News Bureau

Activist investors have become increasingly successful in agitating for change in publicly held companies, and there’s little that business elites can do to rebuff their influence, says research from U. of I. labor professor Richard Benton.

The University of Illinois theatre department has selected its first female leader – Kirsten Pullen, a professor of performance studies at Texas A&M University.

Three Illinois students have been awarded Critical Language Scholarships to study a foreign language this summer: Adam LoBue, of Brooklyn, New York; Jenny Peruski, of Bangkok; and Eileen Witthoff, of DeKalb, Illinois.

Roughly 115 million years ago, when the ancient supercontinent Gondwana was breaking apart, a mushroom fell into a river and began an improbable journey. Its ultimate fate as a mineralized fossil preserved in limestone in northeast Brazil makes it a scientific wonder, scientists report in the journal PLOS ONE.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library has created an interactive website featuring memories of Brooks and items from her papers housed at the U. of I.

James D. Anderson, the interim dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will become the dean effective Aug. 16.

New research reveals that a species of giant elephant that lived 1.5 million to 100,000 years ago – ranging across Eurasia before it went extinct – is more closely related to today’s African forest elephant than the forest elephant is to its nearest living relative, the African savanna elephant.

Increased female representation in the managerial ranks of engineering organizations may add another layer of sex segregation on top of the one it’s intended to mitigate, says a new paper from U. of I. labor professor M. Teresa Cardador.

Researchers at the University of Illinois are contributing to the development of more environmentally friendly catalysts for the production of plastic and resin precursors that are often derived from fossil fuels. The key to their technique comes from recognizing the unique physical and chemical properties of certain metals and how they react with hydrogen peroxide.

Milan Bagchi, the head of the department of molecular and integrative physiology, was named the next director of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois.

The statewide average temperature for May was 61.9 degrees, 0.8 degrees below normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel with the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at the U. of I. A few locations in Illinois reached 90 degrees, including Moline and Springfield. In mid-May, several locations reported temperatures below freezing, including Mount Carroll with 29 degrees.

Adults who don’t routinely eat vegetables for lunch -- especially men and younger adults -- may be more likely to consume them if the vegetables are seasoned, University of Illinois researchers found in a new study of more than 530 adults.

Fred A. Kummerow, a pioneer in the study of dietary contributors to heart disease who led a decades-long crusade to remove trans fats from the food supply, died Wednesday, May 31, at his home in Urbana, Illinois. He was 102.

Audrey “Wally” Brown ... Darlene “Gerri” Hawkins

Twelve faculty members were honored with the Provost’s Campus Distinguished Promotion Award for 2017. During its annual promotion review process, the Campus Committee on Promotion and Tenure identifies scholars whose contributions have been extraordinary in terms of quality of work and overall achievement.

A style of governance that relies heavily on “deal-making” also has the potential to render President Trump’s administration prone to incompetence and corruption, said Robin B. Kar, a University of Illinois legal scholar.

The New Americans Initiative of the University YMCA is hosting three free U.S. citizenship information sessions in June. The final meeting will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at the University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign. Free child care is available. Topics include the process of naturalization and how to prepare for the citizenship exam. For additional event details and program fliers, visit http://www.universityymca.org/welcome/#nai.

John Walker Gray ... Barak Rosenshine ... Linda A. Scott ... Patricia Ann Tempel

Melanoma is a particularly difficult cancer to treat once it has metastasized, spreading throughout the body. University of Illinois researchers are using chemistry to find the deadly, elusive malignant cells within a melanoma tumor that hold the potential to spread.

The University of Illinois is well-represented in Vienna's music scene this spring by the Chamber Singers choir on a 12-day European tour, as well as music professor and pianist William Kinderman and theatre professor Katherine Syer.

The Audiology Clinic at Illinois is offering free adult hearing screenings June 1 through July 28. Screening appointments may be scheduled by calling 217-333-2230. No appointments are accepted via email.

Derek Hoot of Middleton, Wisconsin, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was awarded an $18,500 Boren Scholarship for a 2017-18 study abroad experience in Jordan.

A new study by University of Illinois researchers suggests that gang membership and criminality serve as deviant leisure activities, fulfilling youths' needs for excitement, belonging and social support.

Most arrests in sexual assault cases occur before crime laboratory results are available, a new study led by a University of Illinois researcher found, suggesting that DNA testing may influence arrests in just a small number of cases.

Despite their reputation as uncaring, absentee moms, cowbird mothers are capable of making sophisticated choices among potential nests in order to give their offspring a better chance of thriving, a new study shows.

The state of Illinois’ sizable middle class has experienced a consistent but multifaceted squeeze since roughly 1980, according to Robert Habans, a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois.

The failure of federal watchdog agencies to require admissions of guilt from the targets of civil enforcement can trigger calls for greater accountability from the public, says a new paper from U. of I. law professors Verity Winship and Jennifer K. Robbennolt.

Beginning Monday, May 22, two sections of Green Street between Wright Street and Goodwin Avenue will close to through traffic as construction resumes on Multimodal Corridor Enhancement (MCORE) Project 1 (see map). Significant detours for vehicular and pedestrian traffic will occur for primary campus locations.

After a cool beginning of the month, soil temperatures are rising throughout the state in mid-May, 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. 

Teena M. Beason ... Lorena J. Dorsey ... Joann T. Hower ... Scott Maclaren

The risks far outweigh the benefits for most consumers in their response to personalized online ads, and they may avoid them as a result, suggests a University of Illinois study.

A small, thin square of an organic plastic that can detect disease markers in breath or toxins in a building’s air could soon be the basis of portable, disposable sensor devices. By riddling the thin plastic films with pores, University of Illinois researchers made the devices sensitive enough to detect at levels that are far too low to smell, yet are important to human health.

Two new studies link patterns of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the blood to the integrity of brain structures and cognitive abilities that are known to decline early in aging.

Computer science professor Sheldon H. Jacobson discusses the proposed Department of Homeland Security ban of laptop and tablet computers in the passenger cabins of certain flights.

Healthy mass transit systems could contribute to healthier communities, according to a new study by University of Illinois researchers that determined higher mass transit use was correlated with lower obesity rates in counties across the United States.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have found a way to apply self-healing technology to lithium-ion batteries to make them more reliable and last longer.

The process that makes gold-plated jewelry or chrome car accents is now making powerful lithium-ion batteries.

It is cold and windy, and we have been out for hours. We are driving to our trap site after lunch when we suddenly stop, and at least a dozen wild turkeys walk in front of our truck. I shout to my techs, “Get out of the truck, herd them to the net, but be careful not to chase them!”

Researchers have demonstrated that a small molecule can transport iron in human cells and live animals when proteins that normally do the same job are missing, a condition that often causes severe anemia in patients. Such “molecular prosthetics” might treat a host of incurable diseases caused by protein deficiencies, such as anemias, cystic fibrosis or certain types of heart disease.

University of Illinois library professor Nicole Cooke wrote about the history of the Carnegie Scholars program -- an early 1970s effort to increase the diversity of Illinois' graduate library school.

U. of I. student Amber Winters, a resident of Colona, Illinois, is one of four U.S. students selected for a three-week cultural and academic summer program in Scotland.

The University YMCA seeks volunteers to collect, sort and pack donations for its annual Dump and Run recycling sale in August. The program has been a completely volunteer-run program since its inception 15 years ago.

Yue Zhuo, a postdoctorate fellow in the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory and at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at Illinois, has been awarded a Postdoctoral Scholar Award for a paper that was submitted to the annual Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference.

Scientists report that they now know how to build a molecular Trojan horse that can penetrate gram-negative bacteria, solving a problem that for decades has stalled the development of effective new antibiotics against these increasingly drug-resistant microbes. The findings appear in the journal Nature.

A new book co-written by a University of Illinois professor who studies subsistence marketplaces chronicles the daily struggles of 13 ordinary people living in India who grew up in poverty.

A new exhibition at Krannert Art Museum, “Provenance: A Forensic History of Art,” shows the challenges of provenance research and the efforts to document the history of ownership of several of the museum’s works.

Students, alumni share what shaped them most 

Engineers are unveiling an upgrade to the transistor laser that could be used to boost computer processor speeds – the formation of two stable energy states and the ability to switch between them quickly. 

A computer-generated physician, now under development at the University of Illinois' Beckman Institute, explains diabetes and cholesterol test results to would-be patients in videos designed for viewing on electronic medical record portals.

Mary Buescher McDonald ... George W. Swenson Jr.