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  • Rashard Mendenhall sitting in front of a blue wall.

    Illinois Storytellers: Illini Hall of Famer Rashard Mendenhall

    Sep 12, 2024 4:30 pm

    The famed running back, Super Bowl champion, and Illini Hall of Famer recalls his journey to Illinois and how his alma mater has impacted his life beyond football. 

  • image looking to the top of a large oak tree in Brownfield Woods. Photos by Fred Zwicky

    Brownfield Woods: A gem that was nearly lost

    Aug 12, 2024 11:15 am

    For nearly a century, Illinois scientists have protected Brownfield Woods, a treasured outdoor ecological laboratory. Here's how Lelah Brownfield bucked her family and worked with U. of I. to preserve it.

  • Cynthia Oliver, Professor of Dance and Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Arts Integration at Illinois. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    Professor Cynthia Oliver: The dance is enough

    Apr 26, 2024 8:45 am

    'We danced in the woods, on the beach, in the mountains,' Oliver recalls of her childhood. 'We danced everywhere.' Oliver answers the Proust Questionnaire for Storied.

  • historic photo of people walking beside the Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Photo courtesy of the U of I Archives

    Curiosities from our collections: 1893 Chicago World's Fair

    Apr 9, 2024 1:00 pm

    According to Winton Solberg, a renowned historian of the university, it took our faculty two and a half years to prepare our exhibit, 'which consisted of nine freight carloads...and occupied eight thousand square feet in the Illinois State Building.' 

  • Jill Nicklas (EDU’18) and Breanna Wonderly (GIES’17) volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House during the 2016 Illini softball season.

    The Illini softball team's community service goes on the road

    Mar 5, 2024 8:00 am

    The Softball team had done plenty of service at home in C-U, but not right before a game. Would volunteering instead of practicing affect their performance on the road? The first time they tried it, they run-ruled Nebraska.

  • Shozo Sato at his home in Champaign. Photo by Abby Bobrow

    Child of War, Man of Peace: Shozo Sato, founder of Japan House, always paints with a purpose

    Oct 5, 2023 4:15 pm

    Like a tide at the mercy of the moon, a sense of urgency weighs on Sato to share the horrors of World War II. 'Not too many people remember anymore, or they aren’t alive. I should leave this memory for the next generation.'

  • Heather Dowdy, the first director of product accessibility at Netflix.

    At Netflix, alumna Heather Dowdy is connecting the dots across race, disability, tech, and faith

    Sep 5, 2023 1:30 pm

    'I remember praying to God that if he got me through the grueling electrical engineering program, I would dedicate my career to serving people with disabilities, people who look like my parents.'

  • Alumna Ann Thayer Weldy helped readers find comfort—and themselves—in her books

    Jul 26, 2023 12:15 pm

    To the world, she became Ann Bannon, the name under which she published six lesbian pulp fiction novels. Over sixty years later, these books remain fundamental to the LGBTQ canon. 

  • Coleman Hawkins walks on the Quad. He is pursuing a degree in Recreation, Sport & Tourism.

    Coleman Hawkins: Family Man

    Mar 6, 2023 11:45 am

    For Coleman Hawkins, Fighting Illini power forward, family is at the heart of everything. To really know him, you have to know his family.

  • Stretch hands Wendy Rogers, Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences, a pill bottle in the living room of the McKechnie Family LIFE Home.

    Home is where the robot is

    Nov 14, 2022 10:30 am

    'I see what it does to my husband mentally when he can do things by himself and not depend on anyone,' Jane Evans told researchers. 'This is huge, because it translates to one’s mental state. [Over the years, robots] gave him a reason to live.'

  • Rosalyn Yalow

    Bold: Honoring the legacy of Nobel laureate Rosalyn Yalow

    Aug 1, 2022 11:00 am

    In September, 1941, Bronx-native Rosalyn Yalow arrived at the U of I to embark on her PhD in nuclear physics and a teaching assistantship. She was the only woman among 400 male faculty and teaching assistants in the college of engineering. 

  • Marching Illini Director Barry Houser stands atop the tower-podium from which her directs the band at Memorial Stadium

    Marching Illini Director Barry Houser: The Attitude of Gratitude

    May 2, 2022 9:00 am

    Barry L. Houser, director of the Marching Illini, answers the Proust Questionnaire.

  • Professor Leon Dash sits in his office

    Reporting with an anthropologist's eye

    Mar 25, 2022 10:45 am

    Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism professor Leon Dash talks about what inspired his life's work and answers the Proust Questionnaire.

  • graphic shows three iconic images from Citizen Kane, Star Wars, and Hoop Dreams.

    The U of I connections to three legendary films

    Feb 7, 2022 4:30 pm

    We examine Illinois' connections to three films regarded by many to be landmark contributions not only to their genre, but to the entire filmmaking canon: Citizen Kane, Star Wars, and Hoop Dreams.

  • Grainger College of Engineering PhD student Edgar Mejia

    Envisioning a global economy built on 'upcycling' plastics

    Jan 11, 2022 9:30 am

    'My long-term goal in life is to help establish a global circular economy by developing plastics that are purposely created to be chemically recycled after their initial use is over,' says Illinois engineering student Edgar Mejia.

  • a look back at the ship from the Alvin capsule

    Expedition Oasis: The bottom of the sea

    Nov 15, 2021 12:00 pm

    Volcanologist and geology professor Patricia Gregg takes us with her on the deep ocean sub, Alvin, to investigate a volcanic ridge on the bottom of the sea floor.

  • Donald J. Wuebbles, the Harry E. Preble Endowed Professor of Atmospheric Science,

    Translating the science of climate change into solutions

    Nov 1, 2021 11:30 am

    Don Wuebbles, a world-renowned atmospheric scientist and science communicator, has no patience for those unwilling to accept the gravity of the situation. 'To call it global warming is really just not representing the science correctly.'

  • children's drawings displayed at the Illinois Coal Museum

    Built on coal: The past, present, and future of Illinois' coal towns

    Oct 6, 2021 3:45 pm

    Coal communities throughout the state are grappling with a shrinking industry, and University of Illinois Extension is working with these areas to help them plan, imagine, even embrace a post-coal future.

  • Top of box for the game Operation

    Curiosities: Fun and Games

    Aug 10, 2021 11:15 am

    Did you know that the game Operation started as a class project for a sophomore at U of I? John Spinello promptly sold it to a company for $500 and the promise of a job after he graduated. He got the money, but the job never happened.

  • Dennis Craig sits at the ornately carved granite bench north of the Architecture Building.

    Campus Historic Preservation Officer Dennis Craig answers the Proust Questionnaire

    Jul 26, 2021 1:15 pm

    'We have a lot of interesting architecture with interesting stories,' Craig says. 'I think my favorite part is the digging and looking for things to continue to tell the story of the campus.'

  • atmospheric scientists pose with their 'Doppler on Wheels' truck

    Inside Nature's Fury

    Jun 28, 2021 9:30 am

    They had reached the eye of the storm. Above them, the sky was open and blue and clear and quiet. Around them, the angry clouds formed angled walls... Below them, the waves of the ocean grew to huge swells - a frenzy of whitecaps and sea spray.

  • Mateo Sebastian, the Q’anjob’al-language engagement liaison

    Found in Translation

    Jun 15, 2021 9:45 am

    How the University of Illinois and the local Q’anjob’al-speaking Mayan community are discovering ways to communicate.

  • Alumnus Mort Nathan

    Apr 28, 2021 10:45 am

    Mort Nathan (MEDIA '75), executive writer and producer of The Golden Girls, was kind enough to answer a fangirl's questions about the iconic show.

  • inside a wildfire in a wooded area with groundcoverings and trees burning. No photo credit given.

    Visiting a burn zone with undergrad Andy Sima

    Apr 7, 2021 3:30 pm

    Andy Sima (LAS '21) takes us to a burn zone in New Mexico, scarred land created by the 2019 Ute Park Wildfire.

  • Jessica Steinrock served as the intimacy director in a production 'Firefly Love', produced by Something Marvelous and directed by Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary. Víctor Maraña and Steph Vonedll are pictured kissing.

    Choreographing an illusion of intimacy, passion on stage

    Feb 16, 2021 1:45 pm

    Jessica Steinrock and Zev Steinrock help actors on stage and screen perform authentically, safely, and with consent.

  • Land of Wonderous Cold

    Jan 11, 2021 11:30 am

    In his newest book of environmental history, English professor Gillen D’Arcy Wood explores the race to Antarctica, the continent’s influence on climate change, and. . . Alice in Wonderland.

  • Illini Service Dogs volunteer wearing "respect the vest" t-shirt carries a puppy

    In Training: Illini Service Dogs

    Nov 16, 2020 3:00 pm

    Founded by Bridget Evans (AHS '13), Illini Service Dogs is one of campus' most beloved student groups.

  • graphic - Delivering the vote: how the civil war shaped mail-in voting today

    Delivering the vote

    Oct 19, 2020 10:00 am

    How the Civil War shaped mail-in voting today: It was complicated then, and it's complicated now.

  • A wayward mirror catches University of Illinois photographer Fred Zwicky at work covering student move-in. Photo by Fred, of course.

    Flipping the Focus: Campus photographer Fred Zwicky

    Oct 7, 2020 11:00 am

    A photographer’s magical power is to freeze time. 'As life passes us by in a blur, I think the still image gives us just enough time to process that individual moment in isolation. An effective photograph coalesces how that scene makes us feel...'

  • Innovation accelerated

    Sep 14, 2020 2:30 pm

    How Grainger engineers—and medical professionals, manufacturing experts, animal scientists, and designers from around Champaign-Urbana—brought a COVID-stricken world an emergency ventilator in less than two weeks.

  • Water tower at Philo, Illinois, declares it 'the center of the universe'

    Mosaic and margaritas at the Center of the Universe

    Sep 1, 2020 4:00 pm

    Colleen Bushell remembers when she, Marc Andreessen, and Eric Bina began to grasp the enormity of their creation of Mosaic (world's first graphical web browser) while sipping on a cocktail in Philo, Illinois.

  • Professor Nadya Mason laughing. Photo by Andrew Bird

    Sharing the beauty and wonder of physics

    Jul 13, 2020 2:00 pm

    Her work in experimental physics may sound out of reach for many of us, but it is exactly that notion that Nadya Mason works hard to dispel.

  • Zach Sharpe stands beside a 'Beatlemania'-themed pinball machine

    Pinball Wizard

    May 21, 2020 11:30 am

    Gies Business alum Zach Sharpe is one of pinball’s most celebrated players. He now lends his expertise to one of the world’s largest pinball manufacturers in the world, Chicago-based Stern Pinball.

  • Fudog sculptures at the U of I's Allerton Park

    Robert Allerton: A beautiful legacy

    May 4, 2020 3:15 pm

    Philanthropist Robert Allerton traveled the world, immersing himself in the art of different cultures. His generous spirit enriched Chicago’s Art Institute as well as Illinois’ Allerton Park & Retreat Center.

  • Roger Ebert's signature at the bottom of a typed letter

    A Lifetime in Letters: Ebert's correspondence with his Illinois mentor

    Apr 13, 2020 11:15 am

    Once Roger Ebert graduated from Illinois, the letters began to flow. His correspondence with his mentor, Professor Dan Curley, chronicle inside jokes, career frustrations, and the shared sensibilities of two writers.

  • two young men look at pepper plants in an urban, raised-bed garden plot

    Farming in the Windy City

    Apr 1, 2020 11:00 am

    From rooftops to abandoned lots, urban gardening in Chicago is thriving.

  • Chicago's Superdawg family is an Illini family

    Feb 10, 2020 3:30 pm

    Steffie Drucker, granddaughter of Superdawg's founders, reflects on the family legacy.

  • Claudia Cassidy publicity photo

    The power of her pen: Chicago Tribune theater critic Claudia Cassidy

    Dec 17, 2019 9:15 am

    She was called a queen. She was called a viper. Whichever side you were on, Claudia Cassidy's power in Chicago was indisputable.

  • Three hidden spots on campus where glass takes center stage

    Oct 21, 2019 2:30 pm

    Windows in the Library's Reading Room represent printers whose early forays into book publishing helped expand the reach of knowledge. Our Rare Book Library holds copies of early works printed by each printers’ mark represented.

     

  • a plate of apple pandowdy in Bevier Cafe

    Recreating Apple Pandowdy

    Oct 1, 2019 10:45 am

    We dusted off an old recipe found in the university library and asked the Bevier Café to bring it back to life.

  • students

    Lessons in leisure

    Sep 17, 2019 10:45 am

    Every spring, a class of Illini embark on a tour filled with more than twenty excursions in less than two weeks’ time.

  • Illustration of youth and teacher in guarded classroom. Illustration by Katie Miller

    Science on the inside

    Aug 22, 2019 10:45 am

    How neuroscience graduate students are bringing science education to youth behind bars.

  • sepia-toned image of a decades-younger Gene Robinson wearing full beekeeping regalia

    Gene and the honey bee

    Aug 6, 2019 2:30 pm

    Gene Robinson, who now directs the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, got his start with the honey bee well before 'genomics' existed as a field.

  • player piano music roll for 'Pennies From Heaven' by Irviing Berlin

    Illinois Curiosities: Audio

    Jun 5, 2019 10:00 am

    Illinois' curiosities are displayed in museums and glass cabinets, tucked safely in boxes and drawers This audio edition of curiosities explores not only what we can see but also what we can hear.

  • Title slide graphic. Line drawings of campustown scenes

    New from Storied!

    Apr 25, 2019 12:00 pm

    Green Street: Visualizing 100 years as "the heart of campustown"

  • dramatic green colors of a moth sitting on a fern

    Curious Encounters with the Natural World

    Apr 22, 2019 11:15 am

    'We are not photographic trophy hunters, seeking to make each and every image that perfect portrait, but biologists who seek to capture the little windows of time that show nature as it is.'

  • Humboldt penguin

    Saving the penguins of Peru

    Feb 21, 2019 9:30 am

    By combining fieldwork in Peru with their expertise caring for Humboldt penguins at the Brookfield Zoo, two Illinois grads are among those hoping to turn the tide for these endangered animals.

  • the skyscrapers formerly known as Sears Tower and the John Hancock building

    Alumnus Fazlur Khan: Raising the Skyline

    Feb 5, 2019 1:45 pm

    Fazlur Khan revolutionized city skylines with his innovative engineering—starting in Chicago. To this day, most skyscrapers built after the 1960s employ Fazlur’s structural techniques

  • illustration by Nate Azark includes iconic Chicago locations

    Alumnus Nate Azark: Drawn to the City

    Jan 14, 2019 11:15 am

    Nate Azark owns of 12 Line Studio, which does design work for national brands and local startups. His distinctive style has also been featured on concert posters and album covers

  • Alumnus making a difference with Obama Foundation

    Nov 26, 2018 4:30 pm

    As chief of civic engagement for the Obama Foundation, Michael has returned to the city he loves, to do the work that he loves.