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Campus Life Photo of food science and human nutrition professor Toni Gist wearing a suit and pearl jewelry.

AI, virtual reality give students a taste of study abroad experiences

An innovative general education course in food science gives students intercultural learning experiences similar to what they might obtain through study abroad.

Behind the Scenes Photo of someone kneeling in the dirt and planting a small sapling, while wearing a bunch of leaves on their head.

Planting a pocket forest

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s 5:14 a.m., and the sun hasn’t come up yet. I’m at the Illinois Arboretum parking lot among a crowd of 70 students, faculty and community members, all awaiting the beginning of the same event — interdisciplinary artist Deke Weaver’s sunrise tree planting procession. Weaver, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign art professor, […]

Campus News Honors Students on a university quadrangle.

Awards recognize excellence in public engagement at Illinois

Honorees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were recognized with the 2026 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement.

Campus Life A man, Sean Evans, in graduation regalia delivering a Commencement speech

Illinois Commencement Speaker Sean Evans: ‘You don’t need to know what happens next. You just need to be ready for the heat.’

“Hot Ones” host Sean Evans was the 2026 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Commencement speaker. Read the transcript of his speech.

Campus News

Illinois junior receives prestigious Udall Scholarship

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign junior R. Fisher Houston is one of 65 students nationwide awarded the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship. This highly competitive scholarship program identifies future leaders in environmental, Tribal public policy and healthcare fields.

Campus News Honors Students walking on the Illinois Engineering Quad

Faculty members honored with 2026 University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Awards

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reintroduced one of its signature faculty honors this spring with the University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Awards, which recognizes professors who take on sustained, active leadership in improving teaching and learning at Illinois. University Distinguished Teacher-Scholars are celebrated for the ways their work improves the quality of teaching not […]

Expert Viewpoints Social work professor Christopher Fleming led a study that explored youth gangs in small towns and rural areas in the U.S.

Do youth gangs exist in rural America?

Christopher Fleming is a professor of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign and the first author of a recent study that explored gang involvement among youths from rural and small communities in the U.S. Fleming spoke with News Bureau research editor Sharita Forrest. What sparked your interest in examining gangs in rural […]

Announcements

Fifteen employees honored with 2026 Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award

Fifteen academic professionals and civil service staff members will receive the Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award recognizing exceptional performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Behind the Scenes Photo of a student placing weights on top of a bamboo stick truss while other students watch.

Designing, building and breaking things

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bamboo skewers carefully arranged in the form of a truss span the space between two tables in the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery. Students gather around to watch as 5-pound and 10-pound weights are added one at a time, either on top of the truss or hanging from the bottom along its length. […]

Expert Viewpoints Law and Policy Portrait of Rachel Hoopsick

Who benefits from loosening restrictions on psychedelics, marijuana?

Substance use and mental health expert Rachel Hoopsick weighs in on the new changes to federal drug policy.

Honors The Illini Union building

Three Illinois faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Three faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honorary societies in the United States.

Campus News

Two Illinois students receive Boren Scholarships

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduate students Sameer Abbasi and Lyndon Shi have received Boren Awards.

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

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