Roosevelt was the first nationally famous figure to appear at NIU. While his words on that day were not committed to history, his appearance on Northern’s campus does go down as the first from a person of national/international prominence.
In the years since, many well-known people and groups have visited NIU, creating indelible memories for students, faculty, staff and alumni. They include the following:
Political Figures
Eleanor Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Eugene McCarthy
Edmund Muskie
Shirley Chisholm
Charles Percy
William Proxmire
Jesse Jackson
G. Gordon Liddy
Ronald Reagan
Harold Washington
Paul Simon
Otto Kerner
Dick Cheney
Barack Obama
Dick Durbin
Tammy Duckworth
Activists
Benjamin Hooks
Ralph Abernathy
Dick Gregory
Benjamin Spock
Bobby Seale
Stokely Carmichael
Jerry Rubin
Angela Davis
Abbie Hoffman
William Kuntsler
Adam Clayton Powell
Louis Farrakhan
Roman Pucinski
Gloria Steinem
Ralph Nader
Timothy Leary
Temple Grandin
Cornell West
Musicians
John Cage
Stan Getz
Dave Brubeck
Dizzie Gillespie
Henry Mancini
Benny Goodman
Duke Ellington
Sherrill Milnes
Pearl Bailey
Count Basie
Wynton Marsalis
Marian McPartland
BB King
Louis Bellson
Mstislav Rostropovich
Bands and Performance Groups
Cheap Trick
Pearl Jam
New Christy Minstrels
The Crew Cuts
Counting Crows
Jars of Clay
Elton John
Beach Boys
Frank Zappa
Bruce Springsteen
Styx
Kansas
John Waite
Travis Porter
John Mayer
Miranda Lambert
Grateful Dead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Black Crowes
Phil Vasser
Kid Cudi
Sheryl Crow
2 Chainz
10,000 Maniacs
R.E.M.
Jethro Tull
Smithereens
Faith No More
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Bob Dylan
Harry Chapin
Arlo Guthrie
Roberta Flack
Ike & Tina Turner
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Joffrey Ballet
Drake
JA Rule
Diamond Rio
Blake Shelton
Ludacris
Brooks & Dunn
Incubus
Nelly
Twista
3 Doors Down
Rascal Flatts
Brad Paisley
Rick Springfield
Jay Cole
Thomas Rhett
Young the Giant
Kanye West
Chingy
Dierks Bentley
John Mayer
Goo Goo Dolls
Sugarland
REO Speedwagon
Cedric the Entertainer
Soulja Boy
Joan Jett
Carrie Underwood
Jason Aldean
Young Jeezy
Michael W. Smith
Martina McBride
T-Pain
Ben Harper
Wiz Khalifa
Darius Rucker
Lupe Fiasco
Mac Miller
Daughtry
Writers
Margaret Mead
Stan Kenton
Edward Albee
Studs Terkel
Hunter S. Thompson
Tom Wolfe
Fr. Andrew Greeley
Alex Haley
Kate Millet
Alvin Toffler
Carl Sandburg
Arthur Schlesinger
Carl Sagan
Gwendolyn Brooks
Media
Bill Kurtis
Jack Brickhouse
Mike Royko
Bob Greene
David Frost
Science Fiction
Arthur C. Clarke
Rod Serling
Gene Roddenberry
Andy Weir
Lex Thomas
John Green
James Dashner
Mike Mullin
Actors/Entertainers
Leonard Nimoy
William Conrad
Basil Rathbone
Cicely Tyson
Hal Holbrook
Gabriel Iglesias
Jessica Tandy
Hume Cronyn
Marcel Marceau
Joan Allen
The Smothers Brothers
Wayne Brady
Dave Chappelle
Blue Man Group
Garrison Keillor
Theresa Caputo
Trevor Noah
Directors
Robert Zemeckis
Hal Prince
Aviators
Neil Armstrong
Amelia Earhart
Sports Figures
Gayle Sayers
Jesse Owens
Muhammed Ali
