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NIU professor from Naperville safe after Nepal quake

A Northern Illinois University professor from Naperville was in Nepal at the time of the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake but has checked in with his colleagues that he is alive and safe.

Mark Rosenbaum, a marketing professor, was teaching at Katmandu University's School of Management as part of a semester-long Fulbright scholarship when the quake hit, and the apartment he was living in with several other westerners was destroyed, said NIU College of Business Dean Denise Schoenbachler.

She said he had to run outside during the shaking but soon after was able to reach out to his co-workers at NIU and let them know he was safe and had relocated to another housing unit.

Schoenbachler said Rosenbaum has been emailing frequently to update staff members and that most recently getting clean water is a concern.

"They are bringing in water on tanker trucks," she said. "To come from Naperville, Illinois, and then to be in a situation where he is worrying about water, will he have water or not, how many more days will food last - that is a very humbling experience."

Rosenbaum has been a professor at NIU for about 15 years and specializes in retailing.

"He said he did this Fulbright in order to have a life-changing experience, I don't know that this was exactly what he had in mind," Schoenbachler said.

Schoenbachler said Rosenbaum is hoping to stay in Nepal and finish his Fulbright scholarship, which ends in June and will be back teaching at NIU's DeKalb campus in the fall.

For now, Rosenbaum is just dealing with the situation as it changes day to day as much of Nepal recovers from an earthquake that caused massive destruction and killed more than 4,000 people.

"He said seeing some of these places just crumble like powder and the complete destruction has been pretty awing," she said.

Schoenbachler said there are also a few students from NIU in international programs in Nepal and that the school is providing resources to Nepalese students on campus who may have family members dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake.

"It's all very scary," she said.

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