NIU Today

A Northern Illinois University instructor and four of his students played a unique role in helping the residents of tornado-devastated Fairdale begin restore their lives. Geomatics instructor Kory Allred and his students, along with other members of the Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association, re-surveyed parcels of land – a critical starting point in rebuilding homes....

NIU undergraduates Suzanne Serrano, Steven Smith and Ricardo Soto are beginning today a two-week summer research program on indigenous Mexican studies in Guadalajara, Mexico. Students will conduct their research at the Archivo de la Real Audiencia, the Spanish empire’s Royal Court Archive, now held in Jalisco’s public library. They will study criminal and civil court...

Education-based nonprofit Econ Illinois, the state’s leading provider of economic education and financial literacy programs for K-12 schools, held the eighth annual American Dream Dinner April 30 at the Union League Club of Chicago. The event welcomed nearly 250 guests and was one of the most successful in the history of the organization. All proceeds...

Students who graduated from NIU with master’s degrees in accountancy this spring have a tough act to follow. Recently released data from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy show that their predecessors in the class of 2014 posted the highest CPA exam pass rate for any graduate-level program in the state. Nearly three-quarters...

NIU students will have the opportunity to test their political acumen on Capitol Hill this summer as part of NIU’s Washington D.C. Congressional Internship program. Four students were selected as interns for Illinois representatives in their D.C. congressional offices, and will live, learn and work in the nation’s capital. Kiranjit Gill, a senior majoring in...

Three NIU students will take on Washington D. C. this summer as part of an innovative internship program sponsored by The Washington Center, the largest academic internship program in the country. Since 1975, more than 50,000 students have benefited from the unique living, working and learning program in the nation’s capital. NIU students Daejzonna Muschamp,...

Helping students pursue their dreams can prove difficult, especially with the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education. NIU’s Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy (ESE Institute) is bringing together environmental educators, especially from two-year colleges, to build a northern Illinois environmental education network. The ESE Institute will host the Regional Summit on...

Heinz Osterle, professor emeritus of German foreign languages and literatures at NIU, died Monday, May 4. He was 82. “Heinz was a well-liked teacher and a special mentor to everybody in German, always very supportive,” said Katharina Barbe, chair of the NIU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. “He and his wife Dale were also...

NIU graduate anthropology student Laurence Anthonie Tumpag was among 24 young Chicagoland Asian-American leaders honored Monday in Chicago. Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger led the celebration at the James R. Thompson Center which was held to coincide with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The program also featured performances by traditional Korean folk music drumming group...

NIU history professor Beatrix Hoffman will use her expertise of the past to inspire the future generation of physicians Saturday, May 16, when she gives the keynote address at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine commencement. “Loyola is one of few medical schools in the country that really emphasizes a physician’s social responsibility,” said Hoffman,...

Jaime Schumacher, the University Libraries’ new director of scholarly communications, will join leaders in the field of digital preservation in Washington, D.C., next month to tackle the complex challenge of preserving email. The Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration will co-host an event to bring together representatives of various federal agencies,...

NIU will award an honorary doctoral degree Friday, May 8, to acclaimed physicist Nigel Lockyer, director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Lockyer will earn his honorary doctorate during the NIU Graduate School commencement ceremony scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. “Fermilab is America’s premier laboratory for particle physics research,” said NIU President Doug...