North Park has served five generations of students and continues to grow in diversity, academic relevance, and Christian commitment. Our Chicago location is a great asset that reflects the School’s global reach and outlook.
After 125 years, we’ve learned how to streamline the process of helping qualified applicants seek admission to North Park and find affordable ways to attend. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on our website, please contact us directly!
North Park offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Classes average 17 students. 84% of our faculty have terminal degrees. Academics here are rigorous and results-oriented.
North Park Theological Seminary prepares you to answer the call to service through theological study, spiritual development, and the formative experiences of living in a community with others on a similar life path.
The Office of Alumni Engagement fosters lifelong connections by engaging alumni with the university and one another in activities, programs, and services that support the university’s mission and alumni needs.
North Park University received a $142,216 Illinois Board of Higher Education grant to provide 45 students with essential needs.
North Park University (NPU) received a $142,216 grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) that provided 45 students with food, housing during academic breaks, textbooks, technology access, and other essential, basic needs.
The grant, issued to NPU in November 2024 by IBHE’s End Student Housing Insecurity grant program, funded a staff position and food pantry, according to Skyy Barney, NPU’s student care coordinator.
The position, HOUSE (Housing and Opportunities that are Useful for Student Excellence) liaison, works directly with students experiencing homelessness or precarious living situations. It’s often difficult to recognize such students, according to Kate Danielson, founder and director of Foster Progress, a Chicago-based group that helps foster children go to college.
“These students might be staying on friends’ couches or asking to stay on campus over breaks,” Danielson said. “Or they might avoid conversations about home or family or mention money stress or unstable transportation. They also often lack a fixed, adequate nighttime residence and experience food insecurity.”
Students who qualified to benefit from the grant included those who self-disclosed their unstable housing or those transitioning out of foster or state care. Faculty, staff, and peers could also refer students.
North Park President Mary K. Surridge and VP for Advancement Mike Nevergall were featured in the magazine Currents.
North Park University President Mary K. Surridge and Vice President for Advancement Mike Nevergall MNA ’13 discussed their strong partnership in a recent article for Currents, the magazine of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
They discussed their unique position at North Park, where Surridge held Nevergall’s position before his hiring. Nevergall emphasized that he sees that as an asset: “The relationship capital [the president] has built over the years—it is her superpower, and it opens doors.”
Reflecting on her various positions throughout her career, President Surridge said, “Even as I think about what our institutional challenges are now, I am filing through my memory thinking about generous alumni and friends who may resonate with a particular need.”
Karl Dahlgren BA ’91 has been named chief product officer of the National Restaurant Association.
Karl Dahlgren BA ’91 has been named chief product officer of the National Restaurant Association, where he will help lead the ServSafe unit, which trains food service workers to handle food safely to prevent foodborne illnesses.
Dahlgren, who also has a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, has more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning banking, technology, nonprofit, and training sectors, the association said in a statement. His background includes steering organizations through transformative initiatives, including market expansion, strategic partnerships, and operational turnarounds.
“I am honored to join the National Restaurant Association at such an important time in the industry,” said Dahlgren. “I am excited to work with a talented team … Together, we’ll drive innovation and support operators in building resilient, future-ready businesses.”
North Park’s Community Music Academy will offer violin lessons for youth ages five to 18 on Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides.
For the first time, North Park University’s Community Music Academy (NPU CMA) will offer violin instruction to youth ages 5–18 who live on the North and Northwest Sides of Chicago, thus filling a gap in local music education.
The fee-based group classes will be offered Saturday mornings on NPU’s campus and promote understanding of musical concepts, develop fine and gross motor skills and competency, and encourage social belonging through peer-learning experiences. Parents attend all classes and assist with home practice. Demonstration days for families will happen on the final days of each term.
Classes begin on September 6 and will be taught by NPU Collaborative String Pedagogue, Professor Jennifer Dunne, who has performed at every major concert venue in Chicago with dozens of professional music organizations.
“The NPU CMA provides a unique opportunity for the local youth to work with a university professor in our state-of-the-art facilities,” Dunne said. “Musical education allows students to attain skills of concentration and develop a sense of high self-esteem and experience the joy of music.”
Classes, which meet weekly for two 15-week terms, are open to any pre-college-age student interested in beginning to study violin or those who have been playing violin but are looking for another opportunity to hone their skills in a group setting.
Victoria Roehl, a Master of Nursing Leadership student, has been named a 2025–26 Schweitzer Fellow for her work addressing health inequities in Chicago.
Victoria Roehl, a student in the Master of Nursing Leadership program at North Park University (NPU), has been named a 2025–26 Schweitzer Fellow, a prestigious honor given to graduate students to lead innovative, service-driven projects that address health inequities in Chicago’s underserved communities.
Named in honor of Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the yearlong program uses an interdisciplinary approach to address unmet health needs in Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods.
Roehl’s project will focus on improving quality of life for cancer survivors through mindfulness-based self-care planning. In partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago Cancer Center, she will lead educational classes and provide participants with digital tools to set meaningful, personalized goals as they navigate survivorship. She plans to graduate from NPU in 2026.
“I chose to focus on a project that would strengthen cancer survivors’ sense of well-being to help create personalized roadmaps for self-care in conjunction with mindfulness,” Roehl said, adding that lifelong emotional stress is part of any cancer diagnosis. “The consequence of psychological stress negatively impacts survivorship, and this is magnified in communities with high socioeconomic deficits.”
“North Park University’s mission is to prepare students for lives of significance and service,” said Mary Shehan, NPU’s graduate nursing programs director. “The Schweitzer Fellowship is an exceptional opportunity for Victoria to utilize the city of Chicago as a platform for learning and service.”
Shannon Sweetnam, spokeswoman for the Schweitzer Program, said Roehl was selected from a competitive pool of 100 applicants with backgrounds including art therapy and public health.
For 29 years, the Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program has provided a platform for graduate students in health-related fields. The program has provided more than 130,000 hours of community service to more than 150 Chicagoland community service organizations.
Beth Hayson MBA ’08 has been named chief learning and publications officer at the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Beth Hayson MBA ’08 has been named chief learning and publications officer at the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).
“With more than two decades of experience in continuing medical education, strategic leadership, and instructional design, Beth brings a wealth of driving innovation in healthcare learning environments,” an ASGE spokesperson said.
Before joining ASGE, Hayson held positions at the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, most recently as associate executive director, continuing education, meetings, and exhibitions. She has also worked for Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Paige Lepp MSN ’13 has opened On the Spot Dermatology, a Glenview-based skin care practice.
Paige Lepp MSN ’13 has opened On the Spot Dermatology, a Glenview-based skin care practice designed to provide immediate, cost-effective solutions to patients with less-complex skin concerns.
“I’ve seen firsthand how frustrating it can be for patients to wait weeks or even months for a dermatology appointment,” Lepp said. “We’re dedicated to addressing patients’ concerns immediately, allowing them to receive the care they need without unnecessary delays.”
Lepp, who also has an undergraduate degree from Indiana University Bloomington, has 16 combined years of nursing experience in dermatology and emergency medicine. Her practice will meet the growing demand for quick-care dermatology services.
North Park student Valeria Román has spent ample time in hospitals, training to become a nurse.
North Park student Valeria Román, who will graduate with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in December 2025, has spent ample time in hospitals, training to become a nurse.
In 2020, she partook in the Discovering Healthcare Careers internship at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where she shadowed doctors and nurses. That internship opened the door for many other internships in which she participated through the Mentorship & Workforce Development at Lurie Children’s, including INSPIRE2 Student Nurse Mentoring Program, which connects nursing students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds with mentors.
But that’s not where Román’s story at Lurie Children’s began.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Román chose nursing as a career when she saw how kindly her parents were treated by the staff at Lurie Children’s when she was there as a patient herself.
“What really caught my attention was the way every worker was kind and helpful to my parents, who are Hispanic and—at the time—didn’t speak much English,” she said.
Currently, Román works as a student nurse assistant at Lurie Children’s and plans to work in pediatric nursing, where she hopes to inspire other Hispanic kids to pursue a medical career.
“When children see doctors or nurses with their skin tone, it’s inspiring to them—it’s inspiring even to me now,” she said.
Lauren Thurston MDiv ’23 has been awarded a clergy-related Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.
North Park Theological Seminary’s (NPTS) Lauren Thurston MDiv ’23 has been awarded a clergy-related Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).
“As a seminary student, Lauren’s attentiveness to the dignity and flourishing of all people was woven throughout all her work,” said NPTS Theology Teaching Fellow Armida Belmonte Stephens, who taught Thurston. “As a pastor and leader, she is critically engaging important ethical questions, and her commitment to seeking God’s glory and neighbors’ good is clear. This fellowship is so very well deserved.”
As part of the program, participants spend two weeks in Germany and Poland exploring the constructs, current issues, and other factors that raise ethical concerns in contemporary professional work settings. In addition to discussions, students spend time touring sites of historic importance as they relate to the Holocaust.
Specifically, FASPE investigates the ethical societal breakdowns that allowed Naziism to flourish in 1930s and 1940s Germany and the implications for today’s workplace.
“FASPE’s distinctive approach is to examine the roles and behavior of individual professionals in Germany and elsewhere between 1933 and 1945 as an initial framework for approaching ethical responsibility in the professions today,” according to FASPE’s mission statement.
The highly competitive fellowships are awarded to those in the fields of law, medicine, journalism, design and technology, and clergy and religious leaders.
To qualify, clergy applicants must be enrolled in graduate school or preparing to work as a religious leader. FASPE welcomes applicants from all faith backgrounds.
Congratulations to the students who made the spring 2025 dean’s list.
Congratulations to the students who made the spring 2025 dean’s list. Degree-seeking students with at least 12 semester credit hours at North Park University and a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for this honor.
Author Megan VoypickPosted on Categories Stories
