Alumni

Past members of the NMU Moosemen rugby football team reunited to celebrate the club's 45th anniversary last weekend. To honor the milestone, they established an NMU Rugby Hall of Fame with the first 14 inductees, donated a scrum sled training apparatus to the program, and honored one of their former teammates who passed away. Both the current Moosemen and the Northstars women also hosted alumni matches at the Wright Street fields.

Northern Michigan University 2022 cosmetology graduate Mikaela Bannon will return to the Miss Michigan pageant for a third time next June after recently being crowned Miss Wayne County. The Canton resident earned $1,075 and other gifts in winning the title and three awards: people's choice; miss congeniality; and best onstage interview.

Northern Michigan University alumnus and attorney Paul Millenbach was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2025 edition in the practice area of mass tort litigation/class actions-defendants. He is a litigator and co-leader of the General and Commercial Litigation Practice Group at Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC in Southfield.

Dr. Sara Sutherland, a 2017 NMU alumna who earned a bachelor's in biology/physiology and a minor in chemistry, has joined the team of emergency medicine physicians at UP Health System – Marquette. The Munising native has come full circle after working at the hospital's information desk and as a "patient sitter" while attending Northern.

Northern Michigan University 1985 marketing alumna Barbara Benda was hired to fill a new position as director of development with the West Michigan Sports Commission (WMSC). She is focused primarily on supporting the $11 million “Winning Streak for West Michigan” expansion campaign for the Meijer Sports Complex, and on overall development work for the WMSC.

NMU 2019 environmental science alumnus Scott Culbert was recently appointed forest ecologist and climate change coordinator with the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota. Covering three million acres, it is the largest national forest east of the Mississippi and includes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

“We all just did something pretty epic in a tiny town.” NMU 2001 alumnus Mike Picotte texted that message to NMU faculty members Dan Zini and Mark Shevy after the conclusion of The Big 3 concert Saturday night in Gwinn. Picotte was referring to the fact that they had successfully produced a high-quality, large-scale concert that would usually require a much larger team and the support of a bigger city's infrastructure. They did it with a crew of six—all with NMU connections—in a town with a population under 1,500.

Northern Michigan University Alumni Relations has announced six recipients of the 2024 Alumni Awards: Ann (Wheeler) Cashin, OD ('69 BA) of Port Washington, Wis. and Patrick Cashin, OD ('66 BA, '69 MAE) of Port Washington, Wis., Distinguished Alumni; Jim Thorburn ('91 BS) of Livonia, Mich., Alumni Achievement; Ryan McAllister, Ph.D. ('10 BS) of Roselle, N.J. and Megan Persons ('12 BS) of Grand Rapids, Mich., Outstanding Young Alumni; and Jim Mansfield ('61 BS, '64 MAE) of Spokane, Wash., Alumni Service – Community.

Northern Michigan University 2015 BSN alumna and former Wildcat swimmer Jordan Iverson is likely to become the first Alaskan to complete the triple crown of open-water swimming. She crossed the English Channel on Tuesday—a swim that is still being certified—and previously completed the other two jewels in the crown: the 20 Bridges Swim in Manhattan; and the Catalina Channel in California.