Northern Michigan University

Northern Michigan University was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School to offer teacher preparation programs in Michigan's then-wild and sparsely populated Upper Peninsula. When it opened in 1899, NMU enrolled thirty-two students who were taught by six faculty members in rented rooms in Marquette city hall. The original 20-acre (81,000 m²) campus site at the corner of Presque Isle and Kaye Avenues was on land donated by local businessman and philanthropist John M. Longyear, whose namesake academic building, Longyear Hall, opened in 1900.[3]

Throughout the school's first half-century, education and teacher training was school's primary focus. During this time, the school built the native sandstone buildings Kaye and Peter White Halls, as well as a manual training school next to the campus buildings, J.D. Pierce School. Modest enrollment increases led to several name changes:

• Northern State Normal, 1899
• Northern State Teachers College, 1927
• Northern Michigan College of Education, 1942
• Northern Michigan College, 1955[4][5]

In 1963, through the adoption of a new state constitution in Michigan, Northern Michigan was designated a comprehensive university serving the diverse educational needs of Upper Michigan. During this time, enrollment grew, due in large part to the 1957 opening of the Mackinac Bridge that links the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Health Sciences and Professional Studies.

Graduate education began in March 1935 when courses at the master's degree level were offered in cooperation with the University of Michigan.[6]

180 Undergraduate and graduate degree programs are offered at NMU.[7]

NMU has five academic divisions:

• College of Academic Information Services: Beaumier Heritage Center
• College of Arts and Sciences: School of Art and Design, Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, Center for Native American Studies, Center for Upper Peninsula Studies
• Walker L. Cisler College of Business (named for philanthropist Walker Lee Cisler)
• Graduate Education and Research
• College of Health Sciences and Professional Studies: School of Clinical Sciences, School of Education, Leadership and Public Service, School of Health and Human Performance, School of Nursing

The Academic Mall connects Jamrich Hall, West Science, Weston Hall and the Learning Resource Center.

NMU is a tobacco-free campus.[10]

Instructional Spaces

Ten buildings where classes are held having at least 210 instructional spaces. There are 3 distance learning facilities, the largest of which is Mead Auditorium which seats 100.

Art and Design

• This facility contains over 110,000 square feet (10,000 m²) of studios, lecture halls, digital green screen room, sound studio, photography suite, critique and screening rooms, as well as the DeVos Art Museum. The DeVos Art Museum displays 10–12 exhibitions per year of contemporary international, national, regional, and local art. At over 4,000 square feet (370 m²) it is the largest art gallery on campus and the only art museum with a permanent collection in the Upper Peninsula.[11]

Berry Events Center

• Northern's multi-purpose student events center, is the home of the Northern Michigan University hockey and men's and women's basketball teams. The 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) facility contains an Olympic-size (200 ft. x 100 ft.) ice sheet and seats over 4,000 for hockey events. The Berry Events Center was built on the site of the former Memorial Stadium.

Cohodas Hall

A hayride passes through the heart of NMU's campus. Cohodas Hall can be seen in the background.

• The tallest building on campus, Cohodas Hall houses administrative offices and the College of Business. Completed in 1975, the building stands on the site of Northern's original campus. It is named after U.P. banker and philanthropist Sam M. Cohodas.[12]

Forest Roberts Theatre

• The 500-seat Forest Roberts Theatre is named after a former head of the Speech department. The theatre has a computerized lighting system and modern sound system. Major theatrical productions are held year-round in this facility.[13]

Gries Hall

• A former residence hall, Gries is now home to the Military Science, History, Political Science, and Economics departments, along with the Alumni Association offices and the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center.[14] The Ada B. Vielmetti Health Center on the first floor provides family health care and pharmacy services to students and staff.[15]

CB Hedgcock Building

• Was completely renovated from a field house to a student service center in 2004. It now houses the offices of the Dean of Students, Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid, Housing and Residence Life, Multicultural Education, and other student services. Also located in Hedgcock is the Reynolds Recital Hall, a 303-seat concert hall.

Jamrich Hall

• Jamrich Hall, opened in the fall of 2014, contains numerous large lecture halls and smaller classrooms. The primary classroom building on campus, this building is named for former university president John X. Jamrich.[16] The current Jamrich Hall replaced a prior Jamrich Hall which was built in 1968. The older Jamrich was demolished after the completion of the new building. The hall houses five academic department offices: English, criminal justice, sociology and anthropology, social work and math and computer science.[17]

Lydia M. Olson Library

• The Lydia M. Olson Library,[18] located within the Edgar L. Harden Learning Resource Center (LRC), houses a volume count of 544,219 titles and 29,365 of periodical subscriptions.[19]

McClintock Hall

• The building features a Black Box Theatre for student-directed productions and audio laboratories, as well as general classrooms.[20]

Physical Education Instructional Facility

• Physical Education Instructional Facility (PEIF) opened in 1976. The facility houses the PEIF Pool, and the Vandament Arena, home of Wildcat volleyball. Also housed within the PEIF is a recreation center with a climbing wall, weight room, basketball courts, spinning room, seven racquetball courts, a dance studio, and various classrooms.[21]

Seaborg Science Complex

• The Seaborg Science Complex comprises West Science and Kathleen Shingler Weston Hall (formerly the New Science Facility). This facility is the home to the natural, physical and health science departments. The complex is named after Glenn Seaborg, an Upper Peninsula native.[22]

Superior Dome

• The Superior Dome is the largest wooden dome in the world and is home to the NMU athletic department. The NMU football and other athletic teams play home games there. Seating capacity is 8,000 but can be rearranged to seat 16,000.[23]

The Jacobetti Center

• The Jacobetti Center is home to the Continuing Education and Workforce Development, which includes two departments: Engineering Technology and Technology and Occupational Sciences. A large lobby area, known as "the commons," provides tables and seating for studying, discussions or enjoying food from the student-run Culinary Café. The upscale Chez Nous restaurant in the center serves as a training ground for cooking and hospitality services. The center is named for longtime Upper Peninsula State Representative Dominic J. Jacobetti.[24]

Whitman Hall

• This facility contains the Dean of Health Sciences and Professional Studies, the School of Education, Leadership and Public Service, the Modern Languages and Literatures Department and the Center for Native American Studies. Before being purchased by the university in 2002, the building was home to an elementary school.

Northern Michigan University's eight-member governing board, the Board of Trustees, is appointed by the Governor of Michigan and confirmed by the Michigan Senate for an eight-year term. The Board of Trustees has general supervision of the institution, the control and direction of all expenditures from the institution's funds, and such other powers and duties as prescribed by law. It also has the authority to hire and evaluate the university president, currently Dr. Fritz Erickson, who reports directly to the board. Members of the Board of Trustees serve without compensation, but are reimbursed by the University for expenses related to Board duties.[25]

A football signed by the 1978 Northern Michigan Wildcats football team

NMU's Wildcats compete in the NCAA's Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in basketball, football, golf, cross country, soccer, volleyball, track & field, and swimming/diving. The hockey program competes in Division I as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Nordic ski team competes in the Central Collegiate Ski Association. The Division II football team plays in the world's largest wooden dome, the Superior Dome.[26] Lloyd Carr, former head coach at the University of Michigan, former NFL coach Jerry Glanville, and Steve Mariucci, former head coach of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers and Robert Saleh, current head coach of the New York Jets, played football for NMU, and current Michigan State coach Tom Izzo played basketball at NMU. Northern Michigan's rivals in sports action are the two other major schools in the upper peninsula: Michigan Technological University, and Lake Superior State University.[27]

The winner of the annual football game between NMU and Michigan Tech is awarded the Miner's Cup.

Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is an alumnus of NMU. As a result, NMU had the first Starbucks in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (formerly located in the Learning Resource Center).[35] He is pictured in the poster at right.

• Nick Baumgartner, Winter X Games gold medalist in 2011 Snowboard Cross event, Olympian
• Robert Saleh, NFL Head Coach, New York Jets
• Chad Gable, Greco-Roman wrestler, professional wrestler signed to WWE on the Raw brand
• Andy Bisek, Greco-Roman wrestler
• Steve Bozek, NHL player, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks
• Timothy Bradley, professional boxer, welterweight and junior-welterweight champion
• Jason Cameron, actor and personal trainer; formerly of While You Were Out, currently affiliated with DIY Network
• Bob Chase, play-by-play announcer for Fort Wayne Komets
• Cornelius Coe, football player
• Shani Davis, Olympic speed skater; first black athlete from any nation to win gold medal in individual Winter Olympics sport
• Lloyd Carr, former head football coach, University of Michigan
• Dallas Drake, hockey player, won Stanley Cup with Detroit Red Wings in 2008; former captain of St. Louis Blues
• Vernon Forrest, professional boxer, welterweight and light-heavyweight champion
• Jerry Glanville, head coach of NFL's Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons; also of Portland State University [36]
• Caitlin Compton Gregg, cross-country skier, took bronze in 2015 World Ski Championships
• Erik Gustafsson, hockey player for Philadelphia Flyers
• Sheila E. Hixson, member of the Maryland House of Delegates
• John D. Holum, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security under Bill Clinton.[37]
• Tom Izzo,[38] men's basketball coach, Michigan State University
• Bobby Jurasin, CFL player for Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Toronto Argonauts
• Bob Kroll, NFL player for Green Bay Packers
• Tom Laidlaw, NHL player
• John Lautner, modern architect
• Mark Maddox, NFL player for Buffalo Bills
• Justin Marlowe, professor of public finance at the University of Washington
• Helen Maroulis, first American gold medalist in Olympic women's freestyle wrestling (2016)
• Steve Mariucci, head coach of Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and University of California[39]
• Randi Miller, Bronze medalist in Olympic women's freestyle wrestling (2008)
• Mark Olver, hockey player for Colorado Avalanche
• Nathan Oystrick, hockey player for Phoenix Coyotes
• David Prychitko, researcher, author and professor of economics at Northern Michigan University.
• Mike Santorelli, hockey player for Vancouver Canucks
• Howard Schultz,[40] CEO and Chairman of Starbucks
• Joseph A. Strohl, former member of the Wisconsin State Senate
• Jackie Swanson, actress, television series Cheers, films including Lethal Weapon and numerous TV commercials
• Brian Viloria, professional boxer
• Don Waddell, NHL player and coach
• Ed Ward, hockey player for Calgary Flames
• Steve Weeks, NHL player, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks
• Steven Wiig, actor (Into the Wild) and musician
• DaVarryl Williamson, professional boxer, Colorado Golden Gloves Hall of Fame member
• Jerry Woods, NFL player for Green Bay Packers

NMU operates seven charter schools throughout Michigan.[41]

• Bahweting Anishnabe Public School in Sault Ste. Marie.
• Burton Glen Charter Academic in Burton.
• Nah Tah Wahsh Public School Academy in Wilson.
• North Star Academy in Marquette.
• Walton Charter Academy in Pontiac.
• Experiencia Preparatory Charter Academy in Detroit.
• Southpointe Scholars Charter Academy in Ypsilanti.

As of July 1, 2014, NMU added three more charter schools: Frances Reh Academy in Saginaw, George Crockett Academy in Detroit and East Shore Leadership Academy in Port Huron.

• Official website
• Northern Michigan Athletics website