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Northern Michigan University graduate assistant Benjamin Fidler won first place in the most recent international 3-Day Novel Contest. Elijah Sparkman, an MFA graduate of NMU, also participated and advanced to the final selection. Instead of relaxing during Labor Day weekend 2021, both wrote tirelessly to create a novel or novella in 72 hours, competing against other writers worldwide. The judges take nearly a year to read hundreds of submissions and recently released the results. 

The Finnish folk group Kardemimmit will perform at Northern Michigan University on Saturday, Sept. 17, as part of the Beaumier Heritage Concert Series. The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will take place at Reynolds Recital Hall. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $5 for NMU students and those under 18.

NMU alumnus Cory Gylock has been promoted to vice president and general manager of Nexstar Media's digital operations of WLAX-TV (FOX) and WEUX-TV (FOX) in La Crosse/Eau Claire, Wis., and their related digital and social media channels. The 2012 marketing graduate previously served as general sales manager for the stations.

Debra Greenacre, a 2003 NMU elementary education alumna and executive director of the Manistee Public Library, demonstrates the importance of following your dreams, no matter how long it takes for them to come into clear focus. Greenacre was featured in the Huron Daily Tribune as a part of a series on women in leadership positions.

Northern Michigan University alumna Karen Saari was commissioned to co-write a musical titled Ten Days in a Madhouse, about journalist Nellie Bly's experience infiltrating a notorious insane asylum to report on the abhorrent conditions. The show had its world premiere Aug. 19-27 through Music Theatre of Madison in Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula native said it was research for an NMU class assignment that sparked her lifelong fascination with Bly.  

The late Michael Zuke, a 1971 NMU alumnus and former Wildcat gymnast, is featured as part of the “Sault Legends” series on the Ontario website saultonline.com for his contributions to the sport as a competitor and coach. He passed away in 2014, two years after being inducted into the Sault Ste. Marie Hall of Fame.

A Northern Michigan University-led research project focusing on bobcats found evidence that human activity can exert a greater impact than environmental factors on carnivore predator-prey interactions, daily activity patterns and movement. The findings were recently published in Biodiversity and Conservation. Understanding that some animals perceive humans as “super predators” is critical for establishing successful wildlife management practices to promote functioning communities.

Northern Michigan University is emphasizing a holistic, integrated approach to student and employee wellbeing as it identifies priority goals and strategies for the coming year. Abigail Wyche, who transitioned in June from social work department head to a 12-month appointment as special adviser for mental health and wellness, detailed some of the plans at Wednesday morning's fall convocation.

Northern Michigan University has successfully renewed a competitive U.S. Department of Education grant to continue the Upper Peninsula's only Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which provides disadvantaged college students effective preparation for doctoral studies through research and other scholarly activities. NMU will receive about $1.3 million over five years.

As vice chair of the NMU Board of Trustees, Alexis Hart interacts regularly with a number of Northern students. One bit of advice she shares with them is that they should avoid getting locked into a restrictive career path simply by virtue of the degree they earn and focus instead on developing the skill set to be adaptable when exciting opportunities surface, or it becomes necessary to pivot and pursue a new profession. She has learned that through her experience in the human resources field.

A collaborative effort to increase Upper Peninsula residents' access to health care by expanding relevant workforce training, education and employment in the region has received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The project is called U.P. WIN, short for the Upper Peninsula Workforce Innovation Network.

A new website dedicated to the symbiotic relationship between the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University will be launched with a free public event at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, in Ballroom I of the Northern Center at NMU. The website was created by the Beamier U.P. Heritage Center and funded by a donation from NMU History Professor Emeritus Jon Saari.

Northern Michigan University's DeVos Art Museum will open an exhibition Aug. 15 that features three groups of new acquisitions from the permanent collection on display for the first time. The exhibit is titled “New to the Collection: Kinngait: Artists' Reflections in Print, Lundmark and the Lake, and Selections in Contemporary Illustration.”

The Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute (UPCI) at Northern Michigan University will host a cybersecurity symposium Tuesday, Aug. 30 through Thursday, Sept. 1. This inaugural event will bring together multiple state, federal and civilian cybersecurity resources to connect with regional cybersecurity practitioners and decision makers. The UPCI is able to offer the event free to participants, thanks to funding from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Northern Michigan University Alumni Relations has announced four recipients of the 2022 Alumni Awards: Steve Nystrom ('82 BS, '86 MA) of Marquette, Distinguished Alumni; James Paquette ('74 BS) of Negaunee, Alumni Achievement; Stephanie Lay ('10 AS, '11 BS) of Oakland, Calif., Outstanding Young Alumni; and Chris Mosier ('03 MFA) of Chicago, Ill., Alumni Service - Community.

Northern Michigan University alumnus Jim Hiller ('95 BS) has joined the National Hockey League's LA Kings as an assistant coach. He will primarily work with the forwards and focus on the power play, according to a Kings press release. He most recently served in the same capacity for the New York Islanders, helping the club reach two Eastern Conference Finals.

Alberto Alexander, who earned a master of arts in education (MAE) degree from Northern in 1974, is managing director of the international consulting and training firm Eficiencia Gerencial y Productividad, located in Lima, Peru. He wrote an Aug. 3 online column on the major components of an effective cyber risk management process. Alexander addressed threat categories facing organizations, cyber risk management frameworks and challenges, and best practices related to assessment.

NMU reinstated a mask mandate for in-person classrooms and labs, effective Aug. 1, in response to an uptick in local COVID cases that has elevated Marquette County to the CDC's "high transmission" category. President Kerri Schuiling provided an update of NMU's pandemic protocols heading into the fall semester in an email to the campus community.

J.D. Phillips is drawn to “the intellectual beauty and depth of pure mathematics.” He describes mathematics as closer, in some ways, to poetry, painting and musical composition than to the laboratory sciences.