Partnerships and Activities College of Arts and Sciences Newsletter | 9 CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDENT ACCEPTED TO TOP-10 GRADUATE PROGRAM MacKenzie Turner of Belgrade, Montana, a spring 2026 graduate with a major in criminal justice and minors in psychology and Spanish, earned a merit scholarship and acceptance to the Master of Science in Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs. U.S. News & World Report ranks American University’s School of Public Affairs No. 9 in the nation and first among public affairs schools in Washington, D.C. At Northern State University, MacKenzie played women’s soccer, served as Chief Communications Officer in Student Government and completed an internship with the Aberdeen Police Department. She is also one of the first students to complete NSU’s newer course offerings in American Extremism and Domestic Terrorism and Crime and Emergent Technologies, which Dr. Lucas Wiscons developed and launched. “MacKenzie is a stellar student with a bright future ahead of her. She’ll be a tremendous asset to the program and we’re proud she got her start here at Northern,” said Dr. Wiscons. With Dr. Austin Clements joining Northern’s history program in fall 2026, bringing expertise in domestic terrorism and radicalization, NSU is building the foundation to send many more students down this career path. NSU ALUM MacKenzie Turner Grace Humann (STEM Outreach GA) delivering a STEM lesson. RETIREMENTS RIC DIAS-PROFESSOR OF HISTORY After thirty-one years at Northern State University, Professor of History Ric Dias will retire at the conclusion of the 2025–2026 academic year, closing a career that began when he arrived at NSU in the fall of 1995 after earning his doctorate in History from the University of California Riverside and that quickly made him one of the most recognizable and beloved figures on campus. A California native, he needed time to adjust to Aberdeen winters, but not long to fall in love with the people of Aberdeen and Northern State University and what followed was a career defined by teaching, mentorship, service and an unmistakable classroom presence. For nearly three decades he served as the back end of the American History sequence to recently retired Professor Dave Grettler’s front end, taking students from the post–Civil War era through courses on the American West, the Cold War, the 1960s and his legendary History of Rock and Roll, where his energy, humor, refined taste in music, bad jokes, Simpsons references and infamous B.S. stamp on wandering papers became part of campus lore, converting countless students who entered History 152 with other plans into history majors instead. Beyond the classroom he advised student organizations including the History Club and Student Ambassadors, spent more than a dozen years cooking Valentine’s Day dinners as a fundraiser for the NSU Thomas Aquinas Newman Center and in later years became a tireless advocate for international students, particularly those from South Korea, traveling there multiple times to recruit students and reconnect with former ones. He was equally generous with his colleagues as a longtime mentor to new faculty, the driving force behind NSU’s faculty mentorship program and a multi-term chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee whose influence quietly shaped professional lives across campus. Outside the university Ric and his lovely wife Shelly are known for their love of travel and their enthusiasm for cuisines from around the world, especially South Korean food, interests that fit neatly with Ric’s long service as a food judge at both the Brown County Fair and the South Dakota State Fair and that once led, during a visit to Cambodia, to a brief and memorable encounter with fried tarantulas, an experience he insists was enjoyable at least the one time. He is also the author of two books on industrial history, one on the Hall-Scott Motor Company and another on the Kaiser Steel Company and can occasionally be spotted locally showing off his restored 1951 Kaiser automobile at area car shows. Professor Dias’s retirement will leave a hole at NSU (though, based on his size, perhaps not an especially large one). For more than three decades, students, faculty and staff have known and loved Ric Dias - he will be deeply missed. JULIE BACKOUS-SENIOR SECRETARY Ms. Backous graduated from Northern State University with a BS in psychology. In 2013 she joined Northern as senior secretary for the Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and department secretary for History and Social Sciences. Recently, she added the department of English, Communication and Global Languages to her responsibilities. Ms. Backous has more than 20 years of experience as an administrative assistant and 16 years working with children in residential behavioral settings in South Dakota and Colorado. Ms. Backous spent the last 13 years at Northern dedicating her time to students, faculty and staff, helping to move CAS and department strategies forward through her administrative support. This June she will retire to satisfy her passion for travel, concerts and the outdoors.
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