Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. NIU was founded in 1895 as Northern Illinois State Normal School. It became Northern Illinois State Teachers College in 1921 and Northeastern Illinois State College in 1949 before being granted university status in 1957 and adopting its current name in 1965. NIU is the second-largest public university by enrollment outside of Chicago. NIU offers over 100 undergraduate and graduate programs through seven degree-granting colleges.
As a state normal school, NIU’s founding mission was to train teachers for the state of Illinois; this mission has expanded to include research and community engagement alongside teaching. The school’s first president, John W. Cook, took office in 1885 with just fifteen faculty members and 177 students enrolled in three programs: kindergarten training, domestic science, and manual training. Under Cook’s leadership, enrollment grew rapidly; by 1898 there were 1,000 students attending classes on campus. In response to the growing student body, the administration began construction on several new buildings including Altgeld Hall (1895), Swen Parson Hall (1902), and Castle Memorial Gymnasium (1903).
The school experienced its first period of significant growth during the 1920s under President William Gomberg; between 1921 and 1929 enrollment nearly doubled from 1,500 to 2,936 students. This growth corresponded with an expansion of course offerings beyond teacher training; during this time degrees in business administration, music education, physical education, speech pathology/audiology were added to the curriculum. In 1925 Gomberg oversaw the construction of two new residence halls: Gilbert Hall for women and Adams Hall for men . He also oversaw the creation of Huskie Stadium which opened