News Bureau

Jon Seydl, an art historian and currently the senior director of collections and programs and curator of European art at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, has been named the new director of Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois.

Researchers have developed a way to find hypoxia, or low oxygen in tissue, noninvasively in real time with light and ultrasound.

Richard Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy, discusses the Republican tax overhaul plan now before Congress

A new study finds that viruses share some genes exclusively with organisms that are not their hosts. The study, reported in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, adds to the evidence that viruses are agents of diversity, researchers say.

Two studies – one in mice and the other in human subjects – offer the first definitive evidence that exercise alone can change the composition of microbes in the gut. The studies were designed to isolate exercise-induced changes from other factors – such as diet or antibiotic use – that might alter the intestinal microbiota.

The rising cost of meat and the power of housewives to agitate for a more equitable standard of living is the focus of a new book by U. of I. labor and employment relations professor Emily E. LB. Twarog.

See-Wing Chiu ... C.E. “Gene” Hughes ... Arthur “Art” Ramer Wyatt ... Robert Scott Zeiders

The Secretariat organization at Illinois announced that Susan Key, the director of portfolio human resources in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research has been named the 2017 Boss of the Year. 

The Secretariat is comprised of U. of I. staff members in certain civil services classifications. Kate Day nominated Key, her supervisor, for the annual award, which is celebrated during Bosses Week each year.

Susan L. Conrad, the office manager for the Department of Journalism in the College of Media, received the Bess G. Matteson Award at a Nov. 15 luncheon. The Secretariat, an on-campus organization comprised of U. of I. staff members in certain civil services classifications, makes the award.  

Krannert Art Museum has added a 16th-century print by Albrecht Durer – one of the world’s most skilled engravers – to its collection. The museum was awarded the 2017 Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize, given by the International Fine Print Dealers Association, which provided funds for the purchase.

Those who are more news media literate are less likely to believe conspiracy theories, even ones that resonate with their politics, a study suggests.

Bankruptcy attorneys have little knowledge of the racial disparities that exist within the bankruptcy system, relying instead on common stereotypes about race, responsibility and debt, according to research co-written by Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert.

Higher education finance expert Jennifer Delaney talks about the possible ramifications for college students and their families of tax reform proposals being considered by the U.S. Senate 

The latest work by dancer-choreographer Cynthia Oliver looks for an expansive view of black masculinity. “Virago-Man Dem” considers male behaviors within Caribbean and African-American cultures, and how black men find themselves restricted by societal codes and taboos.

Researchers are sending tiny drug-laden nanoparticles on a mission to seek and destroy cancer stem cells.

Krannert Art Museum will show seven short films about the impact of the AIDS crisis in black communities as part of Day With(out) Art. It is the first year the museum is hosting the film program in recognition of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Judges can unilaterally dismiss sexual or racial harassment cases through summary judgment, a legal maneuver that ends up favoring employers over employees, says Law professor Suja Thomas

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 cancer of the brain. This phase Ib trial will determine if the experimental drug PAC-1 can be used safely in combination with a standard brain-cancer chemotherapy drug, temozolomide.

On Nov. 14, the International and Area Studies Library at Illinois hosted a ceremony to celebrate a new Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies. The center was established through a memorandum of understanding between Illinois and the National Central Library of Taiwan

LaVerne Elizabeth Smith ... Rita Jo Wingler

The annual Carbon Budget report found that fossil fuel emissions are on the rise again in 2017, says atmospheric sciences professor and report contributor Atul Jain

The first time I see Titan, a pit bull with mesothelioma in his chest, I give his owners “the talk.” The dog is breathing hard and fast because of the buildup of cancerous fluid around his lungs. Dogs develop some cancers that are very similar to human cancers. This is one that we don’t see very often and for which we don’t have really good treatment options, just like in humans. We eventually learn, however, that Titan is unique.

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. Fellows are chosen for their outstanding contributions to their field of study.

Thomas Dowling, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is among 32 U.S. students selected as Rhodes Scholars. Dowling is the first Rhodes Scholar on the Urbana campus since 1998.

Centuries of study have yielded many theories about how the brain gives rise to human intelligence. A new theory makes the case that the brain’s dynamic properties – how it is wired but also how that wiring shifts in response to changing intellectual demands – are the best predictors of intelligence in the human brain.

Specially tailored, ultrafast pulses of light can trigger neurons to fire and could one day help patients with light-sensitive circadian or mood problems, according to a new study in mice at the University of Illinois.

Five faculty members 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 and social sciences from around the world."

David R. Hamilton ... Bernhard “Bernie” Works

Soil temperatures were above normal in mid-November, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

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 European honey bees. According to the researchers, these changes likely contributed to the bees’ rapid evolution toward gentleness in Puerto Rico, a change that occurred within 30 years.

Andreas Cangellaris has been selected by Chancellor Robert Jones to be the Urbana campus’s next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost. Cangellaris, the dean of the College of Engineering, will start in his new role Jan. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Exposure to the phytoestrogen genistein prior to conception may adversely affect female fertility and pregnancy outcomes, depending on the dosage and duration of exposure, a new study in mice by scientists at the University of Illinois suggests.

A new shape-shifting polymer can target and kill Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the stomach without killing helpful bacteria in the gut.

Bankruptcy attorneys are increasingly encouraging clients to file for the more expensive “no money down” option of Chapter 13 bankruptcy – a tactic that’s used more often with blacks than with whites, according to research co-written by Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert.

Researchers report the first sighting in 30 years of a wild alligator snapping turtle in Illinois. The discovery may be a sign of hope for this state-endangered species, or the animal could be the last of its kind to have survived in Illinois without human intervention, the researchers say.

A team of University of Illinois bioengineers has taken a new look at an old tool to help characterize a class of materials called metal organic frameworks – MOFs for short. MOFs are used to detect, purify and store gases, and could help solve some of the worlds most challenging energy, environmental and pharmaceutical challenges – they can even pull water molecules straight from the air to provide relief from droughts.

Several faculty musicians from the School of Music will perform a concert this weekend with donations going to help victims of natural disasters in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The concert is 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, 309 W. Green St., Urbana.

The University of Illinois School of Music and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Thelonious Monk’s birth by staging performances of Monk’s music and looking at his impact through a graduate seminar.

Jerry Dobrovolny ... Marisa Lu Rubenking Meador ... David L. Shipley

A newly funded U. of I. initiative is expanding the number of behavioral health providers available to care for residents in medically underserved and rural communities.

Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and the Illinois Alumni Association will present “Music at Illinois,” a special program on popular music written especially for or about the university. The free program will be presented by retired Alumni Association Vice President Joe Rank at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Drive, Urbana.

Encouraging children to drink water with their school lunches could prevent more than half a million cases of child obesity and overweight -- and trim the medical and societal costs by more than $13 billion, a new study suggests.

Gaines Hall, an associate dean emeritus in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, received the 2017 Gold Medal Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects Illinois Council. The Gold Medal Honor Award is the organization’s highest honor, recognizing exemplary contributions to the discipline and profession of architecture.

Stem cells taken from muscle tissue could promote better blood flow in patients with diabetes who develop peripheral artery disease, a painful complication that can require surgery or lead to amputation.

The November Dance performance will feature a work by Latvian choreographer Olga Zitluhina, created during a cultural exchange with the University of Illinois dance department.

In 2018, the University of Illinois Press will mark its 100th anniversary with numerous events in Champaign-Urbana, Chicago and Springfield. A founding member of the Association of American University Presses in 1937, the UIP has published more than 4,500 books in its first century.

 The statewide average precipitation in Illinois for October was 4.94 inches, 1.70 inches above normal, and the 10th-wettest October since 1895, said Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Bernadine Carter ... Kathleen M. Dysart ... Toby Yale Kahr

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, smart materials for applications ranging from drug delivery to sensing to remediation of environmental contaminants.

The University of Illinois System has officially launched its largest, and most ambitious, comprehensive fundraising initiative that aims to raise $3.1 billion over the next five years to support students, faculty and academic and research programs and facilities. 

This initiative is built on individual campaigns for each of the System’s universities in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign that were officially launched during campus-based kickoff events in October.