November 2024

Northern Michigan University has received an Innovation Investment Award of nearly $906,000 from the Michigan Center for Adult College Success to develop competency-based education options that will help adults—regardless of age or career status—obtain postsecondary credentials to secure jobs or advance professionally in a knowledge-based economy.

Northern Michigan University alumna Mary Stolze of Kingsford recently told fellow members of the U.P. Nurses Honor Guard about her experience serving as a field nurse in Vietnam. She recalled working 16- to 18-hour shifts, caring for injured U.S. soldiers as well as the Vietnamese, children and prisoners of war. Shortly after becoming a registered nurse, Stolze joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1968 with a direct commission to go to Vietnam. She later earned her BSN degree from NMU in 1990. Read an Iron Mountain Daily News feature story on Stolze here.

Northern Michigan University 2019 alumnus Ian Altobello is the owner of The Boreal Collective, which was nominated for a MarTech award for the “most innovative creative marketing company” of 2024 within the state of Michigan by Innovation In Business. Altobello earned his bachelor's degree in communication studies, with a minor in marketing.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative teens, are accepting entries from teenagers across the country in grades 7–12 through Dec. 3. The Northern Shores Storywork Writing Project site at Northern Michigan University is serving as the Upper Peninsula affiliate of the awards.

The three executive sponsors of the Our Compass strategic plan grand challenges—supporting our people, partnering with our place, and realizing the potential of all students—outlined initial strategies to address each at Wednesday's university forum. The event also provided updates on facilities projects and the Wildcat Way pedestrian/bike path through campus, along with innovation funding opportunities. In his opening remarks, President Brock Tessman announced an upcoming organizational change.

Northern Michigan University Art and Design Professor Steve Hughes, whose freelance studio has the appropriate moniker Primary Hughes, has received some notable accolades for his boldly colorful acrylic paintings that meld portraiture with graphic elements and patterns. Most recently, he was selected as a monthly winner in the Figure & Portrait category of the 14th Annual PleinAir Salon Art Competition. He will compete for a $15,000 grand prize and a chance to have his work featured on the cover of PleinAir Magazine at a convention and expo in May.

Late last winter, U.S. Army veteran and NMU student Travis Syrja was having major issues with his existing boiler, which proved unfixable. The single father resorted to using small electric heaters in his Negaunee home. That won't be necessary this season. Through the support of area businesses and the efforts of his instructor and fellow second-year students in Northern's HVAC/R program, Syrja's home is now equipped with a new boiler.  

An innovative technology prototype developed by alumni-owned, Marquette-based Kall Morris Inc. (KMI) arrived at the International Space Station for testing earlier this week. The company's REACCH capture and effector uses gecko-inspired adhesion to secure and selectively release space objects of nearly any shape, size or surface condition without causing damage. With this mission, KMI advances its goal of developing a full-scale debris removal spacecraft known as Laelaps. It also reinforces the company's commitment to “keeping space clear for all,” enhancing safety for future space exploration, and advancing in-space servicing and manufacturing.

NMUDoIt, a student theater group established early this year at Northern Michigan University, will present its first full-length production—the musical The Last Five Years—at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 through Saturday, Nov. 16, in the Panowski Black Box Theatre. Tickets are free (donations accepted). Written and composed by Drama Desk winner Jason Robert Brown, The Last Five Years is described as an emotionally powerful and intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their 20s who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.