printmaking and illustration. He works with both traditional and digital media. He received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he focused on interactive and visual communication.