Under Greg Toutant's leadership as CEO, Great Lakes Recovery Centers (GLRC) has expanded its scope and reach. In addition to its longtime role in addressing substance abuse, GLRC now provides a wide range of behavioral health treatment and prevention services throughout the Upper Peninsula. Toutant's role in that effort, combined with his active community involvement, have earned him Northern Michigan University's 2020 Alumni Service Award.

Per Utnegaard left his hometown of Oslo, Norway, to attend Northern Michigan University on a Nordic skiing scholarship. His willingness to venture beyond his comfort zone at a young age stoked his fascination with other countries and cultures, and served as a springboard to his successful career as a global transport and logistics executive. It also inspires his solicited advice for current students as a recipient of NMU's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Many college students change academic majors when they realize their first choice is not a good fit. Iron Mountain native Amanda Rosenburg took a handful of electives at Northern Michigan University to explore her Plan B options. It was a child development class offered by the psychology department that ignited her passion. Now Rosenburg works with Google to pioneer new ways to educate children in the digital age, which is especially timely and relevant in the context of COVID-19. The 2007 graduate is NMU's 2020 Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient.

Steve Mariucci enrolled at Northern Michigan University with the goal of becoming a high school teacher and coach, modeling the career of the mentor who had the most influence on him: his dad. The Iron Mountain native did not achieve that objective, only because he bypassed the high school level and catapulted directly to football's collegiate and professional coaching ranks.

Northern Michigan University's Global Campus is hosting an Online and Onward webinar series for two-year college faculty and advising and transfer professionals.