Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award

The Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award is a prestigious honor that recognizes the efforts and accomplishments of NIU's top graduating students. Each year, this award is given to an outstanding senior from each of the four-year degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois.

NIU department leaders: please review and complete the nomination form.

All NIU faculty are encouraged to put forward excellent nominees for endorsement consideration by their department.

Nomination Information

• Nominations are due Friday, March 6, 2026.
• You will answer four questions about the nominee in the nomination form.
• You are no longer required to provide letters and CV documents for this step of the process; student nominees will be contacted for additional information.

Student Nominee Requirements

• Be an NIU rising senior who is graduating in fall 2026, spring 2027 or summer 2027.
• Be enrolled as a full-time student through to graduation.
• Have a GPA of 3.5 or better at the end of the spring 2024 semester.
• Be nominated by a department; multiple units can collaborate to nominate a specific student, which is appropriate if a student has more than one departmental home.

Upon being notified of your nomination, please submit a personal statement and résumé by Monday, March 23, 2026, to complete your application for consideration.

Past Award Recipients

• 2024 - Emma Whitlock
• 2023 - Merveille "Yvette" Muyizere
• 2022 - Vilaya "Ling" Sirivong
• 2021 - Megan Nordstrom
• 2020 - Jill Belluomini
• 2019 - Ian Pearson
• 2018 - I Younan An
• 2017 - Rachel Jacob
• 2016 - Rebecca Rasmussen
• 2015 - Kiran Gill
• 2014 - Abby Jeppson
• 2013 - Sarah Stuebing

Testimonial

Continuously learning allows me to accumulate knowledge about the world around me to become aware of the different perspectives that I might not appreciate at first glance.

Emma Whitlock, NIU 2024 Lincoln Laureate Recipient