News Bureau

The pending Supreme Court case Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org will test the legality of a state copyrighting its own laws, which could pose a challenge to legal research, scholarship and public access to the law, said U. of I. copyright law expert Sara R. Benson.

Eunice Santos will become the dean of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign effective Aug. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Andreas C. Cangellaris, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, recommended the appointment to Chancellor Robert Jones after the conclusion of a yearlong national search.

Phyllis Gordon ... Richard H. “Dick” Howard ... Paul Dale Shaw

Six researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. 

Above-average rainfall continued in June, along with an elevated risk of flooding in some areas of Illinois, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Illini Fest, a downtown festival planned for July 18 in Chicago’s Park Grill Plaza of Millennium Park, brings the university experience to the more than 150,000 Fighting Illini alumni living in Chicagoland.

University of Illinois professor emeritus of community health Thomas W. O’Rourke, an expert on health policy analysis, the possible impact of establishing a single-payer health care system in the U.S.

An Illinois professor who studies how Latinos deal with the census responds to the Supreme Court’s decision on the citizenship question.

The Supreme Court this week said it can’t provide the cure to partisan gerrymandering, so the focus will have to be on prevention, says an Illinois political science professor who hopes her research can play a part.

Roy O. Walker Jr.

More than 40 capital improvement construction projects are in progress this summer on the Urbana campus. Substantial completion is expected by the start of the fall semester for the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center, Foellinger Auditorium and the Education Building, along with multiple restroom renovations, roof replacements, elevator upgrades, and classroom and laboratory modernizations.

Krannert Art Museum has amassed the largest museum collection of Dutch political prints outside of Europe.

Annie “Anne” Laura Eckerty ... Peter G. Martens

By legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, the state of Illinois could fund additional pension payments while making investments in public education, construction projects, and drug treatment and prevention programs, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois and the director of the Labor Education Program in Chicago.

Two U. of I. students are among 244 students nationwide awarded David L. Boren Scholarships to study language in world regions critical to U.S. interests.

Soil temperatures are increasing after a cooling period the second week of June, 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.

Experts have ranked May 2019 as one of the wettest Mays on record in central Illinois. Is it possible that the incidence of mosquito-borne illnesses increases with the amount of rainfall? To find out, News Bureau science writer Ananya Sen asked Brian F. Allan, an entomology professor at the University of Illinois.

Thirteen University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students and young alumni accepted Fulbright grants for the upcoming academic year, providing opportunities for international educational, research and teaching experiences.

Amy M. Blue-Short ... Joyce A. Butsch ... Kenneth Morris Davidson ... Virginia Guthrie ... Jean M. Jessee ... Ralph A. Smith ... William Murphy Tilton ... Harry C. Triandis ... Sherry Marie Weaver ... Jefferey “Jeff” Allen Welch

Tim Bannon will become the executive director of the University of Illinois Willard Airport in Savoy. Bannon, currently serving as the airport’s interim executive director, replaces Gene Cossey, who left in February for a similar position in Tennessee.

A Rare Book and Manuscript Library exhibit will showcase typewriters used by Hugh Hefner, Roger Ebert, Carl Sandburg and James Jones.

An Illinois historian describes how everything changed for those involved in the Stonewall riots 50 years ago, and the event’s place in the history of gay rights.

The U. of I. selected Sean Garrick to the new senior-level position of vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.

The final report from the Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation's is available online.

“The College Years of a Catholic Radical: Dorothy Day, University of Illinois Dropout,” scheduled for July 18 at 4 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 500 S. Gregory St., Urbana, illuminates Day’s experiences as a U. of I. student, their impact on her later work and the legacy of Day’s presence on campus.

John C. Hough Jr. ... Janet D. Knesek (nee Scott) ... Joseph “Joe” Konitzki ... Richard Newport Wright III 

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Fox/Atkins Development LLC and the University of Illinois present a free summer concert featuring the Barcelona, Spain-based Alma Afrobeat Ensembleat 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, in Research Park.

Some areas of Illinois experienced record-breaking amounts of rain in May, as statewide totals mark the sixth consecutive month with above average rainfall, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Through the centuries, people have devised imaginative puzzles to test our wits. Three-dimensional puzzles crafted of wood, metal, plastic and other durable materials are designed to be taken apart, rearranged or untangled. The exhibit “Fall to pieces: Ingenious mechanical puzzles from around the world,” debuts June 4 at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and runs through July 21.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois freshman Ari Kelo, a graduate of Northside College Preparatory High School in Chicago, will join a three-week summer program at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London as part of the Fulbright Summer Institute, an initiative of the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois undergraduates have been awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarshipsto study critical languages during the summer of 2019.

John “Jack” L. Hayes Jr. ... Wilma J. Parsons ... Jim Schuster

The Supreme Court has to consider public opinion and its popularity in deciding politically divisive cases, says a University of Illinois political scientist.

Crisis knows no season, and for as little as $5 per month, faculty members and staff can make a difference in the life of a co-worker in crisis.

Eleven faculty members were honored with the Provost’s Campus Distinguished PromotionAward for 2019.

Katharine “Kay” Oline Aston ... “Carol” Margadene Bateman ... Lucille “Lucy” L. Finn ... Joseph A. Garza ... Gerald “Jerry” E. Miner Jr. ... Shirley Bash Rittenhouse ... Louis Allen Walthall

Gabriel Wacks is the first University of Illinois student accepted into Peking University’s Yenching Academy. Along with about 125 scholars from more than 40 countries, he will enroll this fall in an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in China studies.

After a cooling spell last weekend, soil temperatures are once again rising in Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Robert W. McCleary

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today transferred oversight of the University of Illinois Research Park from the U. of I. System to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

U. of I. student Philip Kocheril of Champaign was awarded a Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.

Emergency responders will take part in a full-scale emergency exercise at Willard Airport in Savoy on Monday, May 20, beginning at 6 p.m. The exercise will not affect scheduled air travel.

Illinois alumnus St. Elmo Brady was the first African American to obtain a doctorate in chemistry in the U.S. He received his degree in 1916 for work completed at Noyes Laboratory and continued his career as a professor of chemistry at historically black colleges and universities. Brady was recently honored for his accomplishment by the American Chemical Society through the designation of a national historic chemical landmark.

Janice Lynn Allen ... Donald Chien-Tao Chiang ... Doris M. Downs ... Max Elmer Reid ... Helen Louise (Camp) Ridlen

“Engineering Fire,” 30-minute documentary video chronicling the work of University of Illinois engineers to introduce a solar-cooking device in Haiti, premieres May 12 at 7 p.m. CDT on the Big Ten Network.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will present its 50th season of performances in 2019-20.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal will host the Illinois Fire Service Institute Training Showcase on May 15 outside the Illinois state Capitol in Springfield. The event will provide state legislators with an in-depth look at the training efforts for firefighters taking place throughout the state.

The primary reason why current bankruptcy law doesn’t work well is that it dates back to 1978, before the explosion of consumer credit, says Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert. Lawless served as reporter for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, which recommended several changes to the law.

The Office of the Provost honored three University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members May 7 with Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership.

The 2019 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference is May 21-22 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Champaign. This year the conference will expand beyond the aquatic environment to include air and soil studies, along with the effects of contaminants on human and animal health.