Illinois Featured Content

Altmyer accounted for four touchdowns and 359 yards of offense in the win. He became the first player to have 300+ passing yards, a passing touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown in a Big Ten game in at least 30 years.  

To the world, she became Ann Bannon, the name under which she published six lesbian pulp fiction novels. Over sixty years later, these books remain fundamental to the LGBTQ canon. 

U. of I. alumna Marla Dickerson and her team were recognized with the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for a series on the international trade in the chemicals used to make fentanyl. Dickerson is the 26th alum to ever win a Pulitzer.

Alumna Stacy Lynn has spent nearly 30 years studying Abraham Lincoln and shares the story of the women who helped shape the 16th president into the person we know from history.

 'The Korean Vegan' – a lawyer, TikTok star and best-selling cookbook author – will speak and give a cooking demonstration on Sept. 21 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as part of the PYGMALION festival. 

Fourth District Appellate Justice Lisa Holder White was named Tuesday to replace retiring Justice Rita Garman on the Illinois Supreme Court, becoming its first Black female justice. Both Garman and White are U of I alumna.

'With the DeepWalk app, a single intern will be able to perform over 200 (sidewalk) inspections a day. This allows municipalities to take a strong first step in avoiding or meeting the requirements of these (ADA) lawsuits.” 

Cydnee Weber designed an eco-cultural tour to help students appreciate nature and the influence of Indigenous communities. She also saw few opportunities for students to cultivate plants, so she offers ideas on raising greenery on campus. 

At only eight inches high and two inches in diameter, the metal MoonArk sculpture has four stacked chambers packed with hundreds of images, poems, music, mechanisms, earthly samples, and nano-objects.

Murray, and his colleagues won for their series 'Poisoned,' an exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to protect workers and nearby residents.

Gies College of Business has received a $5 million gift from alumnus Nate Reichard, CEO of Reichard Capital. In recognition, the Real Estate Finance Academy will be renamed the 'Reichard Real Estate Academy.'

Renowned crop breeder B.B. Singh was honored with the inaugural Shin Humanitarian Award by the U of I for his exemplary impact on humanity by addressing global food security. He's giving the $50,000 prize back to the College of ACES.

Russell Wigginton believes that his history, experience and passion all led him to becoming president of the National Civil Rights Museum. 'It’s a fascinating, beautiful culmination of my life and experiences to end up in this job.'

For Tyrone Phillips, telling this story about a great boxer, based on Jack Johnson in 1905, is as much about shedding light on one of America's greatest athletes as it is an act of antiracism today. 

Forbes (April 25) 'By supporting cutting-edge research and fostering innovation, we hope to empower future generations of leaders in technology and society, driving positive change in our world,' said benefactor Tom Siebel.

When Peter McDowell was growing up in Champaign, the life of his older brother, a Vietnam War veteran, and his untimely death in 1972 at age 24 were a mystery. See the award winning film, 'Jimmy in Saigon', and discuss it with McDowell. 

'Sheila has been a pioneer in every sense of the word, breaking new ground throughout the course of her life in education, media, business, and sports,' said DIA Director Josh Whitman. 'Sheila has always been a proud Illini...'

Birds throughout the world are in trouble, and habitat loss is one reason for their decline. Understanding their life cycles and habitat requirements during migration is increasingly important – especially as climate change continues to affect the world.

AP (Oct.16) If new, clean power isn’t added as data centers are developed, the U.S. runs the risk of 'browning the grid,' says Kathryn Huff, a former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy, now a U. of I. professor of nuclear engineering.

Chicago Sun Times (Sept. 22)  “We want the system to have a sort of brain, a knowledge base … so that it can be more knowledgeable than a lot of humans, for example, and the conversation can be more informative,” says AICE director Heng Ji.

There’s a myth that only poor communities live with disproportionate pollution levels, says Chris Tessum, U of I professor of civil and environmental engineering. Tessum says race really is the determining factor.
 

NPR (Nov. 9) About half of families that care for a loved one with disabilities have made plans for the future, and an even smaller portion have revisited those plans to ensure they're up to date, says U of I Professor Meghan Burke.

Business Insider (Dec. 6) In a world filled with artificial intelligence skeptics and chatbot alarmists, Illinois English professor Ted Underwood is making one of the strongest, most compelling cases for the value of artificial intelligence.

Daily Mail (Dec. 3) 'There’s been an increase in fatalities and accidents, and data showing that people are driving more recklessly,' says U of I professor of finance Lynne McChristian.

Chicago Tribune (Jan. 5) African American studies professor Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua and archaeologist Alleen Betzenhauser, both at U. of I., are spearheading efforts to uncover Brooklyn's history and revitalize the community.

Beckman Institute researchers used micro-CT scans to understand how stress impacts parachutes on the fiber-scale. This information will be used to develop better models for identifying promising parachute textile candidates. 

The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced its 2021-22 Freshmen of the Year. Lauren Wiles (softball) and Ashton Anaya (gymnastics) have been named the top female and male freshman competing for the Fighting Illini.

'Previous studies (found) there were a lot of Indigenous dogs in the United States and that they were eradicated. We wanted to understand what that entailed: were they culled, was it the competition with European dogs...' 

“Now we know that about 50 million years ago, this genus had already evolved and already had a morphology that mimics the grass in which it lives and hides from predators,' said Sam Heads, director of the U of I’s Center for Paleontology.  

The new model is a milestone both in biology, where it helps explain the octopus’s impressive capability, and engineering. 'The computational model is a useful testbed for roboticists to test their algorithms,' Professor Prashant Mehta said. 

Nancy Latham, director of the Council on Teacher Education at Illinois, coauthored a book that makes the credentialing system for teachers simpler and more trustworthy for those hiring them. As a bonus, it can be used in other industries, too.

SPIN gives undergraduates at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the chance to work with NCSA staff on research and development projects in supercomputing, data analytics, visualization, and more.  

 The School will pioneer advancements at the intersection of computing and data science, addressing complex challenges and driving innovation across various fields. 

New York Times (Aug. 30) Communication Professor Cara Finnegan writes that in its effect, and in the way its subject has begun to deploy it, Trump's mug shot is the natural evolution of all the images that came before it. 

Cameron Jones, a major in the U.S. Air Force, is originally from Savanna, Illinois. He earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012 and a master’s degree in 2018.

'Seated nearby are more than 70 undergraduate students, mostly political science majors, and a handful of facilitators... whose goal is to teach tomorrow’s leaders how to effectively facilitate dialogue across party lines.'

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Mental health interventions provided through digital media to 445 displaced youths living in the slums of Kampala, Uganda, showed promise at broadening care to this high-risk, difficult-to-reach population.

The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival is an architectural design festival in Chicago that brings together architects and community organizations to create gathering spaces to connect residents. 

Newsweek (Nov. 13) 'It's important to recognize that chatbots are not mere ... glorified autocompletes but instead are closer to having real minds with beliefs and perhaps even desires about the world,' writes U of I's Ben Levinstein.

Climate change is likely to intensify the negative effects of flooding, erosion and development on cultural sites across Illinois, says Illinois State Archaeological Survey research archaeologist Andrew White.  

Direct college admissions can benefit both students and institutions, promoting access for first-generation and underrepresented students and boosting enrollment, according to Professor Jennifer Delaney.

U of I entomology professor Adam Dolezal, who studies how environmental stressors affect honey bees and wild bees, spoke to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the current status of bees in the U.S.

Tick-borne illnesses like ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are on the rise in Illinois, and outdoor workers like farmers are at higher risk than those who spend more time indoors. 

'What better time to be talking about the successes that are actually taking place in classrooms than right now? This is a great case of what promise we hold as educators.' 

'As racial resentment increases, support for All Lives Matter increases and support for Black Lives Matter decreases. This relationship persisted even when we controlled for factors such as political conservatism,' says study leader Stewart Coles.

Time (March 25) Personality tests are a useful way for people to better understand themselves, especially when they’re young. 'Everybody wants to better know who they are – and that’s what a personality test can give you,' says U of I's Brent Roberts.

Daily Herald (Nov. 5) While the FEC regulates political advertising on TV, radio, newspapers and billboards, there’s no disclaimer rules for digital media. 'It’s like the Wild West for social media,' says U. of I. advertising professor Michelle Nelson.