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Tyler Crisp, an NMU sophomore construction management major, is a featured summer intern on the Miron Construction website. He is working with the company on a Mills Fleet Farm store and gas station project. “My favorite part of the internship so far is having the ability to walk around the project site and look at all the different parts of the building that are being constructed,” Crisp said.

NMU alumna Kathryn Davis Messerich (BS ‘79) made a successful transition from nursing to a legal career. As chief judge of Minnesota's first judicial district, she has used her dual training presiding in juvenile court and previously in two drug courts. “The nursing background was incredibly helpful in understanding the scientific and medical issues associated with addiction and mental health,” said Messerich in a "Minnesota Lawyer" feature.

Fueled by a desire to honor his parents, NMU alumnus Ron Sarchian (BS '87) has set seven Guinness World Records and plans to pursue more this summer. The former Wildcat football player punched a heavy bag for 50 hours, nine minutes. He also split 42 watermelons with a karate chop in one minute on the "Today" show.  The industrial technology grad worked seven years for Boeing in Seattle before moving to Southern California to be an actor, stuntman and personal trainer to the stars.

The south wing of the University Center was gutted after a demolition kickoff event last week, launching the first phase of the building's renovation. The book store previously relocated to the Peter White Lounge and West Hall and the North Wind Office to Gries Hall to accommodate reconstruction. The first phase is scheduled for completion in April 2019. Renovations to the Great Lakes wing will begin April 2019 and be completed in August 2019.

NMU engineering design junior Jordan Walker-Jenkins recently competed in Canada's largest yo-yo competition to see how he stacks up against the best "return-top specialists." A resident of Brimley, Walker-Jenkins has retained his Canadian citizenship, which made him eligible to compete in the country's national championship. While he did not advance to the finals, a video of his preliminary round is impressive and supports his contention in a sootoday.com feature that “Modern yo-yo-ing isn’t just like, do walk the dog and then maybe rock the baby on stage.

Recent MFA graduate Amy Smith will guest edit an upcoming edition of "Stirring" literary journal, which revolves around a theme: Hot Mess. The poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction Smith selects for publication will celebrate "fantastical failures that we can’t look away from, moments when steering into the skid is the best decision.

After retiring briefly in January, NMU graduate Linda Opsahl ('87 BSN, '97 MSN) has resumed her longtime role as a family nurse practitioner, taking her talents to UP Health System-Kingsford Family Medicine Clinic. Her nursing career has spanned 45 years, with the last 20 as an NP in the area where she grew up and her parents still reside.

John McNaughton (BA 1999) was recently affirmed as director of the Grand Rapids Public Library. He has 17 years' experience, most recently as director of the Romeo District Library in southeast Michigan, where he helped to create a Teen Services department, re-design the lobby to improve customer services and developed a new strategic plan. McNaughton previously served as director of the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library. He earned an English degree from NMU and his master's in library and information science from Wayne State. 

Chris Standerford, director of the Northern Michigan University Seaborg Center, will take on an additional role in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. He has been named the MiSTEM Network Regional Director for the Central Upper Peninsula. MiSTEM is a statewide educational system that works to improve students’ preparation for an evolving workforce.