Preparing Future Educators, Counselors, Sport Science Professionals, and Leaders
The newly renovated H.P. Gerber Education Building honors Northern’s roots as a teacher preparation institution while creating a vibrant space for the future of education, sport science, counseling, and psychology. Originally constructed in 1905 as the Industrial Arts Building, Gerber is one of the oldest and most historically significant buildings on campus. Today, it serves as the home of the Millicent Atkins School of Education and houses the departments of Teacher Education, Sports Sciences, and Psychology and Counselor Education. Together, these programs prepare students for meaningful careers in classrooms, schools, athletic and wellness settings, counseling environments, and community-based professions.
A Historic Building, Reimagined
The comprehensive renovation of Gerber began in May 2024 and was completed in August 2025. The project revitalized approximately 17,000 square feet of space and transformed the building into a collaborative, accessible, and flexible learning environment.
The renovation includes reconfigured classrooms, flexible seating, HyFlex technology, collaborative workspaces, and inviting common areas designed to support innovation in teaching and learning. The result is a building that reflects the energy, purpose, and promise of the students, faculty, and staff who fill it each day.
Student-Centered Learning
Gerber was designed to support the kind of active, hands-on learning that prepares students for today’s schools, communities, and professional settings.
The building provides spaces where students can collaborate, study, conduct research, engage in simulation-based learning, and practice the skills they will use in their future careers. Renovated classrooms and flexible learning areas allow faculty to model the same innovative, student-centered strategies that future teachers, counselors, sport science professionals, and leaders will use in their own work.
Innovation Across Programs
Within Gerber, students and faculty have spaces designed to support collaboration, active learning, research, and professional preparation across all three departments.
Teacher Education students develop the skills needed to lead today’s classrooms. Sports Sciences students prepare for careers that support health, movement, wellness, and human performance. Psychology and Counselor Education students build the knowledge and professional skills needed to serve individuals, schools, and communities.
Service and Regional Impact
Gerber strengthens Northern’s connection to schools, families, and communities across the region.
Through reading and math clinics, outreach, experiential learning, research, and service opportunities, the building supports K-12 students and community partners while giving Northern students meaningful opportunities to apply what they are learning in authentic settings. These experiences deepen partnerships with schools, families, and local organizations while reinforcing Northern’s commitment to research-based instruction, professional preparation, and service.
A Home for the Future
More than a renovated facility, the H.P. Gerber Education Building is a home for the people and programs that carry forward Northern’s legacy of preparing professionals who make a difference.
The building honors the legacy of Henry P. Gerber, a dedicated teacher and professor of Industrial Arts who served Northern Normal and Industrial School from the 1910s until his retirement in 1956. It also reflects the enduring mission of the Millicent Atkins School of Education and Northern’s commitment to preparing students for lives of leadership, service, and impact.
With its renewed spaces, historic character, and student-centered design, Gerber now matches the vibrancy of the teaching, learning, research, and service happening within its walls.