2022-03-23
- Adrienne Harris has worked on campus for 20 years and in the Department of Communication since January 2018. Her primary role is to oversee the department's finances, and, in her office, a healthy work culture is a priority.
“I am very proud to be a part of the communication department,” Harris said. “The culture is one of respect, inclusion, and...
2022-03-11 - With the crisis raging in Ukraine, professors in the Department of Political Science recently met to publicly discuss some of the issues arising from the conflict. Why did Putin invade? Will Ukraine join the European Union? Will China become involved? How will this affect international relations—and what can be done to keep the war from spreading? You can...
2022-03-11 - Regional economies are routinely subject to the whims of the business cycle that can lead to job losses and lower incomes for residents when a recession hits or an industry declines. But new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economists finds that counties that also are home to a regional public university are better able to withstand adverse economic shocks...
2022-03-11 - A professor of sociology is part of an important new effort to increase the sustainability of phosphorous, a key element in food fertilizers that comes largely from non-renewable deposits outside of the United States. Anna Marshall is a co-principal investigator with the NSF Science and Technology Center: Science...
2022-03-11 - Travis L. Dixon, a professor and director of graduate studies in communication, will deliver the annual College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on March 23. Dixon’s talk, titled “The Centrality of Media Stereotyping and How It Impacts Us,” will examine the power of media...
2022-03-10 - When Disha Hegde was little, her father, a software engineer, would play math games with her. He wanted her to learn mathematical and logical concepts, and it worked: by the time she was in fifth grade she was known as the riddle queen and was asked to give other students a chance to answer her teacher’s riddles. She always got them right. So where does a riddle queen go to college? In high...
2022-03-10 - As an interviewer, I’ve always felt there’s one question that tells me pretty much everything I need to know about a person. It’s not about who they root for in the playoffs or their latest TV binge. It’s just nine simple words. “Are you a dog person or a cat person?” After spending some time chatting with Mark Hauber, however, I’ve decided I may have to add another category to the mix. Because...
2022-03-10 - Two LAS professors, Kathryn Oberdeck and Esther Ngumbi, recently received Campus Excellence in Public Engagement Awards. Here’s what they’re up to. Helping the community find its place in history The perceived gap—real or not—between a university and the surrounding community has existed for as long as colleges themselves. For Kathryn Oberdeck, public engagement means bridging...
2022-03-09 - An annual study of the early career paths of recent University of Illinois graduates reveals that new alumni from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences remain successful in finding jobs and other first destinations. More than 93 percent of LAS alumni who graduated during the 2020-21 academic year have secured first destination jobs (including military service), continuing education, or...
2022-03-09 - Sometimes the spark for something great is literally a spark. In August 1896 a thunderstorm rolled across east central Illinois and unleashed a lightning bolt on the roof of the U of I’s Chemical Laboratory, with the resulting fire destroying much of the building. Out of the ashes rose one of the most renowned chemistry buildings in the field: Noyes Laboratory. The nearly 120 year-old building...
2022-03-09 - It makes sense to think that successful people are living out a childhood dream. With Deon Thomas (BS, ’94, political science), that’s not true. “You look at your life and you think how it’s going to be, (and) when it turns out not to be the way you thought, it’s kind of mind blowing,” Thomas said, “But I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.” The...
2022-03-07 - Richard Etheridge was a biracial former slave who fought in the Civil War and led a regiment of Black troops. A fictionalized account of Etheridge and his military service drives the narrative in a recently published novel by David Wright Faladé, an English professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Faladé described “...
2022-02-28 - For more than 150 years Chinese students have traveled to the U.S. seeking higher education. The Seetoo family has followed that tradition for nearly as long. The first Seetoo in America—the grandfather of U of I graduate Amy Seetoo (司徒達森)(MA, ’70, teaching English as a second...
2022-02-24 - As a human resource associate for the Department of Mathematics, Emily Lange handles countless situations with empathy and knowledge that allow others to settle into new roles. From hiring activities to assisting with immigration roadblocks, Lange is instrumental in providing support to Illinois mathematics scholars from around the world...
2022-02-23 - Atmospheric scientists from around the country will collaborate this spring to study the formation of particularly dangerous and little understood squall line tornadoes in the Southeast United States. Scientists from the University of Illinois will help lead the multi-institutional project, called Propagation Evolution and Rotation in Linear Storms (...
2022-02-22 - What’s the scoop on the Altgeld Hall Dairy Queen? For the past few years, word of a Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall has left many students scratching their heads over offerings of “Illini Blizzards” and other frozen treats supposedly offered inside one of U of I’s most iconic buildings. When they look, however, they can’t even find where to place their order. So where is the Altgeld DQ, anyway? The...
2022-02-22 - As is typical with state and university building projects, funding sources can appear a bit confusing to casual—or even not-so-casual—observers. With designs and approvals moving forward, here’s a brief explainer of how the Altgeld and Illini Hall Project is being paid for. What is the cost of the project? The total...
2022-02-18 - The College of LAS has selected winners of this year’s teaching and advising awards. Professors, graduate students, lecturers, and an advisor have been honored for their service. "The College of LAS is enormously proud of the recipients of this year's teaching and advising awards," said Venetria K. Patton, Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS. "Teaching and advising has always required...
2022-02-18 - Buildings can’t grow the way people and programs do, which is why, after 115 years of service to the campus, Illini Hall now stands empty. The last faculty and staff members recently moved out to make way for the construction of a new building on the same site. Emptiness is an unusual state for Illini Hall. Over the years it’s served as everything from a YMCA to a student union, war barracks,...
2022-02-17 - Balloon launches are typically the stuff of birthday parties and photo opps unless you’re an atmospheric scientist trying to gather storm data in tandem with NASA research planes navigating their way through giant blizzards. Then they require a bit of creativity and determination. That was a job requirement in late January for graduate students Andrew Janiszeski (MS, ’20;...
2022-02-11 - “Becky was really like a second mom, not only to me, but to many others.” Those are the words Dan Hanus uses when reflecting on his relationship with the late Rebecca J. (Becky) Simon, his advisor in the School of Chemical Sciences at Illinois when he was a student. Hanus (BS, ’86, chemical engineering) recently...
2022-02-10 - A faculty member, two alumni, and a former long-time faculty member from the College of LAS have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors in the field. William Hammack, the William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering; Freeman A. Hrabowski III (MA, ’71,...
2022-02-07 - Editor's note: The following is a column written by Brett Ashley Kaplan for the Feb. 3, 2022, News-Gazette, reprinted with permission from the News-Gazette and edited for style. Kaplan is director of graduate studies,...
2022-02-02 - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Nicholas Grossman is the author of “Drones and Terrorism: Asymmetric Warfare and the Threat to Global Security” and specializes in international relations. Grossman spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the brewing Russia-Ukraine conflict. How close are...
2022-01-31 - Six staff members and academic professionals are being recognized for their particularly noteworthy efforts in advancing the mission of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2021-22. Jeeyoung Ha, Melissa Sotelo, and Kasia Szremski have been selected by an awards committee to receive the LAS Academic Professional Award. The recognition comes with a $1,000 award and a $1,000 salary...