All News Releases

Northern Michigan University graduating senior Hannah Smith of Waukesha, Wis., will be the student speaker at NMU's April 30 commencement. She will earn a bachelor's degree in multimedia journalism with a double minor in public relations and photography. Marquette native Andrew Vanwelsenaers will be the student soloist and receive a bachelor's degree in music. The baritone will lead the singing of the national anthem at the ceremony.

Northern Michigan University's Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter will be hosting its fourth annual Marquette Coffee Crawl on Saturday, April 23. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the Marquette Women's Center in support of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). 

Northern Michigan University alumnus Steven Snowaert has retired from the Ishpeming Police Department after a 39-year law enforcement career that began with NMU Public Safety. He also taught NMU criminal justice courses as an adjunct instructor. Snowaert had previously retired from the Marquette Police Department, where he spent 26 years in different capacities, before he was appointed as Ishpeming police chief in 2017.

Northern Michigan University 2008 alumnus Christopher Germain is the new CEO of the Lake Superior Community Partnership, an economic development organization based in Marquette. He will begin his new role in June. Germain graduated with a bachelor's degree in public administration and a minor in speech communication.

Several Northern Michigan University student organizations are collaborating on a full slate of activities to mark the eighth annual Anderton's Earth Week. The April 18-23 event honors the memory of John Anderton, a former geography professor and department head who passed away unexpectedly in March 2014. It includes an Earth Week Fair presented by the participating groups from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in the first-floor atrium of Jamrich Hall.

Recent college graduates have the opportunity to work as college advisers to high school students through the AdviseMI program. Benefits include a living stipend anticipated to be $30,000 for 2022-23, education award of $6,495 per year to repay student loans or finance further studies, healthcare coverage, professional development and networking opportunities and extensive training in college access. No prior experience is needed. 

Northern Michigan University Student Max Steele presented at the Association for Private Enterprise Education (APEE) Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., in its undergraduate research competition.

Northern Michigan University will host Apparitions of the Non-Alien, Photography: Ghost Pictures of WWII Incarceration, a lecture hosted by Vincent Schleitwiler about photography related to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. This event is free to attend and open to the public. It will begin at 6 p.m., on April 20, in Mead Auditorium or online. 

Northern Michigan University diverted a total of 655 pounds of waste from the landfill through its participation in The RightCycle program in 2021. The program began in fall 2020 after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic sent a plethora of PPE waste to landfills. 

Northern Michigan University chemistry students recently gave presentations at both the national American Chemistry Society (ACS) conference in San Diego, Calif., and at the American Chemistry Society Annual Upper Peninsula Research Symposium held at NMU. 

The Northern Michigan University Orchestra will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in Reynolds Recital Hall. The concert features guest artist Craig Randal Johnson performing the “Piano Concerto in A Minor” by Edvard Grieg. This event is free and open to the public. 

Northern Michigan University celebrates forty students who received an Excellence in Education Research Award. This award includes $1,500 and a one-credit tuition scholarship when the students enroll in a grant-required course that is directly related to their research project. 

Northern Michigan University will host the annual New Business Venture Competition, an event that includes a trade show, a business after hours event as well as “Shark Tank” pitch competitions: the Mini Pitch and the Big Pitch. The New Business Venture Competition begins at 2 p.m. on April 21, at Forest Roberts Theatre. 

Northern Michigan University will host a NMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 10 at Reynolds Recital Hall. Admission is free. 

The Northern Michigan University Celebration of Student Scholarship will be held on April 14 on the NMU campus and online. The annual event recognizes the academic contributions of undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines. Students share their work with the NMU and Marquette communities by presenting research posters, recording oral presentations, and submitting creative written work, and artwork. 

Northern Michigan University alumnus Nick VanCourt is one of six inaugural winners of the Traverse Magazine Tastemakers of the Year Awards, which celebrate “six innovators who are changing the food and beverage conversation in northern Michigan.” The 2004 media production and new technology graduate is brewer and superior saisonnier at Barrel + Beam Brewery in Marquette, which he co-owns with his wife and 2003 NMU speech communication alumna, Marina Dupler.

Northern Michigan University alumnus and former Wildcat football player Jim Mansfield has found retirement fulfillment in his role as a volunteer blood courier in Spokane, Wash. The 84-year-old loves to drive and it shows. Mansfield has logged more than 256,000 road miles delivering life-saving blood to rural hospitals over two decades of volunteer service.

Northern Michigan University social work students recently had a rare opportunity to participate alongside faculty members and community clinicians in a full-day Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) training on campus. One of the students used her AMSR handbook earlier this week to identify the level of risk for one of her teenage clients at her field placement location.

Northern Michigan University undergraduate students are participating in cutting-edge chemistry research with Professor Yu "Leo" Liu, who is among 14 faculty members nationwide recently awarded two-year summer research grants from Organic Synthesis Inc. His project advances “green chemistry” by eliminating the use of metal-based catalysts. Instead of organic solvents, it carries the catalytic reactions in a more environmentally friendly solvent: water.

Marcus Robyns began his collegiate studies as a secondary education social studies major at the University of Oregon, yet he felt a personal sense of dissonance while pursuing that field. While organizing an undergraduate history club, he discovered there was a university archive and arranged a tour. When the archivist showed him a menagerie of old artifacts representative of the school's history, he said, “You work with all this stuff? Are there jobs in this field?”