Northern Kentucky University President Cady Short-Thompson launched a new initiative designed to inspire support for the university and grow the philanthropic impact of the NKU community: the CST Circle.
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 1,500 graduates over two ceremonies during the university’s 54th commencement on Saturday, Dec. 13. Since 1968, NKU has graduated more than 86,000 students who are now living and working across the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all over the world.
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.
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.
From Promise to Possibility. Meet Chris Cannon, an NKU student whose story begins with the River City Promise Program, a revitalized partnership between Northern Kentucky University (NKU) and Gateway Community & Technical College.
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, Kevin Donnelly and Ken Jones will be honored for their outstanding achievements and distinguished service to the community at the Alumni Awards Dinner and Celebration.
Dr. Steve Newman spent more than five decades at Northern Kentucky University helping students understand mathematics and, more importantly, helping them believe they could succeed in a subject that many found intimidating. His death in August marked the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of NKU's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
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 a.m. on March 4 and concludes at 4:48 p.m. on March 5.
C. Alyse Bender Hoffer's Northern Kentucky University story began long before she arrived on campus as a first-year student. Growing up, she often joined her father, J. David Bender, at NKU basketball games, sports camps and homecoming events.
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.
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 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.
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. Deborah “Deb” Amend and her longtime friend Jennifer Petry launched the Cincinnati Adaptive Music Camp nearly 15 years ago after realizing they both were trying to find ways to adapt music instruction for their children with significant physical disabilities.
Dr. Amend, an assistant professor of special education at Northern Kentucky University, has three daughters who learned to play instruments with adaptations. “Our status quo was you do everything your brothers do; You just find your own way to do it,” she says.
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.
When Northern Kentucky State College, under the leadership of of President Dr. Frank Steely and Dean of Students Dr. Jim Claypool, began the women’s basketball program during the 1974-75 academic year, it became the first public college in Kentucky to offer athletic scholarships for women. One year later, its volleyball program was created.
