NIU Today

I Heart NIU Week is an opportunity for alumni, students, faculty and staff to show their love for the university. Participation can be done in small ways, including watching the spring football game Saturday, sharing an NIU story on Facebook, liking the NIU Alumni Association on Facebook or doing a random act of kindness. Here’s...

NIU alum Olujide Akinbo has been promoted to a full chemistry professorship at Butler University, crediting the extensive hands-on experience and extended family at NIU for his success and adjustment to the American culture. “Coming to NIU gave me a tremendous amount of hands-on experience in the instrumental aspect of the discipline,” the Nigerian native...

Alumni are invited to a closing ceremony Sunday, April 27, for Douglas Hall, which will be demolished this summer to extend Lucinda Avenue for better access to campus. At the ceremony, scrapbooks will be available for alumni and students to record memories and quotes about the 51-year-old residence hall and to add mementos for a...

John McKearn, a prominent NIU alumnus and leader in the prescription drug industry, will speak at the Last Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center. The Last Lecture Series, sponsored by the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, is free and open to the public. It is based...

Three Northern Illinois University alums are among the five winners of the Golden Apple Award this year for making a difference in the community through excellence in teaching. The Golden Apple Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to inspire, develop and support teacher excellence in Illinois, especially in schools of need. The winners are...

During his NIU days, award-winning chef Paul Kahan studied computer science. A career in culinary arts hadn’t crossed his mind. Today, Kahan runs seven Chicago restaurants, including the nationally known Blackbird, avec and the Publican. He won the Outstanding Chef Award from the James Beard Foundation last year and was named Best Chef of the...

Spring weather brings sunshine, scholarships and, oh yes, swinging golf clubs. Online registration is now available for the fourth annual Tee Up Fore Scholarships golf outing, hosted Wednesday, June 11, by NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET) in partnership with Caterpillar Inc. Golfers of all skill levels are encouraged to participate. The event...

After 20 years of directing the NIU Jazz Ensemble and shaping the diversity of the program, School of Music professor Ron Carter will retire this spring. “I will definitely miss the students a lot and the great colleagues I’ve met here,” Carter said. “I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to recruit students from all over the...

Alum Robert Adducci posed the “key question in life” to honors students today, asking them what they would do with the rest of their lives if they never had to worry about money. The students, who had gathered for lunch and some time with Adducci as part of University Honor’s Souper Wednesday program, had some...

Laura Anderko, winner of the 2014 Outstanding Alumnus Award from the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences, will return to campus Friday, April 25, to speak. Anderko will talk at 2 p.m. in Wirtz Hall 103A on “Public Health Issues in a Changing Climate.” Nationally known for her environmental work, Anderko earned her Master...

Northern Illinois University’s Department of Literacy Education will host a Literacy Educators & Leaders Networking Event from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8. This event at NIU-Hoffman Estates, 5555 Trillium Blvd., provides an opportunity for alumni to reconnect with faculty and former classmates. Alumni are encouraged to bring their colleagues to introduce them to the...

Alumna Monica Wallace, a Chicago lawyer, told honors students Wednesday to stay open to new ideas and evaluate their resume and interviewing strategies so they stand out in the crowd. By staying open-minded, Wallace ended up becoming a lawyer. Although she initially wasn’t interested in the profession, she decided to give law school a try...