NIU Today

Emily Auerbach, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will deliver an address at NIU at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 2, in the Cavan Auditorium of Gabel Hall. Her speech, titled “The Power of Literature to Change Lives: The UW Odyssey Project,” will highlight some Auerbach’s experiences in the UW-Madison’s Odyssey program. The event is...

When more than 20 institutions from across the state came to campus March 4 and 5 for the Illinois Intercollegiate Forensic Association Tournament, the competition served as an NIU homecoming for nine of those school’s forensic coaches. Judy Santacaterina, director of individual events at NIU, was excited to have her former students make a return to campus...

About two dozen high school students from across the region visited Northern Illinois University this week for a history lesson — and we’re talking ancient history, as in the birth of the universe. The students learned how high powered particle accelerators replicate particle collisions that happened in the micro-moments after the Big Bang. NIU physicists...

In 2006, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the “Let Them Rest in Peace Act,” which prevents the disruption of funerals or memorial services with disorderly conduct. Now, with the help of 17 NIU students and one class project, House Bill 180 might undergo an amendment change. The amendment was created as a final project...

Volunteer judges are needed Saturday, March 12, when NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences External Programming hosts the 2011 Region V IJAS Science Fair. Judges start their day at 8:15 a.m. The judging of projects will take several hours, and each volunteer judge is eligible to receive a free boxed lunch. The science fair is an educational...

The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences External Programming will host the 2011 Northern Illinois Regional History Fair Saturday, Feb. 26, in the Holmes Student Center. The history fair provides a venue for junior high and high school students to test their merits as scholars while exploring local history. Volunteers are needed to judge the students’...

The video created by Justin Brenneman isn’t the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is sliced bread, with a creative twist. The NIU communication major from Naperville is a finalist in a video contest sponsored by the Youngstown, Ohio-based Schwebel Baking Company, more commonly known as Schwebel’s. As part of a course last fall teaching...

A team of NIU scientists, with a major role played by NIU Ph.D. students, has discovered a new, convenient and inexpensive way to make high performance hydrogen sensors using palladium nanowires. The technology could help enable a scale-up for potential industrial applications, such as safety monitors in future hydrogen-powered vehicles. Highly flammable hydrogen gas cannot...

Halbert E. Gulley, chair of the Department of Speech, Speech Correction and Theater at NIU from 1970 until his retirement in 1979, died Wednesday, Jan. 5, at Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center. He was 91. The gifted orator and author of seven books was born Nov. 21, 1919, in Sesser, Ill. He earned a Bachelor of Education...

If you had a time machine, you might go back and make smarter decisions to improve your financial future. We’re not talking about picking winning lottery numbers or inventing Facebook before Mark Zuckerberg, but about everyday decisions that would safeguard you against recession — spending responsibly, understanding the stock market, avoiding credit traps and foreclosures....

On the heels of a record-breaking 2010 Northern Illinois football season on the field, a record-tying five Northern Illinois football student-athletes have been named to the Mid-American Conference’s Academic All-MAC football squad as selected by the league’s faculty representatives. Northern Illinois and Western Michigan led all MAC schools with five selections each to the 29-man...

Michael C. Morris, a passionate teacher in NIU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, died Sunday, Dec. 12, after a long battle with colorectal cancer. He was 49. Morris, who joined the NIU faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, earned his bachelor’s degree from Rockford College before receiving his master’s...