Fritz Erickson, formerly of UWGB, gets top job at NMU

Fritz Erickson has been named the 15th president of Northern Michigan University, effective July 1. The NMU Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of the appointment at a public session Tuesday. Erickson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., was dean of the College of Professional and Graduate Studies here at UW-Green Bay from 2003 to 2009. (Incidentally, if you’re curious about his suitability for the job’s biggest challenge, weathering the Marquette winter and the threat of snowfall October through May, we note here that his first job in academia was as professor of education and psychology at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, which is even farther north.) Congratulations, Dr. Erickson, on your appointment to lead Wildcat Nation.