News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Richard L. Kaplan, the Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law at Illinois, is an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and retirement issues who is available for media interviews on issues surrounding the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature health care law.

Kaplan has lectured on taxation and retirement issues on three continents and has testified before the U.S. Congress on several occasions, and has developed one of the first law school courses on elder law, an emerging specialty dealing with the legal implications of extended life.

According to Kaplan, the proposed American Health Care Act would further complicate an already complicated health insurance system.

“The most layered and complex health insurance system in the developed world would become even more incomprehensible if the new health reform legislation gets enacted, because it authorizes each state to isolate persons with pre-existing conditions so others can enjoy lower insurance premiums until they develop medical conditions themselves,” he said.

To contact Kaplan, call 217-333-2499; email rkaplan@illinois.edu.

The School of Art and Design Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition at Krannert Art Museum allows seniors to show the best of their work.

This year marks a century since the Russian Revolution that “shook the world,” and a U. of I. history professor’s new book aims to chronicle the experience of living through it.

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine has announced nearly 100 inaugural faculty members.

Like the dad in “Finding Nemo,” anemonefish fathers will do almost anything to support their offspring. Their parenting instincts are so strong that if you give a bachelor anemonefish a scoop of anemonefish eggs from an unrelated nest, he will care for them – constantly nipping at them to remove debris and fanning them with oxygen-rich waters – as if they were his own. (Any other fish would eat them, researchers say.)

Four University of Illinois professors have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive.

Of the hundreds of people who die trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico each year, those with indigenous backgrounds are less likely to be identified than those with more European ancestry, a new analysis reveals.

The 2017-18 season for Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will include a 15th anniversary celebration of Jupiter String Quartet, dance traditions from around the world, joint programming with Japan House, classical and chamber music artists, and a concert in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.

A new study in mice reveals how a protein called Brd4 boosts the inflammatory response – for better and for worse, depending on the ailment. The study is the first to show that this protein, while problematic in some circumstances, also can protect the body from infection.

A new invasive clam has made its official debut in North America.

Three University of Illinois students have been nationally recognized for their potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering.  One student was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for the next two academic years, and two others earned honorable mentions.

Studies have suggested a link between fitness and memory, but researchers have struggled to find the mechanism that links them. A new study by University of Illinois researchers found that the key may lie in the microstructure of the hippocampus, a region in the middle of the brain involved in memory processes.

Alonzo Juan “Beets” Mitchell ... William Dean “Bill” Morrison ... Frank “Wright” Neely ... Susan M. Schmidt

Champaign, Ill. – Faculty and staff members and graduate teaching assistants at the U. of I. were honored for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising at an April 26 reception at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

Guitarists from around the world will showcase a wide range of musical traditions at this year’s ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival, Sept. 14-16 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Reading supportive comments, “likes” and private messages from social media friends prior to taking a test may help college students who have high levels of test-anxiety reduce their nervousness by 21 percent and improve their scores, researchers at the University of Illinois found.

A new report by University of Illinois civil and environmental engineering professor Tim Stark and colleagues details the factors that led to the deadliest landslide on record in the continental United States, along with steps that can be taken to mitigate landslide consequences and risk in the Pacific Northwest.

Audio artist Eric Leonardson will lead soundwalks in two Urbana parks as part of the Sonified Sustainability Festival, to celebrate sustainable practices in the arts. The soundwalks aim to make people more aware of the sounds around them, both natural and man-made.

Illinois alumnus and actor, humorist, author and woodworker Nick Offerman, best known for his role as Ron Swanson on the NBC hit comedy series "Parks and Recreation," will be the U. of I.’s commencement speaker Saturday, May 13.

Anne Price received the 2017 Office Professional of the Year Award from the Secretariat at Illinois.

Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate in France’s presidential race, could have significant future influence, says the associate director of the European Center at Illinois.

An external review team found that a more centralized organizational structure of diversity efforts would better align the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s institutional goals with outcomes.

Four Illinois faculty will be formally honored with Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership at an April 25 dinner tonight.

The Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees invites all departments and units to identify and nominate individuals who have made substantial contributions to their respective academic disciplines for an honorary degree award. Information regarding the nomination procedure and criteria for honorary degree award nominations can be found online.

Students, faculty members, staff and visitors to the U. of I. campus can grab a shovel and help plant one of five new trees Friday, April 28, on National Arbor Day.

College of education faculty member Hua-Hua Chang will receive 2017 E.F. Lindquist Award from the American Educational Research Association and the American College Testing Program at the AERA Awards Luncheon on April 29. The luncheon will take place during the AERA’s annual meeting, April 27-May 1 in San Antonio.

The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities will hold its annual award reception honoring the faculty, graduate student and undergraduate student recipients of this year's IPRH Prizes for Research in the Humanities at 4 p.m. May 1 at IPRH Lecture Hall, Levis Faculty Center, fourth floor, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana.

NPR’s 1A, hosted by Joshua Johnson, will join the WILL-AM 580 lineup May 1, airing from 9-11 a.m. Monday through Friday. With a name inspired by the First Amendment, 1A explores important issues such as policy, politics and technology. The program delves into pop culture, sports and humor.

Eight civil service staff employees were honored with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award at a banquet April 20. The award recognizes exceptional performance.

Frank Carter ... Julie Ann Elliott ... Willard Thouston Garrison ... Ralph L. “Bud” Lieb ... Lottie Russell ... Nancy “Jan” Scott ... Melvyn Skvarla

The Moms Association at Illinois announced the winners of its annual awards and scholarship programs during Moms Weekend on April 7-9.

Abbott Power Plant’s 77-year-old south stack will be taken down in much the same way it went up, one piece at a time. Crews this month began preparations to disassemble the 197-foot concrete stack at the plant, located on the U. of I. campus at 1117 S. Oak St. The work is expected to end this summer.

A recent vote on constitutional changes may mean Turkey is headed even further from its one-time status as a model for Islamic democracy.

Although nutrition-label users eat roughly the same amount of food as less-discerning diners, the two groups diverge when it comes to the quality of the food they eat, says a new paper co-written by Brenna Ellison, a professor of agriculture and consumer economics at Illinois and an expert in consumer food preferences and behaviors.

SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, Ill. — There is nothing between us but my camera lens and a half meter of thick southern Illinois air. I peer over my camera, mesmerized by his vertical pupils fixed on me, his heat-sensing pits tracking my every move. He inflates his lungs to exaggerate his already impressive girth. This meter length of muscle is coiled like a spring and poised to strike. Despite being surrounded by 15 thrilled herpetology students and a cacophony of calling tree frogs, the only sound that fills my ears is the ceaseless rattling.

The Sonified Sustainability Festival, presented at the University of Illinois during Earth Week and in its second year, celebrates sustainable practices in the arts.

Illinois scientists are helping power plants run more efficiently, designing better, longer-lasting batteries, finding new ways to target cancerous tumors, and developing robots that can aid in construction, in agricultural fields and even inside the human body.

Organizers of the 19th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival have announced the slate of panel discussions for the festival.

Healthy college students who have a relatively small inferior frontal cortex – a brain region behind the temples that helps regulate thoughts and emotions – are more likely than others to suffer from anxiety, a new study finds. They also tend to view neutral or even positive events in a negative light, researchers report.

The controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture gets a well-deserved bad rap, says U. of I. law professor and criminal law expert Kenworthey Bilz.

Scott E. Denmark, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Thomas Dowling, a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Chicago native, was selected from a nationwide pool of nominees as one of 62 Truman Scholars.

Patricia Hruby Powell, an award-winning young-adult author and Illinois alumna, will provide the third reading and discussion for the Illini Union Bookstore reading series marking the University of Illinois’ 150th year.

Jules Rodger DeHaven Sr. ... Becky Frances Duffield ... Harriet McKean Fields ... Frederick Clyde Ford ... Iva Fern Galyath ... Anna-Irmgard Haken ... Thomas George Kovacs ... James Robert “Bob” Lodge ... Lyle Curtis “Papaw” Smith ... Stuart F. Yoos Jr. 

Detecting cancer early, just as changes are beginning in DNA, could enhance diagnosis and treatment as well as further our understanding of the disease. A new study by University of Illinois researchers describes a method to detect, count and map tiny additions to DNA called methylations, which can be a warning sign of cancer, with unprecedented resolution.

The proposed federal budget would continue to shift college access, affordability further beyond the reach of low-income, working-class students, says Professor Eboni Zamani-Gallaher

An analysis of 35 popular phone-based sleep apps finds that while most help users set sleep-related goals and track and manage their sleep, few make use of other methods known to help the chronically sleep-deprived.

Artistically enhanced research images from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology will be shown at the Art of Science 7.0 exhibit.

Biologists and veterinarians across the central and eastern United States are calling on researchers at the University of Illinois to help them identify, understand and potentially treat snake fungal disease, a baffling affliction affecting more than a dozen species of wild and captive snakes in at least 15 states.

University of Illinois professor of religion Jonathan Ebel has been awarded a 2017 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.