News Bureau

President Biden would likely alienate a key constituency ahead of the 2024 presidential election cycle if he used his presidential powers to intervene in a potential UPS strike, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are driven by the “existential concerns” posed by the proliferation of streaming services and the rise of artificial intelligence, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Russian president Vladimir Putin weathered a recent insurrection by the Wagner mercenary group, but the crisis has damaged his standing, said Illinois professor of Slavic languages and literatures Richard Tempest.

A new report reveals that U.S. beekeepers lost roughly half of the honey bees they managed last year. In an interview, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entomology professor Adam Dolezal describes the current status of bees in the U.S.

The loss of OceanGate's Titan submersible this week has triggered questions about how underwater craft navigate and how these vehicles can improve their geolocation abilities. Electrical and computer engineering professor Viktor Gruev spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about the current state of the science behind underwater geolocation, and some advances his team is working on now.

Five University of Illinois professors at the Urbana-Champaign campus have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. 

Tracy Dace, the founder and chief executive officer of the Driven to Reach Excellence and Academic Achievement for Males Opportunity Center; Kevin Tan, a professor of social work; Sara Benson, a professor and copyright librarian at the University Library; and the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research are the recipients of the 2023 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement.

Three University of Illinois students received U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships to study foreign languages this summer.

“The New Normal,” a 30-minute documentary premiering May 23 at 1:30 p.m. CST/ 2:30 p.m. EST on the Big Ten Network, documents the journey of University of Illinois Urbana Champaign researchers to create a fast and inexpensive coronavirus test to ensure that U. of I. students, faculty and staff could remain safe and healthy during the pandemic

Thirteen University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students and recent graduates were offered Fulbright grants to pursue international education, research and teaching experiences around the globe this coming year. Another six Illinois students were named Fulbright alternates.

Anxiety about artificial intelligence has been driven by its rapid development as well as knowledge worker concerns about potentially being replaced by the transformative technology, says Robert Brunner, the associate dean for innovation and chief disruption officer at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Benjamin J. Lough will be the next dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chemistry professor Nancy Makri has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive. She is among 120 members and 23 international members elected this year to recognize their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Four University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members were honored by the Office of the Provost with the 2023 Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership.

Cari West-Henkelman received the 2023 Office Professional of the Year award from the Illinois Administrative Professionals organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A new study assessed changes in the reproductive output of 104 bird species around the world between 1970 and 2019. Illinois Natural History Survey avian ecologist Jeff Hoover, a co-author of the report, explains how climate change is altering bird ecology and health.

Media passes and parking are available for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign commencement.

The current state of the First Amendment is an ongoing battle between those who say they want to advance freedom of speech for everyone versus those who want to drown out voices that they don’t agree with, says Lena Shapiro, a clinical assistant professor of law and the inaugural director of the College of Law’s First Amendment Clinic.

Four University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students received Boren Awards for intensive language study abroad during the 2023-24 academic year.

Sixteen academic professionals and civil service staff members have received the inaugural Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award recognizing exceptional performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Direct college admissions systems benefit both students and postsecondary institutions, according to Jennifer Delaney, a professor of higher education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scientists have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

John Coleman will be the next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. 

University of Illinois students Daniel Cudzich, Max Fan and Aidan Lindsay were awarded Barry M. Goldwater scholarships for their potential to contribute to the advancement of research in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering.

The most likely outcome of the Clarence Thomas revelations is that the Supreme Court will announce new or clarified ethical standards for justices on the high court, says Jason Mazzone, the Albert E. Jenner Jr. Professor of Law and the director of the Program in Constitutional Theory, History, and Law at the College of Law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign presents Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction to exceptional faculty and staff members this week.

Germán Bollero will be the next dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Bollero has served as the interim dean of ACES since September 2021.  

Illinois history professor Yuridia Ramírez and Latina/Latino studies professor José de la Garza Valenzuela have been awarded 2023 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowships.

Illinois Ph.D. candidate Sulagna Chakraborty describes awareness of ticks and tick-borne disease among Illinois farmers.

Educators need to help students understand and use artificial intelligence language tools in appropriate ways to prepare them for a future in which their use is commonplace, says English and information sciences professor Ted Underwood.

Five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. The award is presented by the University of Illinois System to faculty members from the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana universities.

The International Criminal Court’s recent issuance of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin effectively means any country cooperating with Russia is now cooperating with an accused war criminal, says Illinois law professor Patrick Keenan, an expert in human rights law and international criminal law.

Revenue from collegiate sports TV networks may decrease cross-subsidization of athletic programs by other units at these colleges, but athletic programs' spending also seemed to increase, scholars Jennifer Delaney and Tyler Kearney found.

The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is accepting applications from neurodiverse students who will be incoming freshmen in the 2023 fall semester.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been chosen to lead the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago – a new biomedical hub – along with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The three-university team was selected to lead the new biomedical hub as part of a competitive application process for a research initiative explicitly focused on measuring human biology.

One year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the most likely outcome is a stalemate, despite the mounting cost in blood and treasure, said Edward A. Kolodziej, Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

There’s nothing sacrosanct about the five-day workweek, which is long overdue for an overhaul, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

Chemistry professor Mei Shen is among 126 early-career researchers receiving the 2023 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 advance their research.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the highest number of applicants selected for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar programs, as announced today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

A memorial service for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor emeritus Nick Holonyak Jr. will be open to the news media. The event takes place Thursday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m. at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 306 N. Wright St., Urbana.

Very tall buildings are attractive options in cities where land is at a premium, but they come with construction challenges, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign architecture professor Abbas Aminmansour.

Seven professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellows are chosen by their peers for outstanding contribution to the field.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumna Brittney Nadler recently was awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University, the Pickering Fellowship supports individuals who seek careers in the State Department’s Foreign Service.

The Jan. 8 insurrection in Brazil’s seat of government was styled after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, says Jerry Dávila, the Lemann Chair in Brazilian History at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and executive director of the Illinois Global Institute.

The bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act requires states to recognize same-sex marriages while balancing the interests of religious groups, says Robin Fretwell Wilson, the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Using the term “fake news” does not help audiences distinguish false information or sources and may be doing more harm than good, according to resarch by U. of I. communication professor Emily Van Duyn.

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research’s Coup d’État Project initially categorized the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as an “attempted dissident coup.” But that classification has evolved to include the additional classification “attempted auto-coup d’état,” said Scott Althaus, the center’s director and a professor of both political science and communication at Illinois.

Thomas O’Rourke, a professor emeritus of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about how previous efforts to institute public health measures succeeded and how the same approaches can be employed to reduce the scourge of gun violence in the U.S.

Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations has awarded a grant of $34 million to the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency project, an international research effort led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In its 10-year history, RIPE has demonstrated large increases in crop productivity in replicated field trials on the university farm.

Mental health outreach programs for farmers also need to provide services for their teens, who have similar rates of anxiety and depression, said agricultural and biological engineering professor Josie Rudolphi.