NIU Today

NIU has been recognized as a 2026 Great College to Work For®, earning national honors for Faculty Experience and Shared Governance based on employee feedback. The recognition highlights NIU’s collaborative culture, commitment to faculty success and dedication to creating a workplace where employees can thrive while advancing the university’s mission.

After 15 seasons and 300 episodes, NIU alumnus Joe Minoso, M.F.A. ’04, is stepping away from his role as firefighter Joe Cruz on NBC’s Chicago Fire. A graduate of NIU’s School of Theatre and Dance, Minoso credits Northern Illinois University with helping launch a career that took him from Chicago stages to one of television’s longest-running dramas, while he now looks ahead to new opportunities in producing and directing.

From France to Ireland to Japan, NIU students are expanding their horizons through transformative global learning experiences. Study abroad programs are helping Huskies build confidence, cultural awareness and adaptability while gaining firsthand perspectives that deepen their understanding of the world and prepare them to make a difference in their communities and careers.

New accessible signage and NaviLens technology are helping make NIU's Edible Campus gardens more inclusive for people with visual impairments. A collaboration led by faculty in the Department of Special and Early Education's Vision Studies Program is expanding access to fresh produce while demonstrating how innovative design can create a more welcoming campus for all.

Step into history as NIU students bring some of the world's most influential figures to life during Meeting of Minds — Revolution! In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, costumed student performers will portray George Washington, Abigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Napoleon Bonaparte and Karl Marx in a lively, unscripted discussion exploring the ideas that shaped history.

NIU Steelpan alumnus Khan Cordice, now Antigua and Barbuda’s director of culture, showcased the global impact of NIU’s renowned steelpan program by performing for King Charles III and Queen Camilla at a Commonwealth reception in London and even giving the King an impromptu steelpan lesson.

NIU Career Services and employer partners like ISAC are helping Huskies turn classroom experiences into career opportunities by connecting students with internships, networking, mentorship and meaningful pathways to professional success.

NIU History Professor Rosemary Feurer’s decades-long effort to preserve labor history reached a major milestone as Chicago broke ground on the Mother Jones “We Shall Rise” Monument, the city’s first public monument dedicated to a historic woman.

NIU’s Suzanne Autrey, an assistant professor of geology, has won a prestigious U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant to fund her research and purchase high tech equipment for the Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment. NIU Professor Suzanne Autrey. The DOE’s Office of Science this month announced Autrey as being among 67 scientists nationwide who...

As an astrophysicist, Anna Quider is in the rare company of a small field of scientists. Turning her gift for universal systems thinking toward the cause of advancing higher education in the name of Northern Illinois University, she joined a much smaller class — one of the first Ph.D. scientists leading a federal relations office...

Endi Aulia Garadian, a doctoral student in the NIU Department of History, is one of 123 scholars who wrote Indonesia’s new national history, a 10-volume series published by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture. The series, “Indonesian History: The Dynamics of Nationhood in Global Currents,” runs to nearly 8,000 pages and is the most ambitious state-commissioned...

Internships provide students with opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom, develop professional skills and gain a better understanding of their chosen industries. For three NIU students, internships at Behaim ITS and Mitutoyo this past summer offered valuable opportunities to take on meaningful responsibilities, learn new technologies and grow their confidence. As a...