MARQUETTE, Mich.— Northern Michigan University has announced its outstanding graduates from each academic department. The honorees received their degrees at NMU’s spring commencement. The graduates and their majors are identified below (listed by hometowns in alphabetical order, with Michigan cities first):

Michigan

Atlanta: Mitchell Stephenson, health, physical education and recreation, who was the author of three papers and coauthor of four papers presented at meetings of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference;

Bay City: Megan Forrest, clinical sciences, who served as president of the Clinical Laboratory Science Club and graduated with a 4.0 GPA;

Calumet: Rebecca Allen, technology and occupational sciences, who graduated with a degree in hospitality management and was entrée lead for Banquets and Catering;

Cheboygan: Reannon Dykehouse, English, who was a student editor for NMU’s Passages North literary magazine and has won the House Award (2010) and the VandeZande Fiction Prize (2011) for her fiction writing;

Fairgrove: Joseph Rule, art and design, who has studied 3D animation in regards to visual communication of social content;

Grand Rapids: Jacy Bowman, education, who graduated from the NMU Honors Program and the School of Education with highest honors and was a student leader at the Michigan Reading Association state conference;

Grayling: James Hilbrecht, engineering technology, who was active in NMU’s Baja Team and helped prepare three cars for the Society of Automotive Engineers national competitions;

Iron Mountain: Emily Purdue, sociology and social work, who is a McNair Scholar, published author and a research analyst for Great Lakes Center for Youth Development in Marquette;

Ishpeming: Dylan Hendrix, international studies, who doubled majored in international studies and German studies and also studied Arabic and Turkish, he was also president of the German Club for one year and worked in the language lab; Jalina Olgren, communication and performance studies, who double majored in theatre and media production and new technology and won first place in carpentry in the 2013 Tech Olympics at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival;

Marquette: Casey Pernaski, psychology, who is the co-author of an e-textbook, “Approaches to a History of Western Psychology,” and is on NMU’s collegiate figure skating team; Amelia Shirtz, physics, who has presented her work at the Argonne National Laboratory undergraduate research symposium and at a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society; Joseph Short, business, who was on the advisory board for Student Support Services and was president of Beta Alpha Psi; Benjamin Wozniak, modern languages, who majored in both Spanish and German studies, spent two years studying abroad and was involved in the Spanish club on campus; Emma Wuepper, history, who was active in the Anthropology Club and vice-presdient of the History club;

Otter Lake: Harold South, music, who played bass and was rhythm section leader for the NMU Jazz Band, he was also invited to play in faculty combos on several occasions;

Palmer: Ricki Oldenkamp, biology, who won the 2011 Best Presentation award at NMU’s annual Celebration of Student Research and is active in the Tri-Beta and Psi Chi honors societies and is a McNair Scholar;

Washington: William Manto, nursing, who was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society for nursing for academic excellence and earned the Clinical Excellence Award in his pediatrics course;

Illinois

Buffalo Grove: Ashley Foster, chemistry, who was a member of the NMU Women’s Club Soccer Team, member of the All Student Judiciary and the Student Finance Committee and was also active in NMU’s Student Leader Fellowship Program;

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Rose Frankowski, political science and public administration, who ran the student organizations, Amnesty International and NMU Students for Barack Obama and competed on the NMU Women’s Nordic Ski Team on regional and national levels;

North Dakota

Enderlin: Emily Bartholomay, criminal justice, who double majored in psychology and criminal justice and will pursue a post-graduate degree in the fall of 2013;

Wisconsin

Niagara: Steve Jarvis, mathematics and computer science, who graduated summa cum laude and was a resident weightlifter in the U.S. Olympic Education Center and won 11 medals in national and international competitions;

Onalaska: John Schimek, philosophy, who was a Harden Scholar and made the dean’s list every semester, he has also participated in current research on brain tumors;

Waukesha: Elizabeth Woodford, earth, environmental and geographical sciences, who was president of two EEGs department clubs and is a two time recipient of the Ishpeming Rock and Mineral Club scholarship;

Wausau: Christopher Bowler, economics, who was captain of the NMU Men’s Nordic Ski Team and treasurer of NMU’s chapter of the Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society;