LAS News Archive

2013-11-01 - One solution leads to another. Or, as protein researchers at Illinois have recently found, one solution can lead to hundreds of others—and a greater understanding of how life works. Biochemists in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences were amongst 15 scientists in a multidisciplinary study...

2013-11-01 - “It’s been over an hour since we poked the patient with something sharp. Get him a lumbar puncture.” —Dr. Gregory House Dr. Gregory House of the TV show House was famous for being rude, abrasive, and a lousy communicator—but also a brilliant doctor. In real life, however, people...

2013-10-01 - The period surrounding World War II was a unique one at the University of Illinois, and Gladys Dawson was in the perfect position to observe it. During the war there was such a dearth of men—save for the military training programs—that they jokingly called it a “girl’s school,” but in the aftermath...

2013-10-01 - In the summer issue of LAS News magazine, we reported how English professor Bruce Weirick helped obtain the Carl Sandburg papers for the University of Illinois. As it turns out, gaining rights to the great poet’s collection was just...

2013-10-01 - There are certain milestones we all look for in a baby: first smile, first steps, first words, etc. Perhaps only a psychologist would question the importance of whether a baby realizes that animals have internal organs. Interestingly, researchers in the College of LAS have determined that babies do...

2013-10-01 - A former faculty member of the University of Illinois Department of Chemistry is one of three scientists who received a Nobel Prize on Wednesday for developing computer simulations for complex chemical processes. Martin Karplus, a professor emeritus...

2013-10-01 - As usual, things are looking up at the University of Illinois Observatory. The same goes for the mood as the historic, 117-year-old telescope that lies at the roots of the astronomy program has been renovated for the first time in almost 60 years. Bryan Dunne, assistant chair and professor in the...

2013-10-01 - The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is creating a Gallery of Excellence in honor of its 100-year anniversary. This virtual gallery features people and events throughout LAS history, which dates back to 1913. With the college’s broad range of academic disciplines (more than 60 departments and...

2013-09-01 - A promising drug that has successfully treated dogs afflicted by cancer is headed for possible human clinical trials pending a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. PAC-1, a compound developed by a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois and tested at the U of I Veterinary...

2013-09-01 - A longtime faculty member at the U of I has been awarded a $1 million grant to advance his groundbreaking organic chemistry research in the discovery and development of new chemical catalysts. Scott E. Denmark, the R. C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry...

2013-09-01 - After a century of togetherness, it’s hard to imagine a time when the liberal arts and sciences weren’t mentioned in the same breath at the University of Illinois. Prior to 1913, however, when the College of Science merged with the College of Literature and Arts to form the College of Liberal Arts...

2013-09-01 - Breaking news: There is a good reason why people who drive fast are described as having a “heavy foot.” A University of Illinois survey has shown that shoe size determines how fast a person will drive. The bigger the shoe, the faster the driver. “But is this really true?” asks Ellen Fireman, an LAS...

2013-09-01 - What was the black Confederate soldier's myth? Over 150 years after the Civil War, many websites, articles, and organizations still assert that between 500 and 100,000 free and enslaved African Americans willingly served as soldiers in the Confederate army. Patrick R. Cleburne, a...

2013-09-01 - In the classic Humphrey Bogart movie, The Maltese Falcon, a detective picks up the statue of a falcon, sizes it up, and says, perplexed, “Heavy. What is it?” Then Bogart’s character, Sam Spade, answers with the classic line, “It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.” However, when showing...

2013-09-01 - Those of us who can’t pass up a chance to be seen with the Great Emancipator have another, easily accessible opportunity on the University of Illinois campus just off—where else?—Lincoln Avenue. Just in time for Homecoming, a life-sized sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is seated comfortably on a bench...

2013-08-01 - It’s been a busy 100 years at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois. For the next year, the largest college on campus will commemorate all that’s been accomplished. Formed in 1913, the College of LAS will be highlighting people, events, and achievements that have...

2013-08-01 - Ten faculty have been named Centennial Scholars in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois. The faculty come from a wide range of academic units, and they were selected for their scholarly productivity and...

2013-07-01 - For Ruth Watkins, taking a bull by the horns is not just an old cliché. She actually knows how to take a bull by the horns. Growing up in northeast Iowa as the daughter of a large animal veterinarian, dehorning cattle was just one of the gritty tasks required while administering veterinary care....

2013-05-01 - When Sheila Lammers’ husband was deployed to Germany with the Illinois National Guard in 2002, their first child was only five months old. So when he came back home six months later, just before his daughter’s first birthday, he was like a stranger to her. Getting reacquainted took time. “My...

2013-05-01 - The University of Illinois will soon have its own slice of China on campus. Officials hope that a new Confucius Institute strengthens bonds to the growing Asian country. Organizers say that the institute, to be housed in the Education Building, will increase awareness about Chinese culture through...

2013-05-01 - A longtime faculty member and associate dean has been selected to serve as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Brian Ross, a cognitive psychologist who came to the University of Illinois in 1982, will guide the U of I’s largest college after the departure of Harry E. Preble...

2013-05-01 - You know that something fundamental has changed in the doctor/patient relationship when physicians start receiving special training to learn how to “just say no” to patients. LAS alumna Martha Rosenberg recently attended a national medical conference in Chicago, and she was shocked to discover that...

2013-05-01 - Before he even sits down for an interview in an Urbana coffee shop, Mark Leff feels compelled to say something. He gave another writer a similar warning 15 years ago, after being named professor of the year in Illinois by the Carnegie Foundation. “You hit the jackpot: What has to be the campus’s...

2013-05-01 -  With the recent release of the movie 42, many are reflecting on Jackie Robinson as a symbol that anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. A baseball historian at U of I, however, points out that racial integration of Major League...

2013-04-01 - When you enter the Illinois Geometry Lab, situated in the lower level of Altgeld Hall, take any assumptions you have about mathematics and leave them at the door. This is where research teams of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members...