2018-07-26
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Bela Gandhi
always had a knack for matchmaking. It was no small talent, either; many of the people she set up on dates eventually married and had children. Finally, Gandhi turned her talent for making love connections into a career and launched the...
LAS News Archive
2018-07-24 - Illinois has selected 14 proposed campus projects, including three in the College of LAS, to receive a total of more than $5 million of Investment for Growth funding. Now in its second year, the Investment for Growth program is aimed at generating new sources of revenue while...
2018-07-23 - A university professor has received a grant to conduct large-scale experiments on how certain pesticides are affecting soil and, subsequently, contributing to the overall decline in bee populations. “We’re really interested in how pesticides—specifically neonicotinoids—affect...
2018-07-20 - Researchers have identified a key protein involved in the irregular brain cell activity seen in autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy. The protein, p53, is well-known in cancer biology as a tumor suppressor. The findings, reported in the journal Human Molecular Genetics and...
2018-07-20 - When a man in a group wins, he’s likely to win again—thanks to a natural boost of testosterone, according to a study conducted by a university professor. For women, meanwhile, the effects of victories on biology are not so clear-cut. ...
2018-07-17 - Murugesu “Siva” Sivapalan, professor of geography and civil and environmental engineering, has been awarded the eighth biennial Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, a renowned global scientific award that recognizes scientists,...
2018-07-13 - The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has announced the recipients of its 2018 annual alumni awards. The recipients represent a variety of backgrounds and degrees, from microbiology and economics to history, psychology, and mathematics. Their remarkable achievements are linked to their...
2018-07-11 - Since the 1940s, an introductory course sequence in oral and written communication has taught skills in critical thinking and argumentation to generations of Illinois students. Now, support from anonymous donors—along with the spirit of competition—has encouraged students to delve...
2018-07-06 - The Supreme Court in June sidestepped a chance to rule on the limits of partisan redistricting, or gerrymandering. Wendy K. Tam Cho, an Illinois professor of political science, statistics,...
2018-07-03 - Since joining the Illinois faculty in 2005, Jon Ebel, professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Religion, has studied the religious history of the United States. The author of two books (with two...
2018-07-02 - Editor’s note: The number of tick-borne illnesses diagnosed in the United States doubled between 2004 and 2016, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Summer...
2018-06-29 - As the closest biological relatives of humans, nonhuman primates such as lemurs, monkeys, and apes offer unique insights into human evolution, behavior, and the threat of emerging disease. And, according to a study by a professor emeritus of ...
2018-06-29 - Three College of LAS alumni have been offered highly prestigious Fulbright grants this year, awarding them the opportunity to pursue international research, educational, and teaching experiences.Victoria Prince (BA, ’17, global studies), Brian...
2018-06-27 - An Illinois psychology professor has created a new psychological scale that could change the way researchers study schizophrenia—by learning more about those who are showing milder symptoms of the mental illness. Thomas Kwapil and his team created...
2018-06-25 - Geology professor Patricia Gregg has been awarded a highly competitive National Science Foundation grant for faculty early in their careers. The award affords her five fully-funded years of research, which she will use to develop...
2018-06-21 - Nina Baym, an internationally recognized scholar of American literature and women’s writings, and a University of Illinois professor emerita of English, died June 15 at age 82. Baym helped establish the field of study of American women writers with...
2018-06-18 - A fund established by donors almost 30 years ago in honor of the late Illinois chemistry professor and alumnus Harold R. Snyder (BS, ’31, chemistry) continues to benefit students by allowing them an opportunity to experience graduate...
2018-06-18 - Nineteen Illinois students experienced a unique spring break this year with help from donors to the College of LAS: They traveled deep into the communities and landscape of Costa Rica and came back with knowledge that can only come from a special kind of immersion in the everyday...
2018-06-15 - An undergraduate in the College of LAS has gotten a taste of entrepreneurship by going back to her roots. Shayne Chammavanijakul, a junior in linguistics, is the founder of Dill magazine, which...
2018-06-08 - Small sample sizes in studies using functional MRI to investigate brain connectivity and function are common in neuroscience, despite years of warnings that such studies likely lack sufficient statistical power. A new analysis reveals that task-based fMRI experiments involving...
2018-06-07 - A U of I professor has published the first critical study of one of Nepal’s most cherished narrative traditions. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz, professor of religion, recently published “Reciting the Goddess: Narratives of Place and the...
2018-06-05 - Researchers report in a new study that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori – a major contributor to gastritis, ulcers and stomach cancer – resists the body’s immune defenses by shutting down energy production within the cells of the stomach lining that serve as a barrier to infection. The...
2018-06-04 - A new genetic study of ancient individuals in the Americas and their contemporary descendants finds that two populations that diverged from one another 18,000 to 15,000 years ago remained apart for millennia before mixing again. This historic “reconvergence” occurred before or...
2018-06-01 - Susan Brennan grew up in Granite City, Illinois, and remembers crossing the Mississippi River to go from her grandmother’s house to St. Louis, pinching her nose shut with her two fingers the entire time.“It was a steel town and a wonderful place to grow up. The people and the values. The great...
2018-05-31 - A new program in the Department of History is designed to create wider awareness of the careers and opportunities available to doctoral students while highlighting the diverse skills developed through graduate study.Mark Steinberg, a professor of history...