News Bureau

The Campus Faculty Association will award up to five $1,000 scholarships to undergraduate students at the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus who demonstrate a commitment to social justice in the community.

Four doctoral students were honored for the quality of their work using survey research methodology. The two winners of the 2016 Robert Ferber and Seymour Sudman Dissertation Awards received $2,000 awards and plaques commemorating their achievement. Two other students each received an honorable mention certificate and $200. Ferber and Sudman, in whose memory the awards were established, were eminent scholars at Illinois in the field of survey research.

The Campus Safety Health and Environmental Management Association gave Peter Ashbrook the Honorary Life Award – its highest individual honor – at its annual meeting in Austin, Texas, last month.

Ashbrook, who retired last year, served the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 21 years, most recently as the director of the Division of Research Safety. Ashbrook organized the first College and University Hazardous Waste Conference in 1982, wrote regular columns on laboratory waste minimization and laboratory safety in academia for 14 years for the Journal of Chemical Health and Safety, served in several leadership positions for CSHEMA, and made numerous presentations on laboratory safety issues at professional conferences.

Joseph (Joe) William McGuire ... Avis Marie (Kuhns) Bennett ... Mary Kay Simmons/Kappes ... Jan M. Lenz

This fall, U. of I. graduate students in the School of Architecture's recording historic buildings seminar will prepare drawings and other documentation on the historic Paul Schweikher House in Schaumburg, Illinois, for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The American Society of Landscape Architects named a group of Illinois graduate students among its award recipients for 2016. Selected from 271 entries representing 71 schools, the ASLA student awards honor the top work of landscape architecture students in the U.S. and around the world.

 A new exhibition at Krannert Art Museum looks at stories of migration, refugees and human rights as they relate to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – a region known as the Northern Triangle.

Ernest M. Feiler

Mani Golparvar-Fard, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, won the 2016 Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship in Construction from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Golparvar-Fard was cited for his “cutting-edge research focused on creating new knowledge in computer vision sensing and analytics to formalize simple yet effective project monitoring and control techniques for construction teams, as well as for his active engagement teaching philosophy.”
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A brown-bag session, “Still Too Slow: The Advancement of Women,” will be held Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana, Room 314A.

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating the opening night of its 2016-17 season with a party at the center on Friday, Sept. 9, at 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.

Dr. King Li, a renowned researcher, educator, inventor and clinician in molecular imaging and radiology, will become the inaugural dean and chief academic officer of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine effective Oct. 1. 

Thomas J. Hanratty  ... Rembert T. (Jack) Gladin ... Bob I. Eisenstein 

On Aug. 26, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on the future of atmospheric chemistry research in the U.S. Illinois civil and environmental engineering professor Tami Bond was among the contributors

Kofusion will hold the grand opening of its Illini Union Food Court location Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A limited number of free sushi samples will be available during remarks from Illini Union Board President Sophie Ruiz-Gehrt, KoFusion owner Janet Bubin and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Director of Auxiliary Services Lowa Mwilambwe. 

Today, the National Science Foundation  announced a $110 million, five-year award to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois and 18 partner institutions to continue and expand the activities undertaken through the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, a cornerstone of the nation’s cyberinfrastructure ecosystem.

Willard Charles Cekander

Chosen for their academic excellence and leadership potential, 131 freshmen and sophomores at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been designated Chancellor’s Scholars in the Campus Honors Program this fall. The Campus Honors Program admits up to 125 freshmen each year and up to 20 additional students join the program at the beginning of their sophomore year.

With its easy-to-miss symptoms and link to birth defects, the Zika virus is very similar to German measles (rubella), according to history professor Leslie Reagan

The Flatlands Dance Film Festival will present the feature film “A Ballerina’s Tale,” about American Ballet Theater principal dancer Misty Copeland, as well as short films created for Snapchat and the winners of the Flatlands film competition.

Japan House's Matsuri festival celebrating Japanese culture will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at Japan House, 2000 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

Virginia Marie Garth ... Robert Lee "Bobby" Sarver ... Wilson Miles Zaring ... William Paul "Bill" Manning

Wynne Korr, dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, discusses the challenges of diagnosing and providing treatment for this vulnerable population in light of the state's financial problems

James D. Anderson, the head of the department of education policy, organization and leadership and the executive associate dean for the College of Education, will become the interim dean of the College of Education effective Aug. 16.

Spiraling tuition rates at U.S. colleges and universities, and mounting concern about student loan debt, have made college affordability a key policy objective for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The state superintendent of education said providing the SAT for free would promote equity in higher education. Education professor Eboni Zamani-Gallaher isn't so sure.

Braj B. Kachru ... Plessa Edward Mast ... Rebecca Ann Schweighart

The University YMCA is seeking volunteers in Champaign County to join the 15th annual Dump & Run community recycling event to help divert reusable items from the landfill. Volunteers are needed beginning Aug. 8 and up to Aug. 21 to help collect, sort, price and sell household items at the garage sale on Aug. 20-21. Volunteers at last year’s event were able to divert approximately 27 tons of reusable items from the landfill.

Think Brazil and you might think beaches, rain forest, the 2016 Olympics – all far removed from central Illinois. Yet the University of Illinois is perhaps the most comprehensive center of Brazilian studies in the U.S.

A seed grant, along with some hard work by U. of I. student volunteers and museum staff, has grown a butterfly garden at the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum in Champaign. The “Growing Prairies and Growing Minds” butterfly garden and an archaeology exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, July 30, from 1-5 p.m. at the museum, 346 N. Neil St., Champaign. Guest speakers at the beginning of the event include Illinois state Sen. Scott Bennett and Deb Frank Feinen, the mayor of Champaign. 

A Minute With...™ Marc Hertzman, expert on the history of samba

The U. of I. is represented in the 2016 List of Most Cited Researchers in Materials Science and Engineering by Elsevier Scopus Data. Faculty researchers from several different disciplines were represented: Prashant K. Jain, Jeffrey S. Moore, Catherine Jones Murphy and Ralph G. Nuzzo (chemistry); Tami C. Bond, Wen-Tso Liu and Billie F. Spencer Jr. (civil and environmental engineering); Minh Do, Pramod Viswanath and Daniel Liberzon (electrical and computer engineering); and John A. Rogers (materials science and engineering).

David William Naive ... Iona M. Scheiwe

Applications for the 2017 Alternative Academic Career Summer Workshops for Pre-Doctoral Students in the Humanities – an initiative of the Humanities Without Walls consortium – are now available at the HWW website. These workshops will showcase opportunities beyond the walls of the academy in an uncertain academic job climate. They are a continuation of a workshop series offered in 2015 and 2016 in conjunction with the Chicago Humanities Festival for students from HWW member institutions. In 2017, HWW will sponsor its first national summer workshop for graduate students interested in learning about careers outside of the academy and/or the tenure track system.

Registration is now open for Spanish classes for the 2016-17 academic year at the University Language Academy for Children for pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade, as well as middle school. The latter program is now in its second year for the academy, which opened in 2010. For pre-K through fifth grade, classes meet four times a week, Monday-Thursday from 3:15-4:10 p.m. or 4:20-5:15 p.m. Classes are at the University Primary School (Children’s Research Center), 51 E. Gerty Drive, Champaign. For middle school, classes are offered three times a week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 3:45-5 p.m. Classes are at the Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathew Ave., Urbana. The academy’s academic year begins Sept. 6 and ends May 20.

A research project at the University of Illinois is examining the use of mindfulness therapy in preventing drug abuse relapse among marginalized young adults.

Dana Gillon, coordinator of special programs for the U. of. I., was honored with the 2016 APPA Pacesetter Award. APPA, previously known as the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, promotes leadership in educational facilities for professionals seeking to build their careers, transform their institutions and elevate the value and recognition of facilities in education. Pacesetter award recipients were recognized July 12 during the 2016 APPA Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

“BEAR” is the fourth performance in “The Unreliable Bestiary,” a lifelong project by University of Illinois art professor Deke Weaver to present a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each representing an endangered animal or habitat. Weaver’s project tells the stories of animals and our relationships to them.

A hazardous materials drill will take place on the University of Illinois campus July 27 from 8:30-11:30 a.m.

Audrey Hodgins ... Louise Van Buskirk Milroy ... William Gaines

New U. of I. chancellor Robert Jones will be introduced at a public event Wednesday

A Minute With...™ John Murphy, professor of communication and an expert on political rhetoric

Currently the executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, Kimberlee Kidwell will be the new U. of I. dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences effective Nov. 1, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. She also will hold the inaugural Robert A. Easter Chair.

Donald Eugene Ebeling ... E. Wayne Martin ... Jeremiah David Sullivan

Twenty-four U. of I. research teams have been awarded allocations on the National Center for Supercomputing Applications’ Blue Waters, the most powerful supercomputer on a university campus.

“The U. of I. is a tremendous university with plenty of talented people who can take effective advantage of a resource like Blue Waters,” said Blue Waters project director Bill Kramer. “It’s important for the project that our home institution has a close relationship with this great supercomputer, and we look forward to seeing more groundbreaking science come from the researchers at Illinois.”

A Minute With...™ Jerry Dávila, expert on the history of Brazil and director of the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies at Illinois

Amazon has announced an agreement with the U. of I. to open Amazon@Illinois, a staffed pickup location in the Illini Union Bookstore, 809 S. Wright St., Champaign. The first Amazon pickup location in the state of Illinois, Amazon@Illinois offers the campus community a place to pick up and return Amazon orders.

The Advanced Visualization Lab at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois was recently invited to present its recent film “Solar Superstorms” at the 2016 SIGGRAPH Conference.

 This conference will be the 43rd annual international conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, and will take place July 24-28 in Anaheim, California.

David Russell Opperman ... Paul Everett Parker ... Sharon Holt

A Minute With...™ political scientist Damarys Canache