President's Message

Welcome message from
Dr. James C. Votruba, President of Northern Kentucky University

About Northern Kentucky University

You know the kind of place that offers a comfortable, safe, energetic learning environment - a place that will get the most out of you and mold you into a person who will shape the future?

We're that kind of place.

Welcome to Northern Kentucky University, a growing metropolitan university of 14,800 students served by nearly 2,400 faculty and staff on a thriving suburban campus near Cincinnati.

Located in the quiet suburb of Highland Heights, Ky. - just seven miles southeast of Cincinnati - we have become a leader in Greater Cincinnati and Kentucky by providing a private school education for a fraction of the cost. While we are one of the fastest growing universities in Kentucky, our professors still know our students' names.

And while growth in numbers and reputation is wonderful, we are not satisfied with this success. We want more.

Campus Growth

We are in the process of building a $37 million, 144,000-square-foot student union building, as well as The Bank of Kentucky Center, a $60 million, 9,400-seat arena for basketball games and other events.

It is the best time to be a part of NKU.

In sports, we win on a national level. The NKU Norse are an NCAA Division II university in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and field teams in baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball, soccer, cross country, tennis, golf and volleyball. Five out of the last seven years we have claimed our conference's all sports crown - which means overall, we have the most talented teams.

Not only are we attracting talented students and faculty, but we're also recruiting a distinguished set of lecturers. Speakers to NKU in recent years have included politicians Bob Dole and John Edwards, political strategist James Carville, journalist Bob Woodward and President George W. Bush.

But no matter how many new buildings we raise or how many championships we win, nothing is more important than our main objective: Graduating talented students who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Ready to Lead

Through our efforts in the community and our ties to numerous local businesses, we are not only molding students, we are helping to shape and expand the ever-changing world into which they will graduate.

And yes - we want our students prepared to enter that workforce. But we also want them ready to lead, to change it for the better. We want them ready to make our community and region a better place.

Students at NKU improve themselves - then they improve the world.

That's what we're all about here at NKU.