2017-09-20
- Advanced math is critical to people pursuing countless careers, but living on a university campus and paying a full college-tuition for only a few math courses that one may need isn’t always an option. With their program, NetMath, however, the Department of Mathematics is making university-level math classes...
2017-09-19 - For Daniel Leon, professor of classics, a recent discovery about ancient life in Athens occurred because of what he calls “serendipity”—and a bit of 21st century technology.Leon was going to the Greek city to examine a couple of transcriptions when he learned that his colleague, Professor K.A. Rask of Duquesne University, was heading there...
2017-09-18 - This academic year marks 20 years of Asian American studies at the University of Illinois. The Department of Asian American Studies is considered a leader in the study of Asian Americans, their movements, and globalization—and, according to Martin Manalansan, head of the department, their overarching question is this: How do we build on the energy...
2017-09-15 - A $45 million reinvestment in U of I's Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) research project, which has already garnered international attention for demonstrating dramatic yield increases in food crops, will help researchers advance their work to address the global food challenge. The five-year reinvestment from the...
2017-09-13 - This year’s new faculty in the College of LAS come from as far away as Germany and Florida. In the case of Adam Dolezal, it's a homecoming. Some 11 years after earning his bachelor’s degree in integrative biology at Illinois, and then going on to earn his doctoral degree at Arizona State University, Dolezal is back in Morrill Hall. This...
2017-09-12 - For all the exams, papers, and lab reports in college, there’s one question facing students that potentially causes more anxiety than all the rest: What comes next after graduation? This fall, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences hopes to give students tools to answer this question by opening the new Life + Career Design Lab.Founded on the concept of design thinking—an increasingly popular...
2017-09-11 - Wilfred van der Donk, the Richard E. Heckert Chair of Chemistry, professor at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, is a leader in the area of antibiotics research. Read about what he thinks is central to the fight against bacterial resistance to drugs—and how his field has...
2017-09-07 - The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has announced seven recipients of its 2017 annual alumni awards. The awardees represent several different fields of study and have remarkable accomplishments that are linked to their experiences and connections at the University of Illinois.Summaries of the award recipients are below. Several will be honored during Homecoming celebrations in October,...
2017-09-07 - Colleagues, friends, and family gathered with Satish K. Nair on Tuesday to celebrate his being named the I.C. Gunsalus Professor in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. A named professorship is one of the highest honors a faculty member can receive. Nair, a professor of biochemistry in the...
2017-09-05 - Antiviral drug resistance has long been a problem in modern society. As viruses evolve, they develop resistance to antiviral drugs, which become less effective at treating diseases such as influenza. Now, a group of researchers is approaching this problem with a new idea: what if antiviral drugs could evolve along with viruses to stop this resistance? Christopher Brooke,...
2017-09-01 - You don’t have to be a student of architecture to see that there’s something different about Altgeld Hall. Maybe it’s the Romanesque façade of dark, roughly hewn Minnesota sandstone, or its striking—and sometimes unsettling—artistic features, such as a savage gargoyle over a small door on the west side of the building. Maybe it’s the tower, looming more than 130 feet over the sidewalks.Of course...
2017-09-01 - Until recently, Samantha Frost knew nothing of the complex interactions happening at the molecular level that influence human behavior. But that all changed in 2010 when the professor of political science and gender and women’s studies ventured beyond her study of 17th century philosophy to explore ideas in...
2017-09-01 - When John Milton Gregory became the first regent of the University of Illinois—then called Illinois Industrial University—in 1867, higher education was at a crossroads. The Civil War had just ended, and with it came an economic downturn accompanied by strong sentiment against certain aspects of a university education. According to Harry Kersey, author of “John Milton Gregory and the University...
2017-09-01 - You’ve seen the heartwarming images of U.S. military service members returning home from overseas deployments— military personnel in uniform emerging unexpectedly from the crowd at youth baseball games, the joyful airport reunions, and all the hugs and tears that ensue. But what happens in the aftermath? How do military families communicate during the potentially challenging...
2017-08-30 - One hundred years ago, the Russian Revolution “shook the world,” in the words of a famous book.This fall at the University of Illinois, organizers are hoping to “shake the campus,” at least a little, with a series of events reflecting on that anniversary and its legacy.Many other schools have organized programs around the centennial, but the U of I is an obvious site as “one of the strongest...
2017-08-29 - Prominent entomologist May Berenbaum at the University of Illinois has been recognized by the British Ecological Society for her work benefiting the scientific community and society in general.Berenbaum received the Honorary Membership award from the head of the British Ecological Society...
2017-08-28 - Monday was a big day for the renovated Natural History Building—it was the first time since 2014 that the 125 year-old campus landmark reopened for classes. Many of the students who passed through were impressed by the building’s new interior.“I was walking in and I said, ‘Wow, this is quite the upgrade,’” said Nicole Mittelstaedt, junior studying ...
2017-08-25 - Fifteen faculty and staff members have assumed new leadership roles in departments and units across the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences this fall semester. LAS is home to more than 60 departments, centers, schools, and programs.Feng Sheng Hu, Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS, expressed deep appreciation for outgoing department heads and chairs and unit directors while voicing...
2017-08-23 - Bruce Murray, resident director of the Austria—Illinois Exchange Program, is retiring this month after running the program for 25 years. And to say the professor of Germanic languages and literatures is leaving the position on a high note would be an understatement.Aside from...
2017-08-18 - Three students and an alumna from the College of LAS have been recognized as among the most valuable and influential interns in 2017 at U of I’s Research Park. Almost 600 interns work for Research Park tenant companies. Approved by the Board of Trustees in 1999, the Research Park was established to help faculty develop and commercialize new technology in conjunction with their...
2017-08-18 - John Lynn, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois, has received a Public Scholar award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The award follows news earlier this spring that Lynn had received the 2017 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize, the highest career award in the field of military history.Lynn’s Public Scholar award,...
2017-08-17 - Researchers at the University of Illinois have discovered a mechanism that allows bacteria of the same species to communicate when their survival is threatened. The study suggests that it may be possible to slow dangerous infections by manipulating the messages these microbes send to each other, allowing the body to defeat an infection without causing the bacteria to develop...
2017-08-16 - When it comes to teaching language, Silvina Montrul has a motto: Why wait? Montrul, founder and director of the University Language Academy at Illinois, said she encourages parents to expose their children to a second language long before their teenage years, which is typical for American children. The academy, in fact,...
2017-08-10 - Editor’s note: This is a blog entry that appeared on Behind the Scenes, a project to document details of research conducted at Illinois. This particular research is conducted under the auspices of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History...
2017-08-09 - Researchers from engineering and entomology are looking to insects – specifically cicadas – for insight into the design of artificial surfaces with de-icing, self-cleaning, and anti-fogging abilities. Their wings allow cicadas to fly, of course, but they also are good at repelling water – a condition that humans can...