CMC Library Ledger

I’m Trying to Find an Email of an Alum….

Throughout the year, students come in with a familiar question: “I need to get in touch with an alum but I can’t find their email anywhere. Are there resources that can—?”

Yes!

Northwestern has an Alumni Directory that allows you to message alumni through the platform, or may have their email address if they have chosen to make that public. If the alum’s information is private or they aren’t listed, you can also try PitchBook's People Screener. Still no luck? Identify the pattern of their work email address by searching in Nexis Uni or Hunter. Below are some best practices for using all four resources.

Looking to build a list of alumni working in specific locations, functions, or at a specific company? Check out our Find Contacts guide for the best resources and strategies for that search.

GO-TO RESOURCES

Nexis Uni (Professional Contacts Directories: Locate email addresses and more for select company personnel

How to Search:

If you’ve already identified a potential contact by name and/or company who you’d like to reach out to, the first place you’ll want to begin is Nexis Uni. This database has a professional contacts directory that includes contact information from Zoom, so there is a high likelihood that you can find the email addresses you need here. Start by searching the person’s full name and the company name in the search field (for example, John Smith and Target):

Then, change the All Content Types dropdown menu on the right side of the search field to People, then select Business Leaders:

Click the magnifying glass to search.

 Librarian Tip: If your search doesn’t pull up the contact you are searching for, scroll through the profiles that do come up to see if you can determine what the email convention is for that company, or try just searching the person’s full name without the company, or vice versa. For really large companies like Apple or Amazon, try using the company name plus dot com to narrow the results down.

PitchBook: Find alumni and contact information in the investment and startup space

How to Search:

After clicking into PitchBook, go to the Screener menu on the left, select People, then search for Northwestern under University/Institution and select Kellogg when it pops up in the search suggestions dropdown, as shown below. Layer additional filters (location, industry, etc.) to narrow down your search.

Hunter: Find professional email addresses by searching a domain or company name

How to Search:

After signing up for a free account, enter the URL or email domain name of the company the alum works at into the main search bar. Then run the search:

Alumni Directory: Find alumni contact information and more

How to Search:

After clicking on the Alumni Directory link from our A-Z list and logging in to Our Northwestern, enter the alum’s first and last name (at graduation) into the search bars of the homepage. To select more than one option in a field or to deselect an option, hold down the Command (if using a Mac) or CTRL (if using a PC) key. Use the Advanced Search option at the bottom of the page next to the purple Search button to open up more filtering options.

Important: Register at Our Northwestern to get access to the alumni directory well in advance of your contact search, as it can take a few days to get validated to access the directory.