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Bill Digneit, director of SISU: The Innovation Institute at Northern Michigan University, received the Culture of Innovation Award from Trend Hunter at the Future Festival World Summit in Toronto. He spoke on stage about the SISU innovation process and was presented with his 3D-printed rocket ship trophy by a NASA representative.

Cooper Graves, a 2017 NMU hospitality management graduate, is the executive chef at Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar in Grand Rapids. He appeared on television Tuesday morning to promote the dining establishment as part of Grand Rapids' Restaurant Week.  

Northern Michigan University 2006 alumna Jenna Nelson will begin her role as Marquette County's first female prosecuting attorney on Monday, Nov. 27. She currently serves as Marquette County's chief assistant prosecuting attorney. She will assume office upon the resignation of current Prosecuting Attorney and NMU alumnus Matt Wiese, who was recently appointed 25th Circuit Court Judge. 

Northern Michigan University will present its 23rd annual Sonderegger Symposium exploring Upper Peninsula topics from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in the Northern Center Ballroom. This year's theme is “Perspectives on 1820 and Beyond.” All sessions will relate to the Beaumier Center's current exhibit, “Claiming Michigan: the 1820 Expedition of Lewis Cass.”

November is Native American Heritage Month, and the Center for Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University has a variety of events planned throughout the month and slightly beyond to celebrate.

Northern Michigan University's Theatre and Dance Department marked its 60th anniversary by hosting an inaugural alumni awards celebration in late October to honor exceptional achievements in the entertainment arts. 

At Monday's university forum, attendees received a budget and facilities update before learning about the priority projects identified within each of the five new administrative pillars. President Brock Tessman led off with an introduction and said a forum each semester is among the planned strategies to enhance transparency and communication on campus.

Northern Michigan University dedicated the new Presque Isle Avenue location of its Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center on Thursday. The university clinic and research facility provides behavior and learning support to children, adolescents and adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and/or traumatic brain injury. The $2 million renovation of the two-story building features new and expanded space to accommodate treatment, observation, workroom and classroom functions.

Northern Michigan University music and secondary education students attended the Regional American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conference for Michigan. The students represented the student chapter of the ACDA on Saturday, Oct. 21, in Mount Pleasant.

Patrick Myers of Lake Linden felt like he was missing out on the fulfilling college experience his friends were having at Northern Michigan University. After high school graduation, they enrolled at NMU and started telling him about the amazing campus environment and the incredible opportunities it offered. Myers was going to college elsewhere, but decided to transfer so he could also be part of Northern. 

Dan Stencil, a 1976 NMU graduate, was recently honored twice in two days for his 43 years of service to Oakland County Parks: first by being inducted into the mParks Hall of Fame in Canton; and then with a plaque dedication at the Oakland County Farmers Market in Waterford.  

As hunters throughout the Midwest gear up for the deer hunting season, new research from the Voyageurs Wolf Project in northern Minnesota—a collaborative team that includes a Northern Michigan University professor and two alumni—sheds light on how humans are having a profound impact on wolf-deer relationships by altering forest ecosystems.

Eighteen students from Northern Michigan University's Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department recently attended the 2023 West Lakes Division of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) meeting hosted by DePaul University in Chicago. Undergraduates Mary Kelly and Eli Williams also presented their research projects.

The Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health is partnering with the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan to offer Seizure Recognition and First Aid Training on Monday, Nov. 13. The training runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Northern Center's Peninsula II room. It's free and open to the public, thanks to funding from the Michigan Pediatric Epilepsy Project, but a reservation is required.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center is showing a virtual presentation of the Historical Society of Michigan's "History Hounds." Historian David Curtis Skaggs will examine decisive victories of the War of 1812 on the Great Lakes. The viewing will occur at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Jamrich Hall 1313. It is free and open to the public.

A book by 1976 NMU alumna Margaret Vainio titled Asahi: The Nordic Health Practice was a finalist in the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in health and wellness. Asahi is a health exercise developed in Finland, which can be done by people of all ages and states of health. The movements are easy to learn are done at slow, peaceful pace in time with the breathing.

Northern Michigan University Alumni Day at the Detroit Red Wings will be celebrated on Saturday, Nov. 4, in Little Caesars Arena. Alumni and friends attending the game can join President Brock Tessman for a pre-game meetup from 4:30-6:45 p.m. in the Heritage Hall at Little Caesars Arena.

A Northern Michigan University associate professor published a scholarly book about British literature of World War II that looks at fictional British diplomats, officials and spies in books and films that respond to wartime Fascism and to the political instability of the postwar years.

A diverse group of Northern Michigan University biology students and professionals from state and federal wildlife agencies recently learned how to safely and ethically tranquilize animals during a three-day professional development course in wildlife chemical immobilization and handling at NMU.

Northern Michigan University's Department of Biology has introduced “Be Well in Weston," a program designed to make it easy to participate in fun physical and mental health activities on campus and promote well-being for faculty, staff and students.