LAS News Archive

2017-10-24 -     When a mine tailings dam burst in Brazil in November of 2015, it unleashed a wave of toxic red mud that traveled 55 miles to the sea, wiping out villages along the way and killing 17 people. A tailings dam stores wastes from mining operations, and there are at least two major...

2017-10-24 -     Morgan McClain-McKinney Limo said she will never forget her first trip to Africa in 2012, where people in Ghana were so welcoming. Because of her African-American heritage, they assumed she had a strong connection to the continent. “As soon as I landed, people declared, ‘Welcome...

2017-10-24 -     This year’s College of LAS alumni awards have a geographical twist. One of the seven winners was born in Africa and moved to Chicago, while another honoree was born in the Chicago area and recently moved to Africa. But the LAS African connection doesn’t end there. A third award...

2017-10-24 -     Charleen Sofia was at a church function when one of the men in her group shared that he had recently been cured of Hepatitis C after taking a new drug in clinical trials. Prior to this drug, the man had gone through a liver transplant and two rounds of interferon treatment, but...

2017-10-19 -     Employers weigh internships more heavily in hiring than where you went to school, your grades or your major – that’s the essence of a quote pinned outside the sociology department’s academic advising office at Illinois. It may not...

2017-10-18 -     The Four Color Theorem might seem simple: Any map can be colored using four colors without bordering countries sharing the same color. However, Jeremy Tyson, professor of mathematics and director of the Illinois Geometry Lab, said it’s...

2017-10-16 -     College students considering careers in fields like archaeology or geology that require extensive work at remote field sites might want to find out how potential supervisors and advisers conduct themselves in the field. Do they establish clear ground rules for the behavior of...

2017-10-13 -   Arrianna Planey, a doctoral student in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, has been selected as a Health Policy Research Scholar. This leadership development...

2017-10-11 -     Some plants behave like the mythical monster Hydra: Cut off their heads and they grow back, bigger and better than before. A new study finds that these “overcompensators,” as they are called, also augment their defensive chemistry – think plant venom – when they are clipped....

2017-10-11 -     The growth of wearable technology such as Fitbits and smartwatches has been a gee-whiz moment for many of us. Melissa Littlefield, however, a professor of English and kinesiology and community health at Illinois, understands how the...

2017-10-10 -     It was almost exactly seven years ago that faculty in the Natural History Building got the word: After standing for slightly more than 100 years, key parts of the building needed to be evacuated immediately.   Though nothing had actually fallen, an inspection using ground-...

2017-10-05 -     Catherine J. Murphy, a professor of chemistry at Illinois since 2009, has been named the Larry R. Faulkner Endowed Chair in Chemistry. An endowed chair is one of the highest honors that a faculty member can receive. This chair is...

2017-10-03 -     An Illinois professor is part of a multi-institutional research project that has received a 5-year, $16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to work with sorghum in an effort to optimize photosynthesis and water use efficiency. Andrew Leakey, professor in the...

2017-10-02 - The Natural History Building is hosting an open house during Homecoming to celebrate its recently completed renovation. Students and faculty can take a self-guided tour of the building to learn how the University of Illinois created a...

2017-09-29 -     When and where professional athletes have the right to voice their political opinions became an issue following comments by President Donald Trump aimed at players in the NFL. History professor Adrian Burgos Jr. focuses his research on...

2017-09-29 -   Three professors from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been granted the distinction of a Conrad Humanities Scholar beginning this academic year. John Tofik Karam, professor of Spanish and Portuguese and associate director of...

2017-09-29 - Susan Martinis, head of the Department of Biochemistry, has been named interim vice chancellor for research designate. Her appointment will begin on Oct. 16, pending review and approval by the Board of Trustees.“Professor Martinis has...

2017-09-26 -     Marlyn Whitsitt came to the University of Illinois as a graduate student in English in 1957, having been awarded a teaching assistantship in rhetoric. Her first two classes were scheduled in a room in Noyes Laboratory. Kenneth...

2017-09-25 -     Andrew A. Gewirth, a professor at Illinois since 1988, has been named Peter C. and Gretchen Miller Markunas Professor of Chemistry. A named professorship is one of the highest honors a faculty member can receive. Gewirth was chosen by...

2017-09-22 -     The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.2 million, three-year grant to four professors in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for a project that has potential to advance the frontiers of 3-D printing. Charles...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...