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Officials at Northern Michigan University announced the appointment of William (Bill) Vajda as the new director of the Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute (UPCI).

Rock and roll will never die. That's what members of Sunstone, a band made up of Marquette natives and former Northern Michigan University students had to say when they recently reunited after 50 years to record and release their original song, “Marquette County Line.” Despite living in different parts of the United States, songwriter Barry Seymour found a way to keep the spirit alive by recording the song remotely.

Members of Marquette's Superior String Alliance will perform at Northern Michigan University on Thursday, April 6. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Recital Hall.

The Northern Michigan University Percussion Ensemble will present its annual winter semester concert under the direction of professor James Strain at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 1. The concert will be held at Reynolds Recital Hall or can be virtually streamed via subscription through the School of Music, Theater and Dance Broadcast Network. 

Four women who graduated from Northern Michigan University and hold leadership positions will participate in a panel discussion to celebrate Women's History Month as part of the next Northern Now digital event hosted by NMU Alumni Relations. They will share how NMU prepared them for their careers, any obstacles they have overcome, and ways they impact the communities in which they live. The event is scheduled at 7 p.m. EST Tuesday, March 28. 

Northern Michigan University's annual Gender Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 31. The event will feature student projects, tables staffed by student and community organizations, and main conversation space in the Northern Center Ballroom I. Sociology assistant professor Heather Mooney will give a presentation titled "A Call for Institutional Courage" at 1:30 p.m. in the Northern Center Founders Room.

The culminating event in the NMU's College of Business' annual new business venture competition for students from all majors featured a trade show and Business After Hours, along with two "Shark Tank"-style competitions. Student Rachel Harvey won the Big Pitch, crowd favorite and best trade show presentation for Superior K9 Aquatic Therapy. 

Standing 75 yards away from two Alaskan brown bears playing in a river, NMU biology graduate teaching assistant Rylee Jensen was able to snap an award-winning photo while she was working at Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park. The picture was entered into the PetaPixel photo competition and won the grand prize: a trip to the Galapagos Islands on the National Geographic Islander II and an OM System camera with two M. Zuiko lenses.

In honor of Women's History Month, Northern Michigan University First Lady Kristin Tessman shares a short list of the historical and contemporary women she most admires, effective qualities possessed by female leaders she has encountered, and her deliberate efforts to demonstrate to her young daughters that they are capable of becoming or achieving anything they desire.

Northern Michigan University's online applied workplace leadership program is one of the best organizational leadership bachelor's degrees in the nation, according to a 2023 listing compiled by OrganizationalLeadershipEdu.org. 

More than 50 Northern Michigan University students—mostly criminal justice majors—are volunteering as role players for active shooter training scenarios being conducted this week by the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team (ES Team) in the former hospital's emergency room. Representatives of all Marquette County law enforcement agencies are participating. One NMU student even came up with an idea for a new scenario that became part of the training.

Beverly Matherne, professor emerita of English at Northern Michigan University, has been selected as the 2023/2024 U.P. Poet Laureate. The former director of NMU's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing and poetry editor of Passages North literary magazine is the author of seven poetry books.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is hosting a live virtual event, “An Evening with Jeannie Thoren,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 30. The Marquette native and NMU alumna has spent the past three decades researching the way women ski and developing specialized equipment for them, earning her a place among Skiing magazine's “Top 25 Most Influential People in Skiing in the last 50 years.” She will share her career experiences, as well as what it was like growing up skiing on Cliff's Ridge (Marquette Mountain). Participants will be able to ask questions during the live stream.

Steve Burns, best known as the original host of the long-running children's television program Blues Clues, will visit Northern Michigan University. He will participate in a moderated Q&A session titled "What Happened to Steve?" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in the Northern Center Grand Ballroom. A meet and greet will follow at 8:15 p.m. 

Northern Michigan University alumna Sharon Valascho is one of six finalists for the Detroit Red Wings Teacher of the Year, a title that comes with a $5,000 classroom grant and a virtual meet and greet with a Red Wings player. The elementary art teacher and avid hockey player earned Red Wings Teacher of the Month in January, and said she is hoping she has what it takes to clinch the overall win.

A company formed by three Northern Michigan University alumni that is focused on keeping space clear of orbital debris has earned its second straight Michigan Best Small Business award. Marquette-based Kall Morris Inc. (KMI) will be among the honorees at the 19th annual Michigan Celebrates Small Business gala on May 2 in East Lansing.

The Central U.P. and Northern Michigan University will host visiting scholar Camden Burd for a free presentation titled "The Nature of the Upper Peninsula: Environment and Identity in the North Country, 1955-1978" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in Harden Hall 126. Snacks and refreshments will be provided during this Evening at the Archives event.

Northern Michigan University is hosting the 2023 U.P. Food Summit from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, March 27th at the Northern Center. The event will celebrate local foods, highlight projects from around the Upper Peninsula and provide networking opportunities. NMU began offering a bachelor's degree in controlled environment agriculture—the first northern climate, indoor growing degree program in the nation—last fall, two years after the successful launch of an associate degree in the field. 

Northern Michigan University student Scott Pendergraft was among 47 recipients of a total $81,000 in scholarship awards presented to those studying to become technicians in the HVACR and water heating industry. The funding is provided by the Clifford H. "Ted" Rees Jr. Scholarship Foundation charitable foundation of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).