Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Entomology professor May Berenbaum awarded National Medal of Science

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Illinois professor of entomology May Berenbaum has been awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology, according to an announcement from the White House Press Office.

The National Medal of Science was created in 1959 and is awarded annually to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering, according to the release.

“Professor Berenbaum’s work has fundamentally changed what we know, how we study and how the public understands the role of insects in nearly every aspect of human life and development,” said Phyllis M. Wise, chancellor of the Urbana campus. “This is transformative scholarship on a global scale and has implications for every person on the planet. This is a well-deserved honor and all of us at Illinois offer Professor Berenbaum our sincerest congratulations.”

Berenbaum, a Swanlund Chair and the head of the department of entomology, has been a U. of I. faculty member since 1980. Her research, which studies the chemical mechanisms underlying interactions between insects and their host plants, including the detoxification of natural and synthetic chemicals, has produced hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific publications and 35 book chapters.

“Through her inspired work on insects, Professor Berenbaum has had an unparalleled impact on the environmental sciences, with a rare combination of path-breaking scientific discovery and influential public engagement,” said Gene Robinson, director of the Institute for Genomic Biology and Swanlund Chair of Entomology, as well as a long-time colleague of Berenbaum.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Berenbaum has chaired two National Research Council committees, the Committee on the Future of Pesticides in U.S. Agriculture and the Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America.

An academic who is devoted to teaching and fostering scientific literacy through formal and informal education, Berenbaum also has authored numerous magazine articles and six books about insects for the general public.

She also created the Insect Fear Film Festival, now in its 32nd year on campus. The festival engages and entertains hundreds of viewers each year with feature-length films and shorts, commentary on the films, an insect petting zoo and an insect art contest.

Berenbaum graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yale University in 1975. She earned a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University in 1980.

She and her fellow recipients will receive their medals at a White House ceremony later this year.

To contact May Berenbaum, call 217-333-7784; email maybe@illinois.edu.

Read Next

Announcements Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering.

Illinois faculty member elected to National Academy of Engineering

Champaign, Ill. — Marcelo Garcia, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Social sciences Male and female student embracing on the quad with flowering redbud tree and the ACES library in the background. Photo by Michelle Hassel

Dating is not broken, but the trajectories of relationships have changed

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations. Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about […]

Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Nishant Garg, center, is joined by fellow researchers, from left: Yujia Min, Hossein Kabir, Nishant Garg, center, Chirayu Kothari and M. Farjad Iqbal, front right. In front are examples of clay samples dissolved at different concentrations in a NaOH solution. The team invented a new test that can predict the performance of cementitious materials in mere 5 minutes. This is in contrast to the standard ASTM tests, which take up to 28 days. This new advance enables real-time quality control at production plants of emerging, sustainable materials. Photo taken at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Photo by Fred Zwicky / University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Researchers develop a five-minute quality test for sustainable cement industry materials

A new test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can predict the performance of a new type of cementitious construction material in five minutes — a significant improvement over the current industry standard method, which takes seven or more days to complete. This development is poised to advance the use of next-generation resources called supplementary cementitious materials — or SCMs — by speeding up the quality-check process before leaving the production floor.

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010