Around NMU

Northern Michigan University President Brock Tessman and his wife, Kristin, have personally experienced the life-changing benefits of student high-impact practices such as study abroad and undergraduate research. They have also watched talented students miss out on such opportunities for financial reasons. The couple made a $50,000 gift to the NMU Foundation to establish a Student High-Impact Practices Fund, which will support mini-grants for faculty to design experiential learning opportunities including internships, research, capstone projects and fieldwork experiences. The fund will also help to alleviate expenses associated with engaging in such experiences for individual students facing financial hardship.

Northern Michigan University Theatre and Dance will host its Wildcat Performing Arts Academy Summer Dance Intensive for high school intermediate- to advanced-level dancers July 13-27. Participants will attend sessions led by prominent industry professionals from Giordano Dance Chicago, Ballet Project OC of California, a former Broadway touring company member and others. They will also perform alongside the two visiting ensembles and NMU CO/LAB Dance Company during the North Coast Dance Festival, which consists of a masterclass and two public performances.  

Northern Michigan University's Forest Roberts Theatre and Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tenn., have launched a new partnership that unites their two esteemed playwriting competitions into one “dynamic opportunity” for playwrights nationwide. The collaboration expands their commitment to fostering new voices and bringing original works to life on multiple stages. Marquette native and 1985 NMU alumnus Michael Detroit serves as executive producer at Playhouse on the Square, a professional resident theater company.

The largest remaining migratory population of brindled wildebeest in southern Africa serves as a cornerstone prey species for large predators. Yet it has been understudied because of its remote location in the Greater Liuwa Ecosystem in western Zambia and Angola. Northern Michigan University alumna Steph Szarmach, along with Biology faculty members Alec Lindsay and Katherine Teeter, worked with collaborators in Zambia to explore the wildebeest's genetic diversity and demographic history. They are among the coauthors of a recently published paper on the study's findings.

Northern Michigan University will offer a Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Students who complete a bachelor's degree can ladder into the master's degree program for advanced training to become skilled professionals in the field while remaining in the Upper Peninsula, where there is a strong demand for related services. Applications for the first cohort in summer 2026 will be accepted starting this fall through Jan. 15.

While growing up in central Uganda, Justine Nakintu regularly ate jackfruit, the largest edible fruit on the planet, which grew in abundance year-round on trees surrounding her home. Beneath its bumpy green rind is a stringy flesh that yellows and sweetens to a tropical taste as it ripens. Unripe, it has a mild flavor and is used as a meat substitute in tacos and a variety of savory dishes. But because this nutrient-rich fruit spoils within five days of being harvested, Nakintu has spent her one-year research fellowship working with NMU students on two goals: creating jackfruit products with extended shelf lives to reduce waste and help Ugandan farmers; and mapping the best locations for cultivating the commodity based on suitable climate and soil conditions.

The inaugural "Summer Concerts at Reynolds" series at Northern Michigan University will kick off with guitar professor Christopher Shoelen at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, in Reynolds Recital Hall. He will present a program that features some of the most renowned pieces for the Spanish guitar, and transport the audience to the streets of Spain with passionate Andalusian harmonies.

Northern Michigan University's DeVos Art Museum will host its annual "North of the 45th" exhibition June 20-Aug. 1. The juried show features artists who reside above the 45th parallel in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. A reception is scheduled at 6 p.m. Friday, July 25.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University will offer three free walking tours of NMU's campus this summer. All are open to the public. The tours are scheduled at 11 a.m. on June 20, July 11 and Aug. 8., beginning at the Carillon Towers next to the Northern Center just off Lee Drive.

Northern Michigan University Theatre & Dance will present “Love Letters” by A.R. Gurney, a past nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play features two characters—Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III—whose 50-year correspondence chronicles their evolving relationship and shared confidences. It has been described as “a tender, tragi-comic and nuanced examination of the shared nostalgia, missed opportunities and deep closeness of two lifelong, complicated friends.” Showtimes are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26 through Saturday, June 28, in Forest Roberts Theatre.