John Kringas shoots for one of the world’s greatest newspapers, the Chicago Tribune.

During college alone, he published images in the Tribune, the New York Times, The Associated Press, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, the Grand Rapids Press, the Rockford Register Star and the DeKalb Daily Chronicle. He attended the 1984 Missouri Photo Workshop. He has countless honors, including a 1989 Hearst Journalism Award for photography and a shared Pulitzer with other Tribuine staffers.

And he credits it all to the Northern Star.

“Nothing would’ve ever happened in my life if it weren’t for the Northern Star,” said Kringas, a 1990 alumnus. “I came from an impoverished background. I never had been out of the state of Illinois. Never. My first time out of the state was for the Northern Star.”

“John has certainly made himself an outstanding example of the photographic part of newspapering,” former Star adviser Jerry Thompson said. “He did that while he was at the Star, and he has certainly done it by getting on the Tribune right after.”

Kringas took an interest in the camera in sixth grade. He shot for his junior high and high school newspapers, and chose NIU for the Star, applying for work even before classes began.

But he found the darkroom lacking, and joined others on the photo staff in pushing for two new light-focal mat enlargers. Although Kringas provided his own photo paper and chemistry, he used those enlargers to make prints for his portfolio.

Kringas also helped organize and standardize the filing of negatives.

The photo editor’s job held no appeal. “I never wanted to be anything but a photographer,” he said. “I’ve done everything you could possibly imagine, from presidents to world leaders to just regular people. It’s really important for me to do middle-America stories. I really like that – everyday people.”

He also loves his “insane” schedule.

“It’s my key to the world,” he said. “I think back to the things I’ve done there, the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been. The week of my 25th or 26th birthday, I was shooting the NBA finals. For the Chicago Tribune. That was pretty wild.”

John and his wife, Lisa, are parents to 5-year-old Johnny and 4-year-old George. He returned to NIU last spring to teach a photojournalism class.