2023 INSTITUTIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Experience-powered learning
The power of place to shape undergraduate experience
Northeastern empowers students to live and learn in different contexts through inclusive, global experiences, launching our learners into a lifetime of achievement and impact.
West Coast experiences spur startup skills
International transfer student and computer science major Heran Yang, ’24, started his Northeastern undergraduate education in Boston and later headed to the West Coast to sharpen his entrepreneurial instincts. A Northeastern program in San Francisco provided mentorship and project-based courses, plus an internship at an AI startup. And a program at our Seattle campus helped him lock in his programming skills and prepare a top-notch UX/UI portfolio. Now a senior, he envisions eventually launching a startup.
Researching a fatal tropical disease where it lives
Katherine O’Brien, ’24 (left), and Grace Kennedy, ’25, spent five months at a rural clinic in Kenya last spring researching visceral leishmaniasis, which is among the world’s deadliest parasitic diseases. Kennedy focused on tracking treatment outcomes, while O’Brien delved into environmental risk factors for the disease, which is prevalent in impoverished tropical regions. For both health science majors, the experience illustrated the vital importance of context—cultural, economic, and social—for understanding problems and creating solutions.
Reigniting a promising future in IT
In 2018, Evrard Ngabirano immigrated to Portland, Maine, from his native Burundi, but his previous IT experience wasn’t getting him anywhere in the job market. So he turned to the Roux Institute and the Align master’s program in computer science to earn a holistic understanding of the sector and reignite his career. He’s now immersed in data systems, working for the renewable energy company Ameresco.
Breaking into tech, following a childhood passion
History major Greg Valcourt, ’23, landed a job as a consultation agent at Best Buy, but he had always loved computers. Reassessing his career, he enrolled in the Roux Institute’s Align master’s program in computer science—designed for students with no academic background in the field—and immersed himself in systems. Valcourt is now the systems administrator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and credits the Roux Institute for helping him turn his passion into a career.
Deepening experience with our PlusOne program
Fast-tracking career ambitions
Beatriz Feijóo Gómez, ’21, ’22, added a master’s degree in engineering management to her B.S. in civil engineering through Northeastern’s PlusOne accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program. It fast-tracked her goal of engineering business leadership. But she also opted to devote some time to enriching her graduate experience. She helped lead a Dialogue of Civilizations program on culture and technology in Turkey, served as a teaching assistant, and delved into data science. And still earned her master’s degree a semester early.
A business boost for sustainability leadership
No global issue resonates with Paul van Trotsenburg, ’22, ’23, more than climate change. Eager to develop business-savvy solutions, Trotsenburg added a PlusOne master’s in engineering management to his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. In just one year—coupled with his leadership experience in the Galante Engineering Business Program—Trotsenburg has acquired a deeper understanding of both the engineering and business sides of scaling up sustainable energy technologies.
Experiences that change lives
24,127
learners in graduate and certificate programs, up from 5,410 in 2006
98,373
undergraduate applications for fall 2024
3,587
co-op employers across the U.S. and worldwide
13,346
co-op placements, up from 6,301 in 2006
Equipped to impact the world
93%
of graduates employed full time or enrolled in graduate school within nine months of graduation (10-year average)
91%
of employed 2022 graduates are doing work related to their major
Leadership and transformation
Our annual Academic Honors event celebrated students and faculty who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship, research, teaching, and advancing our university’s mission. Our students earned the following nationally competitive awards:
National awards supporting global study and experience
Meet a few of the 2023 honorees who reflect Northeastern’s highest ideals: a global university powered by experience, innovation, and impact.
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Fulbright ScholarshipAndrew Small, ’23
An Asian Studies major, Small is using his Fulbright Scholarship to continue researching the impact of nuclear power plants and disaster preparedness in rural Japan.
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Goldwater ScholarshipGillian McClennen, ’24
Passionate about science and research, McClennen plans to earn a PhD investigating the implications of the gut-brain connection in mental health treatment.
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Schwarzman ScholarshipAlex Marley, ’23
An electrical engineering and economics major, Marley is pursuing graduate work at Tsinghua University in Beijing through his Schwarzman Scholarship.
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Fulbright ScholarshipZaneta Sulley, ’22
Sulley honed superb advocacy and communication skills as a criminal justice and sociology major with an international affairs minor. She’s teaching in Italy as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
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Goldwater ScholarshipSiddarth Simon, ’24
With extensive research experience in neuroscience, Simon won a Goldwater Scholarship. An aspiring MD/PhD, he hopes to use data science to make medical research more powerful.
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Fulbright ScholarshipSaoirse McNally, ’23
A human services and criminal justice major, McNally is dedicated to connecting and supporting others. She’s using her Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Spain.
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Fulbright ScholarshipKatherine Kikta, ’23
An international business major, Kikta is expanding her cross-cultural understanding by studying in Singapore this fall with a Pickering Fellowship and teaching English in Timor-Leste as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student program.
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Harry Truman ScholarshipAmara Ifeji, ’24
A conservationist, social activist, and natural leader, Ifeji was selected as a Truman Scholar. The political science major plans to attend law school and continue advancing environmental and racial justice.
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Goldwater ScholarshipEthan Wong, ’24
A meticulous researcher with a focus on neurobiology and the neuropathology of cognitive decline, Wong plans to earn an MD and PhD, combining clinical research with Big Data.
PhD innovators
128%
increase in applications to research PhD programs since 2013
PhD partnership powers AI innovations
Andrea Lacava’s double PhD program in computer engineering—in partnership with Sapienza, University of Rome—is helping to power his breakthroughs in wireless network technology. Northeastern magnifies those opportunities, says Lacava, through its exceptional resources for wireless research. His work—at Northeastern on AI-based innovations to make cellular networks smarter and at Sapienza to make Bluetooth networks more secure—could lead to safer self-driving cars, more powerful remote healthcare, and speedier internet.
Teamwork boosts opioid epidemic research
Neuroscience doctoral student Sade Iriah, ’16, MPH’19, has patented a discovery involving gut bacteria that could help reduce the global scourge of opioid addiction, her research focus. The achievement demanded advanced technological resources, integrating MRI brain imaging and genetic analyses of the gut microbiome. But Iriah says her team—particularly the inspirational backing of her mentor, Professor Craig Ferris, and the extra Northeastern and industry support from the Leadership Education Advancing Discovery through Embedded Research program—was just as crucial.
Experiential PhD sharpens detective skills
Madison McMinn is an environmental detective. The mystery that the chemistry doctoral student is trying to solve is hiding in plain sight: determining the potential toxicity of the artificial turf on thousands of playing fields around the world and how prolonged environmental exposure changes the turf’s chemical profile. Her research relies on an analytical technique called mass spectrometry. McMinn’s experiential PhD work at the analytical instrument company Waters Corporation honed her technical, communication, and teamwork skills—perfect preparation for a coveted industry job.
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