LAS News Archive

2017-12-04 -     One way to save (a lot of) money is simply by doing things more efficiently, as building managers in the College of LAS have taken to heart five years into a new energy incentive program on campus. Two LAS buildings—the Astronomy...

2017-12-01 -     A sociology professor’s exploration of the economic health of the American middle class – and the potential pitfalls it faces – has hit a nerve, as a book he published on the topic continues to generate interest three years after it...

2017-11-27 -     A drug that spurs cancer cells to self-destruct has been cleared for use in a clinical trial of patients with anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare malignant brain tumor, and glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive late-stage...

2017-11-22 - Scholarships are a critically important means of support for many students within the College of LAS. Read on to see how they've changed the lives of six LAS students. This group represents just a sampling of the 781 students in our college receiving life-changing support across our college and its...

2017-11-21 -     A genomic study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honey bees – which are more docile than other so-called “killer bees” – reveals that they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honey bee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of...

2017-11-20 - Thomas Dowling, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pursuing a double major in political science and history, has been named a Rhodes Scholar. Dowling, of Chicago, is one of 32 students from...

2017-11-20 - Two faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2017 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Animal biology professor Carla Cáceres and ...

2017-11-17 -     It’s widely known that cats, dogs and other furry friends see the world differently than we do. But what about animals that are a little bit below the surface — like fish? Until now, there hasn’t actually been much research into the topic, but thanks to Becky Fuller, professor of...

2017-11-17 - Five faculty members at the University of Illinois, including four from the College of LAS, have been named to the 2017 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list (previously known as the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list).The list recognizes “leading researchers in the sciences...

2017-11-15 - A student in the College of LAS has been chosen again for this year’s Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award, which recognizes university seniors for their excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.Thomas Dowling, a double-major in political science...

2017-11-10 -     Cara A. Finnegan , professor and associate head of the Department of Communication, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship and named a University Scholar for her work, which includes...

2017-11-09 -     Matt Eisenbrandt has spent his career litigating against perpetrators of abuse and atrocities in foreign countries who thought they had found safe haven in the United States and Canada. Recently, his experience and education in history and Latin American studies...

2017-11-08 - The renovation of the Natural History Building has been heralded for the new learning opportunities it offers students, faculty, and staff. Now it’s been recognized for something else: the intricate brick, plaster, masonry, tile, and other surface work that make the building look so good.The...

2017-11-07 - With the nation of Brazil facing political strife and a deep economic recession, public figures and scholars from the South American nation—along with scholars and policy experts from Europe and the United States—will gather at Illinois to discuss turning points that could help the nation regain...

2017-11-03 -     The late Ralph Fisher, a professor of history at Illinois, used to describe a profound shift in his field of study in the late 1950s. Before October 1957, the university was set in a “lovely prairie town” with few resources in...

2017-11-02 - Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have taken the first steps toward gaining control over the self-assembly of synthetic materials in the same way that biology forms natural polymers. This advance could prove useful in designing new bioinspired,...

2017-10-31 -     A new study, published in mBio, exposes a zinc-import system in bacteria that could contribute to their ability to cause infection. The study looked at how the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which can infect virtually all of the tissues in the human body, competes with...

2017-10-27 - Three College of LAS alumni whose career paths merged at a liberal arts college in Louisiana have more in common than just their alma mater. They are working together to run a successful study abroad program in Paris that transforms the experiences of first year college students.Kate Pedrotty (MA...

2017-10-27 -     Sometimes during the course of an English major’s studies, he or she encounters literature that lingers for a lifetime. That has been the case for Albert Ascoli (BA, ’75, English), who first read Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”...

2017-10-26 -     The University of Illinois is a key partner in a U.S.-French initiative to fully digitize and post online thousands of letters to and from Marcel Proust, the author of "In Search of Lost Time," one of the great masterpieces of western literature. These letters were gathered into...

2017-10-25 -     A distinguished doctor known for his effective teaching and mentorship of medical students has been chosen as a 2017 Illini Comeback Guest by the University of Illinois Alumni Association. Robert P. Gaynes (BS, ’75,...

2017-10-24 - When was Lucy discovered? Who found Lucy? Lucy was unearthed by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray on November 24, 1974, at the Hadar site in Ethiopia. That day, they had ventured out in a Land Rover to map a different area. Donald Johanson was hiking back to his Land Rover after a...

2017-10-24 -     Nancy Greenwalt, executive director of Promise Healthcare, found a packed waiting room when she showed up at the Champaign health center one Wednesday afternoon. It was their weekly prenatal clinic, but it was also the first day that they had brought in local organic gardeners to...

2017-10-24 -     Wayne Koonce never stepped on an airplane until his junior year at the University of Illinois. That’s when the College of LAS set him up with a year of study in Vienna, Austria—a trip that changed his life. Since that pivotal trip, Koonce (BA, '71,...

2017-10-24 -     Ifeoluwa (Luvvie) Ajayi knew she had finally made it when Oprah Winfrey rubbed her head. Ajayi had been selected for Oprah’s “SuperSoul 100 list,” and she was invited in June of 2016 to interview Oprah and the rest of the cast of “Greenleaf,” a TV show premiering on the Oprah...