Awards

NIU President John Peters won “The President’s Award” from a Midwest-based regional chapter of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The newest and first-time honor from NASPA IV-East, the President’s Award is a special recognition given to a college or university president in the region who has enhanced the quality of student life on campus by supporting student affairs staff and student programs and services.

A trio of professors dedicated to women’s history is working to ensure their scholarly interests are handed down to future generations. Lucy Townsend, professor in the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, and two colleagues from other universities have received a $5,000 grant from the International Society for Educational Biography in support of their “Educating Women Project.”

Laurie Elish-Piper, professor of literacy education and director of the NIU Reading Clinic, is president of the College Reading Association.

Professor Jon Miller received a $1.2 million Illinois Math and Science Partnership grant to develop a new master's specialization in biology teaching that will enable biology teachers to receive advanced training in the biological sciences while continuing to teach.

Fareed Haque, a professor of jazz and classical guitar in the NIU School of Music, was named “Best World Guitarist” in the May 2009 issue of Guitar Player magazine.

Nancy Oldenburg is the fourth nursing professor from NIU to receive a prestigious Nurse Educator Fellowship Award from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The program was created to ensure the retention of well-qualified nursing educators.

Robert Sims, associate professor of voice and diction in the NIU School of Music, performed in March 2009 at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in “HONOR! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy.” Invited by festival curator Jessye Norman, Sims was joined by pianist Paul Hamilton in a program of spirituals.

Deborah Haliczer, director of employee relations in Human Resource Services, was named “Social Worker of the Year” in 2009 by the Jane Addams District of the National Association of Social Workers.

“Examining Audubon,” a spring 2008 exhibition at the NIU Art Museum curated with the assistance of five Museum Studies graduate students as a capstone course, won the Illinois Association of Museums’ “Superior Achievement Award” in exhibits.

Judith Hertz, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies, is the president of the National Gerontological Nursing Association. The Pensacola, Fla.-based group boasts 1,700 members and strives to improve the quality of nursing care for older adults.

Mary E. Gardner, a reading specialist in the Oregon School District and an instructor in NIU’s Department of Literacy Education, is the president of the Northern Illinois Reading Council. The 1997 master’s degree graduate from NIU has taught courses at her alma mater for seven years.

NIU’s Jazz Lab Band, under the direction of Rodrigo Villanueva, took its first international tour in December of 2008. The band, winner of the top prize at the 2008 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Festival, journeyed to Mexico to perform at the JazzUV International Jazz Festival, the XIV San Miguel De Allende Jazz & Blues International Festival, the La Encrucijada Jazz club in Queretaro City and the El Zinco Jazz Bar in Mexico City.

NIU is among the nation’s best campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, according to the Advocate College Guide. The Advocate, the leading magazine for the LGBT community, calls its book “a comprehensive guide to colleges and universities with the best programs, services and student organizations for LGBT students.”

Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine consistently ranks NIU in the top 100 institutions nationwide graduating minority students.

Among the world’s leading historians of tsarist Russia, Christine Worobec has won international praise for her work exploring the extraordinary history of Russia’s common folk in the 18th and 19th centuries. She has conducted pioneering work on women, folklore, peasants, family, religion and social life in tsarist Russia and Ukraine. Her explorations have taken Worobec to such places as Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Moscow. She is the only scholar in her field who is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Heldt Prize from the Association for Women in Slavic Studies. The award is presented for the book of the year.

History Professor J.D. Bowers and Teacher Certification Adviser Kate Maley were awarded the “Freedom Project,” a $1 million grant from the Department of Education under the Teaching American History grant program, in partnership with Rockford Public Schools. Under the same Department of Education program, Bowers and Maley also were awarded the “American History Partnership,” a $1 million grant for a project that will be conducted with the Elgin School District.

NIU’s student newspaper, The Northern Star, won the 2008 Pacemaker, the Associate College Press parallel to the Pulitzer Prize. The Star also won first place in “Best of Show” for daily tabloids and second place for “National Online Story of the Year” for its Feb. 14, 2008, coverage.

Northern Television Center, NIU’s student television station, earned two second-place awards in the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s 2008 Student Silver Dome Awards. The honors came in long-form programming and the “Best TV Newscast” categories. The station also won third-place in long-form programming.

In 2005, the University Libraries celebrated the acquisition of its 2 millionth book, placing it in the top 3 percent of academic libraries nationwide.

Two NIU students in the Department of Communication made their way to Hollywood in the summer of 2009 after winning highly competitive internships in the film industry. Steven Stein interned with the Cartoon Network, and Drew McCormick with the Post Group, one of the largest post-production houses in the world. The jobs were arranged through the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. At NIU, both Stein and McCormick specialized in media studies, a program that prepares students for a variety of media-related careers, including in the film and television industries.

Pam Smith, the KPMG Professor of Accountancy at NIU’s College of Business, was named the Illinois CPA Society's 2008 Educator of the Year and earned the 2009 American Accounting Association (AAA) Innovation in Accounting Education Award.