NIU Today

Now that scientists have convincing evidence that water helped shape the surface of Mars, Northern Illinois University geography professor Wei Luo is setting out to answer another important question: Just how much water was there? “With more and more observations from satellites orbiting Mars and rovers on its surface, researchers have very convincing evidence pointing...

Applications for the Supportive Professional Staff (SPS) Scholarship Fund are now available. The SPS Scholarship Fund provides scholarship support to children and grandchildren of Supportive Professional Staff employees at NIU. It is intended to provide financial assistance to an SPS dependent while rewarding the talents and achievements of the student. The scholarship has been funded...

Looking to stay busy this summer? Beginning June 17, artists of all ages will be able to hone their talents or learn a new skill at the NIU Community School of the Arts. PRIVATE LESSONS Private lessons will be offered on most musical instruments, as well as in specific areas of theatre and visual art....

Imagine taking classes by video game. You wouldn’t just try to get to the next level or beat the game for the fun of it, you would play to ace a test and pass a class. Researchers are harnessing that motivation to play and win video games to teach new and challenging concepts to learners...

For the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE) in the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET), Senior Design Day is somewhat different than the other departments. Because ISYE students do not typically design products, the focus of the presentations and work is on improving efficiency, optimization or simplifying complex processes or systems....

Northern Illinois University’s Narayan Hosmane, a Board of Trustees professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been elected as a foreign member of the prestigious Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Supporting education and applied scientific research, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences is one of the largest and most distinguished academic groups in Russia. The academy’s...

When the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Foundation announced the quarterfinalists for its Music Educator Award, five alumni of the Northern Illinois University School of Music were on the list: Peter Barsch (MM 2004) Barsch teaches at Oswego East High School, Oswego, Ill. Gordon Krauspe (BM 1982, MM 1992) Krauspe teaches at Wheaton Warrenville South High...

The Mid-American Conference announced that Matthew Streb, the Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) at Northern Illinois University will take over as chair of the MAC Council of Faculty Athletics Representatives, replacing Western Michigan University’s Fred Sitkins. The announcement came following the conclusion of the 2013 MAC Spring Meetings in Cleveland, Ohio. In December, Streb–an associate professor...

NIU’s Department of Physics is preparing to host the final workshop for Fermilab’s world famous DZero experiment. About 70 attendees are expected for the collaboration’s 30th annual workshop, which will be held from Friday, June 7, through Tuesday, June 11. Over the years, the collaboration has involved 82 institutions from 18 countries and hundreds of...

NIU’s Don Tidrick, who serves as the DeLoitte Professor of Accountancy in the NIU College of Business, was selected as one of two recipients of this year’s Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award. Given by by the American Institute of CPAs, the award recognizes full-time college accounting educators distinguished for excellence in teaching and for...

Supporting undocumented student success on college campuses has emerged as a complex issue of increasing importance. This growing population of college students faces unique challenges each day – challenges such as the struggle to fund their education in the absence of federal or state financial aid including work study, the stigma of not having a Social...

An international team of paleontologists that includes Northern Illinois University anthropologist Dan Gebo is announcing the discovery of a nearly complete, articulated skeleton of a new tiny, tree-dwelling primate dating back 55 million years. The Eocene Epoch fossil was recovered from Hubei Province in central China. “This is the oldest primate skeleton of this quality...