Northern Illinois University

Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University is a comprehensive teaching and research institution with a student enrollment of more than 25,000.

Its main campus is located in DeKalb, 65 miles (104 km) west of Chicago. NIU also operates satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon, Illinois.

The university is composed of seven degree-granting colleges that together offer 52 undergraduate majors and 74 graduate programs, including 10 Ph.D. programs, doctoral degrees in Education and the Juris Doctorate.

NIU is an NCAA Division I school and the NIU Huskies compete in the Mid-American Conference.

Highlights

Northern has become a member of the nation's most prestigious public higher education association — the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC). [link] Only five percent of all U.S. colleges and universities are NASULGC members. NASULGC, the nation's oldest non-profit, higher education institution, is dedicated to supporting excellence in teaching, research, and public service.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognizes Northern Illinois University as an elite institution of higher education, based on breadth of research and academic programs. Carnegie categorizes Northern as: "RU/H: Research Universities (high research activity)." [link]

Northern is a full member of the Universities Research Association (URA), a group of 90 top research universities from around the globe. Illinois has only five members: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Northern Illinois University. [link] Membership in URA places Northern among the top 4% of universities in the United States.

The Northern Illinois University Department of Chemistry and BioChemistry was cited in the American Chemical Society's trade journal Chemical & Engineering News on September 26, 2005 as one of the top 25 producers of Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry in the United States.

Northern Illinois University's Accountancy program is nationally prominent. In 2005, Public Accounting Report ranked NIU's graduate program 10th in the nation, while undergraduate ranked 11th. According to Public Accounting Report, NIU has remained in the top twenty programs for 18 consecutive years. In the 2006 edition, U.S. News and World reports ranked the Accountancy program in the top 25, out of 450 programs nationwide. [link]

According to Donald Trump, "Northern Illinois is really doing a terrific job, I hear it’s a hot school. I want to hand it to Northern Illinois University’s College of Business. They are just a little bit ahead of the pack." [link]

Notable alumni

Joan Allen, Academy Award-Nominated Actress, B.A., Theatre, 1989
Melissa Barrington, on-camera meteorologist for the Weather Channel, 1993
Deirdre "Dee" Battaglia, Warden, Statesville Correctional Center, B.A., Sociology, 1975
Tim Bennett, President, Harpo Productions, Inc., B.S., Journalism, 1971
Terry Boers, Co-host, Boers and Bernstein, 670AM WSCR Chicago (The Score), B.S., Journalism, '72
Mark Brown, Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times, B.S., Journalism, 1977
Peter Butterfield, President and CEO, Kia Motors America, B.A., Psychology, 1976
Dan Castellaneta, Emmy Award-Winning Actor, Voice of "Homer Simpson" and "Krusty the Clown" on The Simpsons, B.S.Ed., Art, 1979
Ryan Diem, NFL Offensive Tackle for the Indianapolis Colts
Bradley Fish, [Sony Digital Pictures] Recording Artist, B.A., Music 1992
P.J. Fleck, NFL Wide Receiver for the San Francisco 49ers
Steve Harris, Emmy Award-Nominated Actor, The Practice, B.A., Theatre, 1989
Wood Harris Actor, Remember the Titans and The Wire, B.A. Theatre Arts
Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, M.S., Education, 1967
Lyle Heidemann, President and CEO, True Value Company, B.S., Marketing, 1967
Darrell Hill, NFL Wide Receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs
LeShon Johnson, former NFL running back, 1994
Nicole Jeray, LPGA Professional Golfer
Phil Kadner, Columnist, Daily Southtown, B.S., Journalism, 1974
Maria Kanellis, WWE Diva
Erik Kuska, Animator, The Road to El Dorado, ', and ', B.F.A., 1995
Justin McCareins, NFL Wide Receiver for the New York Jets
Raymond McGury, Chief of Police, Bollingbrook, IL, M.P.A., 2000
Justin Mentell, Actor, Boston Legal, B.F.A., Theatre, 2005
Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos weblog[link], B.S., Journalism, 1995
Deborah Nelson, Investigations Editor, L.A. Times, Washington, D.C. Bureau; Winner of 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, B.S., Journalism, 1975
Manny Sanchez [link], Majority partner in largest minority owned law firm in the United States, B.A., 1970
Emil R. Schiesser, Aeronautics Engineer, NASA, B.S., Physics, 1959, M.S., Physics, 1961
Paul Sereno, Paleontologist, University of Chicago, B.S., Biology, 1979
Hollis Thomas, NFL Defensive Tackle for the New Orleans Saints
Michael Turner, NFL Running Back for the San Diego Chargers
Brian Vaszily, Author (e.g., Beyond Stone and Steel[link]), Syndicated Columnist ("How We Get You" [link]), B.A., English, 1994
Larry Young, MLB Umpire
Robert Zemeckis, producer of Back to the Future and many other films, e.g.: Forrest Gump, Romancing the Stone. XFER'd to USC.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.