Caring for the Places That Shaped Her: Martha Ann Terry, '83, M.A. '85
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet

Martha Ann Terry, '83, M.A. '85 (Photo: Martha Ann Terry)

“You won’t regret choosing NIU.”
“I had a good experience at NIU, and I know you will too.”
“You’re almost done. You can do this!”

Sometimes a few handwritten words arrive at exactly the right moment.

For Martha Ann Terry, ’83, M.A. ’85, those brief messages — sent to students considering NIU and to those pushing through finals week — are a simple but powerful way to offer encouragement through two programs designed by the NIU Alumni Association's Volunteer Engagement Community, NIU Nexus.

Penned from her home in Pittsburgh, the postcards remind students they are supported by a vast network of Huskies — alumni who built NIU’s reputation for grit and determination and who are now cheering on the next generation to carry that legacy forward.

“I got a lot out of my experience at NIU, and I like to give back,” she said. “It enriches my life, and I’m at a point where I can choose opportunities I know I’ll truly enjoy.”

Terry’s commitment to volunteering is deeply personal.

“My father always used to say, ‘Service is the price we pay for the space we inhabit,’” she said. 
 

Beyond writing heartfelt postcards, Terry volunteers as an alumna interviewee for an advanced communications class and serves on the Anthropology Alumni Advisory Board, continuing her commitment to supporting students and academic programs from afar.

Looking across her various roles, it’s clear Terry believes that giving back doesn’t have to be complicated to be meaningful. 

“From early on, I watched my parents volunteer in the small Iowa towns where we lived,” Terry said. “I saw how helping others, however you could, made their life better, and led to being happier.”

This belief in community connection traces back to Terry’s own time as a student at NIU — an experience she describes as, quite simply, like coming home.

After a year of college at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, followed by her marriage and starting a family, Terry returned to the classroom when she and her family moved to Sandwich, Illinois. With young children at home, her path to a degree required careful planning and flexibility. Still, from her very first NIU class — an introductory course in cultural anthropology — she knew she had found her place. 

“It was like coming home,” she said. “Everything I loved was in that class. Dr. Michael Salovesh brought energy, joy and storytelling to the class that showed the importance of kinship ties, links to archaeology and understanding how our biology is related to culture. I looked forward to every Thursday night that semester.”

Though not involved in student life in the traditional sense, Terry found a strong sense of belonging within her cohort and among faculty who left a lasting impact on her. Hands-on coursework, long weekends in the lab that turned into potluck study sessions, and storytelling professors who brought the discipline to life shaped both her academic confidence and future goals. 

“My professors were so influential, I wanted to do what they were doing: be in the classroom, sharing stories and convincing students that anthropology was the most exciting discipline on earth,” she said.

That clarity of purpose shaped what came next. After earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at NIU, Terry went on to complete a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, launching a career rooted in teaching, mentorship and the same sense of curiosity and care she first experienced in NIU classrooms.

Terry spent 30 years at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, joining in 1992 as an urban ethnographer for a CDC-funded HIV prevention project focused on women. She went on to hold teaching and leadership roles across the school, including director of the Master of Public Health program in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences. Her work included advising graduate students across multiple disciplines, helping design joint academic programs, and serving in faculty governance, including as president of the School of Public Health’s Faculty Senate Executive Committee and public health representative on the University Senate. 

Asked for her best career advice, Terry replied: “Do what you love. All the rest will work itself out.”
 

Terry was recognized in 2009 with the James L. Craig Excellence in Teaching Award, a student-voted honor from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health. In 2023, she was honored with the NIU Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for her professional accomplishments and continued service to the university.
 

Retirement didn’t mark a slowdown for Terry — it simply gave her more time to focus on service, applying her skills to communities and causes she cares about.
 

She currently serves on the advisory board for Biobehavioral Health at Penn State Greater Allegheny, supporting academic and community-focused initiatives. A long-time neighborhood leader, Terry has volunteered with her community association for years, serving two terms as president and focusing on safety, connection and long-term retention. Most recently, Terry joined the Neighborhood Resilience Project’s Community Transformation Collaborative, an effort centered on listening to residents and building healthier, safer communities. 

Whether supporting community-centered initiatives or encouraging students from afar, Terry’s service is about more than time or tasks — it’s about showing up for the places and the people that shape us.
 

Want to make a difference for NIU students? Decorate cards and assemble student care packages at an upcoming Student Care Package Prep and Pizza Party in DeKalb or Naperville. 

Interested in other ways to get involved? Contact Assistant Director of Volunteer Engagement Taylor Curry, M.P.A. '25, at tcurry4@niu.edu.