Northern Kentucky University debuted its newly renovated Welcome Center with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025. The project spanned ten months and included renovations to the University Center and upgrades to the Otto M. Budig Theater, lighting, digital systems and more.
Northern Kentucky University honored more than 2,000 graduates over two ceremonies during the university’s 52nd Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14.
At Northern Kentucky University, 42% of our students are first-generation college students. Hear from three of those students about how NKU works to ensure their college success.
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At NKU, we are proud to serve those who have served and those who continue to serve. The Veterans Resource Station connects Veterans and current military-students with the support and the community to make their time at NKU life-changing.
Northern Kentucky University will recognize five distinguished alumni and faculty at the annual Alumni Awards on Friday, Feb. 6. Gary Holland, Greg Edwards, Shannan Boyer, TBD and Ken Jones will be honored for their outstanding achievements and distinguished service to the community at the Alumni Awards Dinner and Celebration.
On March 4 and 5, NKU will once again celebrate its founding with NKU Founders’ Day: 1,968 Minutes of Giving—a spirited, community-wide effort that begins at 8:00 a.m. on March 4 and concludes at 4:48 p.m. on March 5.
Dr. Madison Cuffy is a transplant surgeon, chief of the transplantation division at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center… and a second-year student in the Chase College of Law evening division.
Johanna “Hanna” Thompson will never forget the first day of her volunteer trip with Haiti Air Ambulance on August 14, 2021—the same day Haiti was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. At the time, she was also a student in Northern Kentucky University’s online health sciences program.
The Haile Research Fellows and Lab Program at Northern Kentucky University began as an initiative to bridge the gap between academic research and business practice, but for student Princess Nworah it was an opportunity for both personal and professional growth.
From books and movies to podcasts and investigative journalism, the true crime genre has maintained its relevancy in consumer media for decades. But recent viral cases like that of Gaby Petito and the Murdaugh family have raised concerns over the ethical complexities of true crime storytelling. This was one of the main focuses of Dr. Stacie Jankowski’s special topics in journalism class at Northern Kentucky University.
Northern Kentucky University filmmaker Camilo Idrobo describes his award-winning short “Cross the Valley” as an “avant-garde dream film.”
“It works more on metaphor than logic,” he says.
The electronic media and broadcasting student, who graduates in May, is now making the rounds of other international film festivals, including an upcoming event in his hometown of Quito, Eduador.
“Cross the Valley” is a visual feast of superimposed images and experimental editing techniques. It won an honorable mention at Mexico City’s Mirada Corta Film Festival and was nominated for Best Student Short and Best Experimental Short at the 2025 Cindependent Film Festival in Cincinnati.
Year after year, Ken Jones gives his students at Northern Kentucky University the same advice. “Don’t mix up your dream with your goals,” he says. “Always have the dream, because in this world the greatest thing you can do is dream, but you need goals to get to that dream. So, make smaller steps using goals to get to your dream. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”
Dr. Seyed Allameh never envisioned himself as a professor. It wasn’t until 2004 when he was invited to join Northern Kentucky University as an engineering technology faculty member that he changed his mind. Dr. Allameh, who previously worked at Wayne State University, Ohio State University and Princeton University, says nothing has left on impression him like NKU has.
Steve Kruse always saw the greatness in Northern Kentucky University.He saw it first back in the fall of 1979 when he arrived as a freshman radio and television major and cross-country runner out of Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, joining a college community that was then no bigger than his high school.“I mean, there were 850-something in my graduating class,” Kruse says. “So, coming over here, it was about the same size. And I had a great time here."
