News Bureau

The U.S. isn’t on the verge of a food crisis but is experiencing rampant food price inflation, says Scott Irwin, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos and history professor Maria Todorova have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honor societies in the nation.  They are among 261 new members elected to the academy this year in recognition of their accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research.

Illinois students Caleb Apperson, Dahlia Davis and Aiman Ghani were awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships to study foreign languages this summer. The program is part of a U.S. government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign language and cultural skills to enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.

Marcy Frerichs, an administrative assistant in the Office of the President, was named  Office Professional of the Year by the Illinois Administrative Professionals organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus may only have meaningful consequences in the longer term, says Taisa Markus, an expert in securities law.

Mariama Mwilambwe, a junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was awarded a $30,000 Truman Scholarship. Mwilambwe was one of 58 Truman Scholars selected from a pool of 705 nominees from colleges and universities across the country.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sophomore Braden Moore was awarded a $15,000 Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for his potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering.

War correspondent and Illinois alumnus Terrell Jermaine Starr will visit the Urbana campus April 19 for a Q&A session about his experiences as a journalist reporting from Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

The 22nd Annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert and also known as “Ebertfest,” announced additional actors and musicians who will appear as guests at this year’s festival, as well as a bonus film.

Illinois chemistry professors So Hirata and Prashant Jain and dance professor Cynthia Oliver received 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships.

The Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction were awarded to faculty members, staff and graduate teaching assistants at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this week for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising.

Six academic professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were honored this week with the Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence award for 2022. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looks increasingly like a clear-cut violation of the U.N. charter and a crime of aggression, which is illegal under international law, says Illinois law professor Patrick Keenan.

University of Illinois labor scholar Stephanie Fortado is the recipient of a 2022 fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.

The damage sustained by Ukraine will require years of rebuilding efforts, says Illinois sociology professor and demographer Cynthia Buckley.

The U.S. recently confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Defence fired a hypersonic ballistic missile to destroy an underground arms depot in western Ukraine. This event marks Russia’s first use of the Kinzhal ballistic missile in this war and the first known use of a hypersonic missile in combat. Mechanical science and engineering professor Kelly Stephani spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about the significance of this technology.

Acquiring new medical knowledge and assessing health are not as objective as people think, said history professor Rana Hogarth, who is the adviser for a new series of podcasts by the Science History Institute in Philadelphia to explore issues of racism in science and medicine.

Dr. Mark S. Cohen will be the next dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and senior vice president and chief academic officer at Carle Health, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Cohen is currently a professor of surgery and pharmacology at the University of Michigan.

Travis L. Dixon, a professor and director of graduate studies in communication, will deliver the annual Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on March 23.

University Library professor Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe said the actions are a significant shift in policy from a long tradition of scientific diplomacy.

The current MLB lockout is already shaping up to be the most pivotal labor dispute in the sport since the mid-1990s, which means fans should prepare for the likelihood of more canceled games, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law and labor relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Researchers at the U. of I. diagnosed a pet dog in Chicago with infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. This is the first dog in Illinois to test positive for the coronavirus. A team led by pathobiology professor Ying Fang made the diagnosis. She talks about the findings and future research in pets.

Computer science professor Bo Li is among 118 recipients of the 2022 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. According to the foundation, the awards “honor extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.” Awardees receive a two-year $75,000 fellowship to further their research.

The Super Bowl remains one of the few programs where people aren’t skipping the ads, says a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign business professor and consumer marketing expert.

Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. They are William Hammack, the William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering; Youssef Hashash, the William J. and Elaine F. Hall Endowed Professor and John Burkitt Webb Endowed Faculty Scholar in civil and environmental engineering; and Klara Nahrstedt, the Grainger Distinguished Chair of Engineering in computer science and the director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the U. of I.

The state of Illinois is investigating the occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in community water supplies across the state, with an eye toward developing policies to reduce their use. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to increased risk of certain cancers and potential developmental problems in children. News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates spoke about the issue with John Scott, a senior chemist with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

The brewing Russia-Ukraine conflict will have significant consequences for U.S. interests in Eastern Europe, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist and international relations expert Nicholas Grossman.

Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment takes some of the sting out of inflation, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tax policy expert says.

Five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. Since an in-person celebration was not possible a year ago in consideration of COVID-19 precautions, a gathering in honor of two years of University Scholars from the Urbana campus is taking place today. The award is presented by the University of Illinois System to faculty members from the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana universities.

Jennifer Novak-Leonard will use the NEA grant to examine the experiences of artists and arts alumni regarding racial inclusion in higher education and the impacts of the pandemic.

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research’s categorization of the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as an “attempted dissident coup” could evolve if ongoing investigations reveal additional credible evidence that other types of actors were involved, said Scott Althaus, the center’s director and a professor of both political science and communication at Illinois.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign electrical and computer engineering professor Lav Varshney is a co-author of a new study that explores how social capital influences choices regarding COVID-19 mitigation compliance. Illinois News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with Varshney about the lessons learned from this study and how they may help in other public health crises.

Social work professor Tara Powell discusses the U.S. surgeon general's recent advisory about a looming mental health crisis among the country's youths in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dec. 10 tornado outbreak that devastated parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley has left many wondering if winter tornadoes are a new weather threat to consider in the United States. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor and department head (Robert) Jeff Trapp spoke with Illinois News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about this and other details about the timing and geography of tornadoes that we might expect in the future.

Technology is a big part of life. In India, for example, street vendors and rickshawallahs use cellphones, the internet and Aadhar cards – 12-digit identification numbers given to every citizen of India based on their biometric and demographic data. However, charismatic gurus and superstition still thrive in India. In the new book "Reluctant Technophiles: India’s Complicated Relationship with Technology,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign electrical and computer engineering professor Rakesh Kumar provides an account of India’s often contradictory relationship with technology. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with Kumar about these contradictions, and how India’s situation is both unique and universal.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign senior Boming Yang, of Beijing, was named a Schwarzman Scholar, one of 151 recipients selected from an international pool of 3,000 applicants. The program annually fully funds a class consisting of 40% U.S. students, 20% from China and Taiwan, and 40% from the rest of the world. Students and young alumni from any major may apply for this master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Outstanding individual and group outreach efforts were recognized with the 2021 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. The awards spotlight individuals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have consistently applied their knowledge and expertise to issues for the public good.

Last weekend, international negotiators approved the United Nations Glasgow Climate Pact at the 26th Conference of the Parties. Ashish Sharma, the Illinois research climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about the takeaways from the COP26 and how the goals set at the global-level conference can be translated to the local level by U.S. cities.  

Six faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2021 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list.

The U.S.-U.K. sale of nuclear submarines to Australia is a response to China’s military ambitions in the South China Sea, said Edward A. Kolodziej, an emeritus research professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

Recent weeks have witnessed a series of medium-to-large-sized asteroids cross paths with Earth’s orbit. The largest of the pack – asteroid 2004 UE – is on track to make its closest approach to the planet Nov. 13. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy professor and chair Leslie Looney spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about what researchers refer to as near Earth objects and how much of a threat they are to the planet.

Emily Knox, a professor in the School of Information Sciences and the author of “Book Banning in 21st-Century America,” said societal issues, such as changing racial demographics and disagreements over how to teach the history of race, prompt challenges to certain kinds of books.

The Global Carbon Project recently published its 2021 Global Carbon Budget report, providing data on atmospheric carbon concentrations, emissions and trends. University of Illinois Urban-Champaign atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain was part of an international team of scientists that contributed data to the report. Jain discussed the carbon budget and this year’s findings with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian.

The availability of a COVID-19 vaccine for school-aged children offers protection for children as well as eases challenges faced by their families and their schools, says Rebecca Lee Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among the top producers of a scholarship program that enables students to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs this week recognized Illinois for the 242 students who have received awards from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program over the past 20 years.

The $275,000 award invests in the creative potential of exemplary artists.

Dr. Leyi Wang and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have played a key role in diagnosing coronavirus infection in animal species in zoos across the country. This is important work for understanding the virus’s spread and its broad host range, Wang says.

Biochemistry professor Nicholas Wu has received a 2021 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. His project aims to understand how antibodies interact with their targets.

Mary Henson, the wife of the legendary Fighting Illini basketball coach and ambassador Lou Henson, will serve as grand marshal of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2021 Homecoming Parade. The parade will take place Saturday, Oct. 9, at 11 a.m.

The grand opening of the Siebel Center for Design on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus will take place Oct. 8 with a formal dedication at 1 p.m., followed by an open house. Attendees will include Thomas Siebel, Chancellor Robert Jones and System President Tim Killeen.