When Lisa Katzenberger transferred to NIU in 1993, she already knew she was going to be a writer. Her major was easy—journalism, with a minor in English—because she wanted to learn writing in all its forms. It was all she had ever
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Alum shares chief concerns as first responder
When Derek Bergsten, M.P.A. ’07, was pursuing his master’s in public administration at NIU, he learned that communication and collaboration were key to the success of any organization in meeting any challenge. Today, as Chief of the Rockford Fire Department, Bergsten says
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Scott Metlicka joins faculty of School of Music to teach flute
Scott Metlicka, a 1993 graduate of NIU, has returned to his alma mater to join the faculty of the School of Music to teach flute. Metlicka is an accomplished performer and educator with prior teaching experience at NIU. In 2010 he served
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CEET alum on front lines of NIH’s COVID response
Alum Brian Czarnecki ’98, ’00 was featured this month in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) NIH Record newsletter about his work on the front lines in the midst of the biggest headlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Czarnecki is a lieutenant commander for
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Alum Ra’Mon Jones published in Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal
Class of 2020 graduate Ra’Mon Jones was published in the July 2020 issue of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal. His article, “What The Hair: Employment Discrimination Against Black People Based on Hairstyles”, asserts that employment discrimination against Black people based on natural hairstyles
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NIU alumnus to moderate ‘The Black C-Suite: Challenges and Opportunities’ webcast
Produced by the Controllers Council, “The Black C-Suite: Challenges and Opportunities” is a complimentary webcast that will address the gap in representation of African Americans and minorities in the top executive ranks of U.S. corporations. The webcast will feature black executives who will
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Anne Edwards named Director of NIU Center for Black Studies
A familiar face has agreed to lead NIU’s Center for Black Studies. After two years in an interim role, Anne Edwards has been named director of the center on a permanent basis. As interim director, Edwards increased the number of Black alumni
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CLLAS joins ‘Voces of a Pandemic,’ a Latinx oral history project
Looking for individuals and families to share their experiences and struggles related to the pandemic NIU’S Center for Latino and Latin American Studies has partnered with the University of Texas at Austin on an oral history project that preserves the experiences and
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NIU graduate a driving force behind DeKalb’s Black Lives Matter movement
Following the death of George Floyd and the unrest in the country, Vivian Meade woke up one morning in late May and thought, “I need to do something.” A recent graduate of NIU, the 26-year-old quickly became an organizer for the Black
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A new kind of busy
So much has changed in recent months. From shelter-in-place orders to students going to school online, more and more people are working from home and the larger community is practicing social distancing. But for frontline and essential workers like Aldi Store Manager
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Allan Vest comes ‘full circle’ in closing 50-year NIU career back where he began
Allan Vest and Mission During his 1970-71 senior year at Thornridge High School in suburban Dolton, Ill., Allan Vest played on a now-legendary basketball team crowned as state champions in the first of its back-to-back titles. Membership in a club like that offers bragging
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Velchamy Sankarlingam, M.S. ’90, named Zoom’s President of Product and Engineering
Where would the world be in pandemic times without video and online chat services like Zoom? In just a few short months, we have learned to depend on this particular software platform to stay close with coworkers, friends and family, and in
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