NMU president learning about the region on the job

MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University’s president is asking the central Upper Peninsula to help him learn about the uniqueness of the region.

Dr. Fritz Erickson says it’s his job to understand the area and NMU’s role in it. He says that because he’s still quite new to the region, he’s enlisting as much help from residents as he can. With that in mind, he’s had a series of both formal and informal meetings with people from wide-ranging cross-sections of the community.

“I’ve had a great opportunity so far to meet with political leaders, with folks in the media, with people in the community, with people at the grocery store,” Dr. Erickson said. “Every one of those has played a real important role in helping me understand our community better.”

Dr. Erickson has been on the job for two months. He came to NMU from Ferris State University, where he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“There’s a collective interest in how the university can support economic development, job development in our community,” he said. “That’s been a message that is really loud and clear and something we’re taking very, very seriously.”

Dr. Erickson, and assistant vice president of identity, brand and marketing Derek Hall, also met with an ABC 10 representative today. They wanted to know if they could do anything to make our job of covering the university easier, and we were happy to discuss the matter with them.