NMU alumnus Lt. Col. Kip Taylor was paid special tribute during a ceremony honoring those killed during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Taylor died after terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flgiht 77 and flew it into the Pentagon.

To officially launch NMU's Evergreen initiative, the Division of Extended Learning and Community Engagement is hosting a two-day discussion opportunity beginning at noon on September 9 & 10 in Peninsula II in The Northern Center. 

NMU alumna Arwen Hamel traveled the world as a student, and will continue that trend after graduation, with a two-year placement in the Peace Corps in Fiji.

The Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award recognizes an institution's programs and initiatives that significantly advance core values of student and employee mental health and well-being through campus priorities deserving of national recognition.

Northern Michigan University English professor and author Matthew Gavin Frank is the recipient of the 2026-2027 NMU Peter White Scholar Award, which will fund archival research and international travel related to what he considers the most ambitious literary venture of his career. The project will examine persecuted artists, the preservation of works created under oppression and endangered cultural histories.

Northern Michigan University has become an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, which provides a framework for campus communities to work together to conserve native pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites and reducing the use of pesticides.

Northern Michigan University is one of only 237 institutions nationwide selected to receive the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Colleges and universities were invited to apply by submitting documentation describing the nature and extent of their engagement. 

Newly appointed Northern Michigan University President Chris Olsen has clearly been influenced by his dad, Richard (R.D.), professionally and personally. Both men developed an avid interest in history, though they specialized in different eras. Richard gravitated toward the early 20th-century from WWI to WWII, while Chris pursued 19th-century U.S. politics.

Chris Olsen, who has more than 20 years of higher education leadership experience, will become the 19th president of Northern Michigan University, effective Jan. 1. He has served Indiana State University as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs since 2021, and previously as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of History. The NMU Board of Trustees unanimously approved his appointment at a special meeting this afternoon.