News Bureau

Twenty-seven Illinois companies and organizations were honored Oct. 23 for their significant achievements in protecting the environment, helping sustain the future and improving the economy. The winners were announced during a ceremony at the Union League Club in Chicago.

Spurlock Museum presents the panel discussion “Looking Back, Looking Forward” on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. The discussion at the museum is held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center at Illinois.

The University Library has announced plans to redesign the Main Library at Illinois. As an ongoing project, the Senate Committee on the Library will regularly discuss this project throughout the 2018-19 academic year. Those interested in this conversation are invited to attend the upcoming Library Committee Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 9 to 10 a.m., Room 232 in the English Building, 608 S. Wright St., Urbana.

Sicilian Pupi, or Sicilian Puppet Theater, will present a performance at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 in Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public.

Cooler weather has caused soil temperatures to decrease across the state, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at Illinois.

Charles “Chuck” Richard Kibler ... Jennifer Joy Loy ... Yoko Muroga (Nakamura) ... Pauline Rymer ... James Wilburn “Jim” Seets

An accurate census is essential for public and private planning, but the 2020 effort is underfunded and behind schedule, an Illinois expert says.

Renske van der Veen, a professor of chemistry at Illinois, was awarded a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a five-year, $875,000 grant.

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, as the first Category 4 storm in recorded history to reach shore in the northeast Gulf Coast. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with Illinois atmospheric sciences professor Deanna Hence about the storm’s size, strength and path, and the impact of global climate change on future hurricanes. 

Entomology professor Gene Robinson, an international leader in honey bee research, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine “for pioneering contributions to understanding the roles of genes in social behavior.” Robinson directs the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

University Primary School, the Reggio Emilia-inspired laboratory school of the College of Education at Illinois, is hosting an annual fall community open house Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Illinois education scholar and dean James Anderson will deliver the Center for Advanced Study Annual Lecture on the 14th Amendment and citizenship, immigration and national identity.

The lasting impact of Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee will be the image of a lone woman speaking truth to power, says Lesley Wexler, a University of Illinois law professor who studies anti-discrimination law.

Former NASA astronaut and Illinois alumnus Scott Altman will serve as the grand marshal of this year’s University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Homecoming Parade on Friday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m.

Rita Josephine Deters ... John L. Larson ... Marilyn Sue O’Hara ... Joseph H. Smith ... Gerald Durbin Wood ... David Zola

Illinois sociologist Rebecca Sandefur has been named the recipient of a 2018 MacArthur fellowship, or “genius grant.”

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert J. Jones and Kimberlee K. Kidwell, the dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, invite faculty members, staff, students and the public to the dedication of the YingYing Zhang Garden.

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois Black Chorus will perform its fall concert, “Grace (an amazing homecoming),” Sunday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. The concert continues a legacy of 50 years of sustained campus, national and international musical performances.

Led for 38 years by University of Illinois professor of music  Ollie Watts Davis, the concert welcomes alumni back to campus and features music from the African-American sacred music tradition, with arrangements of spirituals, anthems, hymns and traditional and contemporary gospel selections.

The concert is supported by the School of Music at Illinois and Krannert Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase at the Krannert Center Ticket Office. For ticket information, call 217-333-6280.

The Brandon Seabrook String Trio will hold an improvisation workshop at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, with a performance following at 7:30 p.m., in the Music Building Auditorium, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana. The event is part of the Improvisers Exchange, a two-year initiative investigating the field of music improvisation. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Illinois statewide average temperature for September was 70 degrees, 3.8 degrees above normal and the 12th-warmest September on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

A celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day will take place Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to noon on the South Quad near the ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin, Ave., Urbana. A reception follows.

The Program in Jewish Culture and Society's new lecture series, “21st Century Jewish Writing and the World,” features four award-winning Jewish writers.

The University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, is launching its “Transforming Lives, Connecting Communities” campaign to support capital renovations to its historic building, programming support and strengthening of its endowment. The public is invited to the campaign kickoff Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 5-7:30 p.m. at Riggs Brewery, 1901 S. High Cross Road, Urbana.

An Oct. 4 bicentennial lecture at Illinois will take the measure of Lincoln’s body, in life and death.

Without the #MeToo movement and the high bar of a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, it’s doubtful that the sexual assault allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would have surfaced, says Lesley Wexler, a University of Illinois law professor who studies anti-discrimination law.

A series of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Project 500 initiative will take place on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus Sept. 27-29. 

Martha JoAnn Milligan ... Charles William (Bill) Smith

Author David Quammen will speak at the University of Illinois about his new book, which features the revolutionary work of microbiologist Carl R. Woese.

Two graduate students at Illinois have been awarded Department of Energy fellowships.

Anda Trifan, a doctoral candidate in professor of biochemistry Emad Tajkhorshid’s research group, has been awarded a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship to support her research in theoretical and computational biophysics. Edward Hutter, a doctoral candidate in professor of computer science Edgar Solomonik’s research group, was awarded the fellowship to support his research in computer science.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has a new assisted listening system to help patrons with hearing impairment enjoy performances.

Tracy Sulkin, a professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a U. of I. faculty member since 2002, is the dean designate of the College of Media effective Sept. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Bring your bike to the 11th annual Light the Night event on Thursday, Sept. 20 and get a free set of front and rear lights. Illinois law requires bicyclists riding at night to use lights.

Krannert Art Museum exhibitions highlight Chicago art and blue and white ceramics from its collection.

INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine recognized the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for its diversity efforts by including the campus among the 96 schools receiving the 2018 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award.

Soils are drying out after the early September rain, 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.

The National Communication Association announces the selection of Leanne Knobloch, a professor of communication at Illinois, as the 2018 recipient of the Charles H. Woolbert Research Award. 

Roy F. Block ... Carolyn Margaret (Rexroat) Dodd ... Mary Anne Hewing ... Timothy Gerard Hewing ... Raymond Ides ... David Kay ... Frederick “Fred” E. Payne ... Margaret R. Selin ... Joseph Tarbet Woolley

The first Roger Ebert Symposium will explore the cinematic presentation of science with help from an IMAX film shot from space, a former astronaut and a diverse group of academics and experts.

Five University of Illinois professors at the Urbana-Champaign campus have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

The Critical Conversations on Native Imagery Advisory Committee releases its report on a series of campus events that discussed the use of Native imagery on the Urbana campus.

Among the Top 10 in numbers in the U.S., the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s freshman class sets new high marks for students from underrepresented backgrounds and first-generation college students, as well as a 10-year high of Illinois residents.

The New York-based Builders Association theater company will premiere “STRANGE WINDOW: The Turn of the Screw,” a new take on Henry James’ novella, at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The company developed the production during a residency at Krannert Center.

Changes to the age for required minimum distributions from retirement accounts could be made after the 2018 mid-term elections, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on tax policy and retirement issues, and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

An exhibit at the University of Illinois Archives commemorates the contributions of Albert Lee, who is considered the unofficial first dean for African-American students.

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, discusses initiatives that are making college degrees attainable for more students.

The Campus Honors Program announces the names of 159 freshmen and sophomores at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have been designated Chancellor’s Scholars.

The Flatlands Dance Film Festival – the largest in the Midwest – will kick off the 50th anniversary season of the University of Illinois dance department.

Through a combination of institutional, federal and state aid, including Pell Grants and Monetary Award Program grants, Illinois Commitment will provide financial awards to cover the tuition and campus fees for in-state students whose family income is less than $61,000, the current median family income in Illinois.

Krista Wilkinson, the founder of a musical theater troupe for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will give the annual Goldstick Family Lecture in the Study of Communication Disorders at the University of Illinois on Sept. 13.

Kevin Hamilton will become the dean designate of the College of Fine and Applied Arts effective Aug. 17, pending approval of the three-year appointment by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Hamilton is a professor of new media in the School of Fine and Applied Arts and is a senior associate dean for the college. He served as a Provost Fellow during the 2017-18 academic year, working to develop campus programming to facilitate conversation on divisive topics.