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Harger Boal, coordinator of Disability Services at Northern Michigan University, earned a Director's Challenge Coin from the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency for his service to veterans at NMU in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. MVAA Partnership Coordinator Ryan Engle recently visited campus to present the coin.

Northern Michigan University English Professor Robert Whalen has been awarded a $300,000 Scholarly Editions and Translations Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The funding will support George Herbert: Complete Works, now under contract with Oxford University Press, the world's leading publisher of scholarly editions. This is the project's fourth NEH award.

Northern Michigan University alumnus James Winkler Jr. of Allendale was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Athletic Trainer Board. He holds a bachelor's degree in health and fitness management (1998) and a master's in exercise science (2000) from NMU. Winkler is a senior staff athletic trainer at Grand Valley State University.

Effective today (Aug. 24), Northern Michigan University has revised its mask protocol so that all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must wear masks when indoors at all campus facilities. President Fritz Erickson said the change aligns with CDC recommendations for areas with "substantial" COVID levels. Marquette County's classification recently shifted from moderate to substantial.

When 5-year-old Millie Gauthier fulfilled her wish of setting up a lemonade stand at her grandparents' summer home in Marquette, not far from campus at the corner of Spruce and Albert Streets, two NMU football players were among her first customers. The Wildcats not only paid generously for the lemonade, which was available by donation; they also texted their teammates. More than a dozen players showed up, helping young Millie earn a whopping $117 in the one-hour window her stand was open.  

Former NMU student C. William “Bill” Hager was announced as the 2021 U.P. Veteran of the Year during an Aug. 19 ceremony at the U.P. State Fair. The National Mine resident served more than 20 years in the military, including two tours in Vietnam. He attended Northern before and after serving with the U.S. Navy from 1963-67, and was president of the NMU Vets Club. 

Northern Michigan University's DeVos Art Museum has two ongoing exhibitions: “Personal to Political,” which is open for viewing through Oct. 31; and “Regional Perspectives by Women Artists,” which will be on display through 2022. The museum will also host “Cynthia Cote STILL: an Installation of Drawings and Objects” Monday, Oct. 4-Saturday, Dec.11.

Northern Michigan University President Fritz Erickson used his fall convocation to update the campus community with status reports on the new focus areas, outcomes and post-pandemic priority initiatives added to the NMU strategic plan during a revision earlier this year.

The Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health has received a $194,421 grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to explore the feasibility of an aggregation, distribution and light food processing facility serving Marquette and Alger Counties.

The Two Books, Two Communities program, a partnership between Northern Michigan University and the Marquette and Alger County communities, has announced its 2021 community reads and associated fall events schedule. The titles are Fried Walleye and Cherry Pie, edited by Peggy Wolff, and 2021 Michigan Notable Book Award Winner Teacher/Pizza Guy, a collection of poems by Jeff Kass.   

A new teaching certificate partnership between Northern Michigan University and Bay Mills Community College will begin this fall. It is designed to prepare K-12 teachers of Anishinaabemowin language and culture. The Michigan Department of Education granted the program initial approval through June 30, 2026.

Prior to enrolling in Northern Michigan University's MFA in creative writing program, Roz Roseboro was a Heavy Reading analyst who spent more than two decades covering the telecom market. She continues to share her qualified insight and business writing skills via Light Reading columns, including one on July's Microsoft-AT&T cloud deal. In the creative realm, her essay titled “The Heaviness of Hair” is a finalist for Solstice magazine's Michael Sternberg Award for nonfiction.

Northern Michigan University will inject some added fun into Welcome Weekend activities to kick off the new academic year. A rented 60-foot tall classic ferris wheel will be set up between Jamrich Hall and C.B. Hedgcock, offering free rides to students and employees and their families, as well as the general public. The ferris wheel will operate from 3-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 20 and 21.

NMU alumnus Josh Scutt ('94 BS) has been promoted to senior vice president of sales with Paylocity Holding Corp., a leading provider of cloud-based HR and payroll software solutions. He was previously featured as a "Top 100 Global Sales Leader of 2020" by The Modern Sale.

Northern Michigan University Biology Professor Neil Cumberlidge was among researchers who participated in a Sierra Leone expedition that led to the rediscovery of two land-dwelling, rainbow-hued crabs “lost to science” for many years. The work was supported by a grant from Re:wild, a conservation organization supported by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, which funded the trip in search of one of the “25 Most Wanted” species that are on the edge of extinction.

Four Northern Michigan University dance students recently completed a faculty-led trip to the performing arts mecca of New York City. Many shows are still shuttered by the pandemic, but the group was able to watch the closing performance of American Ballet Theatre's Across America Tour, held outdoors at Rockefeller Center. They also took several classes at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway, and joined NMU Theatre and Dance alumni for a gathering in Central Park.

Northern Michigan University's new Sustainability Hub for Innovation and the Environment (SHINE) launched this week at an event announcing its partnership with Grand Rapids-based nonprofit People First Economy. With NMU student involvement, the two entities will deploy technical assistance and sustainability expertise to a cohort of Marquette-area businesses.

NMU's Sustainability Hub for Innovation and the Environment (SHINE) complements the College of Business' new bachelor's degree program in sustainable business enterprise. Professor and SHINE Interim Director Jes Thompson calls it a “Swiss army knife” academic major because of its broad, interdisciplinary approach.

Helen Maroulis, who trained at what is now the NMU National Training Site won Olympic bronze with ease, defeating Mongolia's Khongorzul Boldsaikhan in the womens freestyle 57kg wrestling event, 11-0. The 2016 gold medalist said competing in another Summer Games was "a gift" after enduring injury and personality-altering brain trauma. 

Northern Michigan University is revising its mask protocol for the start of the fall semester because of the higher transmissibility of COVID's Delta variant and rising caseloads nationwide. Whether vaccinated or not, all individuals will be required to wear masks in common areas during residence hall move-in activities Aug. 19-23, and in classrooms and labs effective with the first day of classes Aug. 23.