All News Releases

The COVID-19 virus may have canceled the football season, but it hasn't stopped NMU's Pride of the North Marching Band from sharing its music with others. Monday night, the band delivered a special outdoor performance to students in quarantine and isolation in Spalding Hall. The group will also perform three Superior Dome shows this fall that will be streamed for online viewing.

The NMU Board of Trustees approved faculty tenure, promotions and new appointments, which took effect with the start of the fall semester. Trustees also authorized contract extensions for several school and department heads.

The North Country Trail Association (NCTA) recently honored two women with Northern Michigan University connections during its annual awards ceremony, held virtually this year because of COVID-19. May graduate Lynnae Branham received the 2020 Rising Star Award and Professor Emeritus Lorana Jinkerson received the Thomas L. Gilbert Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Northern Michigan University junior Morgan Kolimaga of Sun Prairie, Wis., is one of 14 students across the country selected to serve on the 2020-21 National Panhellenic Conference Student Advisory Committee (NPC SAC).  

NMU alumnus Martin W. Grosnick (BS '68, MA '76) recently won the grand prize in the Pangolin Photo Safari Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. His winning image, selected from 1,000 entries, shows a leopard basking in the subtle rays of sunrise on Kenya's Masai Mara. The Copper Harbor native's first serious foray into wildlife photography occurred at Isle Royale National Park. He served as the park's postmaster over four summers after high school and honed his camera skills in his spare time.

Put Your Hand on the Line, an award-winning documentary about the 1975 Northern Michigan University football team's remarkable turnaround from losing every game one season to winning the NCAA Division II National Championship the next, will stream online as part of the 2020 Dances with Films Festival. Showings are scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 31, and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The 1975 Division II National Championship football team was not the only squad in NMU history to dramatically reverse its fortunes following a winless season. In 1956, the Wildcat football team finished 7-0-1 after losing every game the previous year.

Northern Michigan University's Behavioral Education, Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center has received nearly $500,000 from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund) to reach wider populations in more diverse settings in the Upper Peninsula, and to train more providers. 

In response to the economic impact of COVID-19, NMU student Joshua Gosseck has launched a fundraising campaign titled Unite Marquette, where 100% of the proceeds from t-shirt and mask sales will be used to promote local businesses. The campaign runs from Aug. 22-31.

NMU alumna Katelyn Gage has been promoted to a branch manager with mBank. She started with the institution in June 2019 as assistant branch manager of the Ishpeming Main and Negaunee locations. 

Northern Michigan University MPA graduate Michael Stelmaszek ('96) has been hired as the new Kingsford city manager, after filling the same role in St. Ignace. He previously worked as a Kingsford Public Safety officer for 25 years, including three months as acting director. 

NMU alumni Paul Millenbach ('84) and Stephen Lowney ('80), who represent the Michigan law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, have been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2021 edition. According to a press release, the list is compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Inclusion is considered a singular honor because attorneys are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed.

NMU alumnus Andrew Adamski ('15 BS) was featured in a video that aired Wednesday night during the Democratic National Convention. He spoke from Full Circle Community Farm, a certified-organic operation that his family has owned for five generations in Seymour, Wis. Adamski addressed more sustainable farming practices and joined other activists in touting Joe Biden's proposed Clean Energy Revolution.

Northern Michigan University Education Professor Mitchell Klett is one of five faculty from Great Lakes region universities who led a recent professional development workshop to help K-12 teachers effectively engage their students in researching the water quality of the Great Lakes as it relates to harmful algae blooms.

The Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center, a collaborative effort between NMU, UP Health System-Marquette and the Superior Health Foundation, received a $5,000 check from IncredibleBank as the title sponsor of the Hope Starts Here Challenge. The annual challenge raises funds and awareness for the UMBTC, whose mission is to empower patients and families dealing with brain tumors through advocacy, research, education and treatment.

Carter Nielsen, a December 2019 graduate and Greco-Roman wrestler with the NMU National Training Site, had qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. But with his athletic dreams deferred by COVID-19, Nielsen needed to quickly pivot from full-time training to full-time employment. His Plan B came in the form of a real estate school scholarship, which led to a job in the Twin Cities market.

NMU psychology alumna Kelsey Segerstrom ('16 BS) is the new foster care case manager for Catholic Social Services of the Upper Peninsula. 

NMU's School of Health and Human Performance continues to have a major influence on the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports as it marks 20 years of involvement in the organization. At the 2020 ISBS conference, held virtually because of COVID-19, NMU faculty, students and alumni contributed papers and video presentations, coordinated events, and were elected to serve in leadership roles.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at NMU is hosting a new exhibition in its Gries Hall gallery titled “Through the Years: Mount Mesnard to Mount Marquette.” Students in an anthropology course taught by Scott Demel created and installed the exhibit. It features dozens of artifacts collected during many years of archeological digs at the site, photographs of the excavation and other artifacts, and interpretive panels.

Northern Michigan University will open its Superior Dome to students when classes begin Monday, Aug. 17. Free community access to walk and jog in that facility, as well as the Berry Events Center, will be postponed until Oct. 1.