Alumni

As part of a 40th anniversary NMU men's rugby reunion, former and current players joined in honoring an alumnus who is confronting ALS.

NMU alumna and freelance food and drink writer Layla Khoury-Hanold ('04 BS) focuses on Marquette in a piece for the Chicago Tribune. She writes that the outdoor splendor, recreational activities and vibrant downtown have turned the city into a "bona fide tourist destination," as reflected by a new crop of food and beverage producers, several of whom are NMU alumni. Read her flattering story here.

NMU alumnus Mark Ruoff ('97 BA) is featured in a media story on a German restaurant, Mountain Brauhaus, which three generations of his family have owned and operated since 1955 in Gardiner, N.Y.

NMU alumnus Matt Nord ('07 BS) is the new manager of commercial lending at Embers Credit Union, which is based in Marquette and has five U.P. locations.

Tickets are available for Northern Michigan University's alumni awards brunch, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, in the Northern Center. The five NMU alumni who will be honored over Homecoming weekend and their awards are: Joseph Evans of Marquette ('81 BS, '83 MA) and Kristine Poole of Santa Fe, N.M. ('92 BFA), Distinguished Alumni; Tom Fish of Wilmington, N.C. ('69 BS), Alumni Achievement; Jon Mommaerts of Marquette ('91 BS), Alumni Service; and Nicole Weber of Washington, D.C. ('09 BA), Outstanding Young Alumni.

Northern Michigan University's School of Nursing invites alumni of all of its programs to attend a 50th anniversary celebration that will coincide with NMU's Homecoming weekend Sept. 20-21. Advance registration is requested by Sunday, Sept. 15, at nmu.edu/nursing/50. 

First Judicial District Chief Judge Kathryn Davis Messerich ('79 BSN) of Hastings, Minn., received a 2019 Trial Judge of the Year Award from the American Board of Trial Advocates at its recent annual meeting.

NMU alumnus Mat Fraser ('12) was crowned "Fittest Man on Earth" Aug. 4 after winning his fourth-straight CrossFit Games title in Madison, Wis. The former U.S. Olympic Education Center weightlifter also tied the record for most consecutive wins. 

NMU alumnus Richard Anderson ('78 MA) participated in a panel discussion titled “Rural Renewal: How Small Towns in the Heartland are Making a Comeback” at the Aspen Ideas Festival in late June. He is co-founder and COO of the family-owned Iron Fish Distillery, established in 2016 on an abandoned farmstead in Thompsonville, Mich.

NMU alumnus Fred Stonehouse will receive the 2019 Charles Follo Award from the Historical Society of Michigan during its 70th annual U.P. History Conference June 28-30 in Escanaba. The award is presented to the individual who has made "the most outstanding contribution to the preservation and promotion of Upper Peninsula history."