A new documentary premiering on the Big Ten Network features three extraordinary women at the University of Illinois. “Making Their Mark” will air on BTN on Friday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. CDT, following the Illinois-Maryland women’s volleyball match. The 30-minute program profiles athlete Jean Driscoll, entomologist May Berenbaum and computer artist Donna Cox.
“The stories of these three incredible women were fascinating to research and produce,” said Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs at the U. of I. “Through their words and deeds, they serve as inspiration for any of us trying to figure out how we can make a positive impact on the world, in big ways or small.”
The program shows how Jean Driscoll uses sports to change lives. Driscoll’s wheelchair racing wins include two Olympic medals and 12 Paralympic medals. Driscoll also was the first person to win the Boston Marathon eight times. When she retired from racing in 2000, she started helping those with disabilities in Ghana, West Africa. On her first visit to Ghana in 2001, she witnessed the harsh conditions and discrimination faced by people with disabilities in that country. She conducted several wheelchair racing clinics in Ghana that led to that country’s first-ever Paralympic team. She also helped bring two coaches and eight athletes from Ghana to Illinois for training with the U. of I. team. Driscoll is the senior director of development in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
President Obama in 2014 awarded professor May Berenbaum the National Medal of Science for her life’s work in entomological research. Berenbaum is internationally known for her work investigating the recent honey bee crisis, and her research has yielded important new insights into the evolutionary relationships between insects and their host plants. A prolific researcher, author and editor, she has written six popular books about insect life, history and lore. More than 30 years ago, Berenbaum founded the Insect Fear Film Festival, an annual celebration of insect-monster movies. The festival always draws a crowd and provides the perfect venue for teaching her audience about the science behind the six-legged stars of the screen.
Also featured in “Making Their Mark” is pioneering computer artist and Academy Award nominee Donna Cox, a professor in the School of Art and Design. Cox explains how she was inspired by nature to become an artist while growing up in rural Oklahoma. She directs a team at Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications that creates scientific visualizations from supercomputer data. Her team’s work has appeared in feature films, planetarium shows and television documentaries. One of her most recent productions is “Solar Superstorms” (narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch), which takes viewers on a stunning visual journey to the center of the sun.
“Making Their Mark” was produced by Tim Hartin, Kaitlin Southworth and Alison Davis Wood for the university’s Office of Public Affairs and Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.
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