NIU Today

It might take a village to raise a child, but for hundreds of young girls in rural Kenya, it also takes the commitment of two NIU professors who this year are honored as the 2016 Presidential Engagement Professors. Teresa Wasonga and Andrew Otieno are a husband-and-wife team whose accomplishments include building and supporting a school...

NIU President Doug Baker invites the entire university community to join him in congratulating the newly named Board of Trustees Professor, Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professors, Presidential Teaching Professor, Presidential Engagement Professor and the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Instruction Award winners. A reception in their honor begins at 3 p.m. today in the...

“Education should be a right, not a privilege.” Members of NIU’s Northern Lights Ambassadors and Zeta Sigma Chi agree with this statement – and, to demonstrate their commitment, are collecting donations and raising money for an all-girl boarding school in Kenya. A pair of NIU professors – Teresa Wasonga (College of Education) and her husband,...

Diana Swanson likes to build communities. Accordingly, the NIU professor is working locally and globally to find ways to help two very different populations, both in need. The first population isn’t comprised of people, but rather insects. Millions of monarch butterflies need habitat to make the journey back and forth between Mexico and Canada every...

NIU School of Music professor and guitarist extraordinaire Fareed Haque and NIU School of Music graduate student and Afro-pop musician Mathew Tembo will perform a benefit concert for the Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls in rural Kenya. The concert takes place from noon to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 21, at the House Café, 263...

“African Democracy and Socio-Economic Development through Sustainable Engineering” is the theme of a Study Abroad trip, scheduled from June 15 to June 30. This program will give students a first-hand experience of the economic, social and environmental challenges faced by people in Sierra Leone. Participants will be given an alternative perspective on poverty and race...

What do a mountain, a nonprofit organization and the Division of Public Administration at NIU all have in common? Kurt Thurmaier. The director of the division in the NIU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is planning to climb Africa’s highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, in June. Tanzania Development Support (TDS), a nonprofit organization co-founded by Thurmaier...

As with many associate professors, Teresa Wasonga in the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations in the College of Education leads a busy professional life, with a full slate of teaching, research and service commitments. During the spring and summer of 2011, she traveled to her native country of Kenya to conduct research for...

Instead of skiing or sledding down snow-covered slopes, or lounging near swimming pools in warmer climes, a half-dozen NIU students who are members of the organization Engineers Without Borders will spend their holiday break in Nyegina, Tanzania. NIU’s students will get their hands dirty at the Nyegina Secondary School, rebuilding the oven used to cook...

For the first time ever, the College of Engineering & Engineering Technology houses the top student organization of the year at NIU: Engineers Without Borders (EWB). EWB was recognized for its outstanding service, leadership and performance throughout the 2010-2011 school year. NIU’s Student Involvement & Leadership Development presented EWB with this award May 1 at its annual...

For most people, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro would be the highlight of their summer, or maybe even their life. For NIU engineering student Alan Hurt, it is just a start. Just hours after completing his last final exam of the semester, Hurt boarded a plane bound for Africa, carrying only a single rucksack containing a few...

Engineering students from NIU have rolled out their design for a simple vehicle designed to improve the lives of people in some of the most remote and rugged areas of the world. The vehicle was unveiled April 16 at the 11th Annual Basic Utility Vehicle Competition, hosted by the Institute for Affordable Transportation in Indianapolis....