News Bureau

Four professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2018 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are: mechanical science and engineering professor Narayana Aluru, computer science professor William Gropp and plant biology professors Andrew Leakey and Ray Ming.

Soil temperatures have fallen significantly throughout the state in November, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I.

Constitutional checks and balances and the power of the presidency will be topics of a speech and roundtable Nov. 29 at the U. of I.

A Native American dance exhibition is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois. Sponsored by the Native American House and Spurlock Museum, the free event features interactive Native American dances highlighting the Men’s Traditional and Woodlands styles.

On Nov. 10, the Illinois Fire Service Institute will host the inaugural “Veterans in the Fire Service Day: An Opportunity for Firefighters Past, Present, and Future.” It is a professional development opportunity for U.S. Armed Forces veterans who also have served, are serving or may be interested in serving as firefighters.

A University Library event and exhibit will recognize the services of veterans of the armed forces.

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will present “Virago-Man Dem” by choreographer Cynthia Oliver Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Colwell Playhouse.

Illinois’ weather in October was a mixed bag of conditions with temperatures in the 90s, the first fall frost, the first snow of the season and widespread heavy rains, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

The EU’s ambassador to the U.S. will discuss the U.K. Brexit process and transatlantic relations as part of EU Day on Nov. 9.

Slavery in Illinois and the move to freedom will be the subject of a Nov. 8 lecture at the U. of I., part of a series commemorating the state’s bicentennial.

University of Illinois entomology professor and department head May Berenbaum, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and longtime editorial contributor to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and other journals, has been appointed editor-in-chief of PNAS, effective Jan. 1.

Passes for the 21th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, shortened from five days to four, go on sale Nov. 1.

Spurlock Museum presents the panel discussion “Looking Back, Looking Forward” on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. The discussion at the museum is held in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center at Illinois.

The University Library has announced plans to redesign the Main Library at Illinois. As an ongoing project, the Senate Committee on the Library will regularly discuss this project throughout the 2018-19 academic year. Those interested in this conversation are invited to attend the upcoming Library Committee Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 9 to 10 a.m., Room 232 in the English Building, 608 S. Wright St., Urbana.

Sicilian Pupi, or Sicilian Puppet Theater, will present a performance at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 in Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public.

Cooler weather has caused soil temperatures to decrease across the state, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at Illinois.

Entomology professor Gene Robinson, an international leader in honey bee research, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine “for pioneering contributions to understanding the roles of genes in social behavior.” Robinson directs the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

University Primary School, the Reggio Emilia-inspired laboratory school of the College of Education at Illinois, is hosting an annual fall community open house Wednesday, Nov. 7.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert J. Jones and Kimberlee K. Kidwell, the dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, invite faculty members, staff, students and the public to the dedication of the YingYing Zhang Garden.

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois Black Chorus will perform its fall concert, “Grace (an amazing homecoming),” Sunday, Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. The concert continues a legacy of 50 years of sustained campus, national and international musical performances.

Led for 38 years by University of Illinois professor of music  Ollie Watts Davis, the concert welcomes alumni back to campus and features music from the African-American sacred music tradition, with arrangements of spirituals, anthems, hymns and traditional and contemporary gospel selections.

The concert is supported by the School of Music at Illinois and Krannert Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase at the Krannert Center Ticket Office. For ticket information, call 217-333-6280.

The Brandon Seabrook String Trio will hold an improvisation workshop at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, with a performance following at 7:30 p.m., in the Music Building Auditorium, 1114 W. Nevada St., Urbana. The event is part of the Improvisers Exchange, a two-year initiative investigating the field of music improvisation. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Illinois statewide average temperature for September was 70 degrees, 3.8 degrees above normal and the 12th-warmest September on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

A celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day will take place Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to noon on the South Quad near the ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin, Ave., Urbana. A reception follows.

The Program in Jewish Culture and Society's new lecture series, “21st Century Jewish Writing and the World,” features four award-winning Jewish writers.

The University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, is launching its “Transforming Lives, Connecting Communities” campaign to support capital renovations to its historic building, programming support and strengthening of its endowment. The public is invited to the campaign kickoff Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 5-7:30 p.m. at Riggs Brewery, 1901 S. High Cross Road, Urbana.

Bring your bike to the 11th annual Light the Night event on Thursday, Sept. 20 and get a free set of front and rear lights. Illinois law requires bicyclists riding at night to use lights.

Soils are drying out after the early September rain, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

The Critical Conversations on Native Imagery Advisory Committee releases its report on a series of campus events that discussed the use of Native imagery on the Urbana campus.

U. of I. professor Julie Dowling is speaking to congressional staffers July 16 about generational change, racial/ethnic identity and the U.S. census.

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world’s first engineering-based medical school, welcomed its first class of 32 students July 2.

A partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Carle Health System, the college aims to create a cohort of physician-innovators who exemplify the qualities of compassion, competence, curiosity and creativity. The students will receive full four-year tuition scholarships, privately funded, valued at more than $200,000 each.

Southern blueswoman Marcia Ball will perform in a free outdoor concert in the University of Illinois Research Park on Friday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.. The event is part of the Outside at the Research Park series. The opening act is Jive Bag, led by Jonny Beckett, playing New Orleans funk and jazz starting at 6:30 p.m. Ball is known for her keyboard skills that blend “rollicking, two-fisted New Orleans piano, Louisiana swamp rock and smoldering Texas blues,” according to The Boston Globe.

The Illinois Fire Service Institute will host the 94th Annual Fire College on June 7-10 in Champaign. The event will bring together more than 400 first responders from across the state and country to experience in-depth, hands-on training.

The statewide average temperature for May in Illinois was 70.6 degrees, 7.9 degrees above normal and the warmest May on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. The old record was 69.4 degrees in 1962.

News media passes for Saturday's campuswide commencement at Memorial Stadium are available through Friday at the Office of Public Affairs, 507 E. Green St., Room 319, Champaign. 

Crisis knows no season. For as little as $5 per month, faculty and staff members can make a difference in the life of a co-worker in crisis by donating to the Faculty and Staff Emergency Fundat Illinois.

Over the past year, the fund provided about $30,000 in grants to employees experiencing temporary financial hardship. Since the fund’s inception in 1992, more than 1,000 academic professionals, faculty and staff members have been helped.

At a noon event on Monday, May 7, at the Alma Mater statue, University of Illinois administrators will discuss their participation in the upcoming Illini 4000 annual cross-country fundraising ride and receive bicycle gear from experienced riders.

The statewide average temperature in April was 44.7 degrees, 7.9 degrees below normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. It was the second-coldest April on record, dating back to 1895, and beaten only by 43.1 degrees set in April 1907.

Scott E. Denmark, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive. Denmark is one of 84 new members and 21 foreign associates recognized for distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

The Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees invites all departments and units to identify and nominate individuals who have made substantial contributions to their respective academic disciplines for an honorary degree award. Information regarding the nomination procedure and criteria for honorary degree award nominations can be found on the Senate website.

The public is invited to a May 1 event designed to continue the momentum from an April 10 group conversation on Native imagery. The gathering will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. in the South Lounge of the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Siebel Center for Design will take place Tuesday, April 24 at 2 p.m. on a site located on Fourth Street between Gregory Drive and Peabody Drive, Champaign.

Colder weather led to cooler than normal soil temperatures during the first half of April in Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

News media attending the April 17 Chancellor’s Critical Conversations event will be allowed to record content from the session.

News reporters interested in covering the sixth annual Day of Caring meal packaging event Saturday, April 14, are encouraged to go to Memorial Stadium between 10 a.m. and noon.

On Thursday, April 19 at 4 p.m., Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois presents the talk “University of Illinois Wheelchair Athletics: A Tradition of Excellence.” Adam Bleakney, the head coachof men's and women's track, field and racing, and Stephanie Wheeler, the head coach of women’s basketball, will discuss the program’s roots, its legacy and its continuing leadership and success in wheelchair sports. 

The University of Illinois has received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to continue funding for the Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring at Illinois. The program, started in 2015, supports underrepresented minority doctoral students in science, technology, engineering and math fields and is one of nine UCEMs throughout the country.

Who was Robert Allerton, the creator of the English-style country house, grounds and sculpture park in central Illinois? Author Maureen Holtz will share insights about the life and estates of Allerton, called “Chicago’s Richest Bachelor” by the Chicago Tribune in 1906. The event is Thursday, May 17, at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana. Allerton’s Monticello, Illinois, estate, now owned by the U. of I., is listed as one of the state’s Seven Wonders, and his Kauai, Hawaii, estate, Lawai-Kai, is now a botanical garden.

This year’s “Ebertfest” will close with a performance by Native American artist Pura Fe following its final film, “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.”

Political reporting in the Trump era will be the subject of a panel discussion April 12 featuring the Washington Post’s Dan Balz and columnist Roger Simon.

University of Illinois professor of geography Jesse Ribot has been awarded a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.