Northern Michigan University professor Tawni Ferraini has received the 2009 Economics Educator of the Year Award from the Michigan Council on Economic Education.

            Ferrarini was praised by the MCEE for her service as a professor and director of the NMU Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, for going “above the call” to provide teacher education and professional development opportunities and for her role in advocating technology and online programs. 

            She joined the NMU faculty in 1998 and since 2000 has served as the director of the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship. In 2008, Ferrarini was appointed as NMU’s Sam M. Cohodas Professor for economic development in the Upper Peninsula. She works with the campus community and regional organizations to research economic activity for others to use to develop plans for enhancing the U.P. economy.

            Ferrarini will be honored Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the MCEE economic summit dinner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago-Detroit Branch.