News Bureau

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.

Oscar nominee Isabelle Huppert and TV legend Norman Lear are coming to this year’s “Ebertfest,” along with two films, the first announced in this year’s lineup.

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, will visit the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as part of the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government, presented by the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs to recognize public officials who promote or demonstrate the highest standards of public service.

More than 40 capital improvement construction projects are in progress this summer on the Urbana campus. Substantial completion is expected by the start of the fall semester for the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center, Foellinger Auditorium and the Education Building, along with multiple restroom renovations, roof replacements, elevator upgrades, and classroom and laboratory modernizations.

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as “Ebertfest,” has been rescheduled to April out of concern for a spike in COVID-19 variants in the state. The Virginia Theatre in Champaign will automatically transfer all pass and seat reservations for the event to the new dates, and refunds are available to those who cannot attend the rescheduled event. 

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.

The 1979 musical film “Hair” has been added to the schedule for this year’s “Ebertfest,” along with four additional films and directors, actors and other guests who will accompany them.

Gregory Nava, director of Latino films such as “El Norte,” “My Family” and “Selena,” will discuss his career and challenges, as well as diversity in the movie industry, as part of the Chaz and Roger Ebert Symposium coming Sept. 27 to the University of Illinois.

Emily Knox, a professor of library and information sciences, will testify before the Senate judiciary committee about the right to intellectual freedom and why people attempt to ban books.

A German diplomat based in Chicago but recently posted in the conflict zone of eastern Ukraine will speak on “The New Cold War: Liberal Democracy vs. Authoritarianism” as part of the annual European Union Day on Feb. 21 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Passes for the 19th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or "Ebertfest," coming April 19-23, 2017, will go on sale Nov. 1. The passes cover all 12 or more screenings during the five-day event at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign.

The remaining films have been announced, along with the schedule and additional guests, for this year’s Roger Ebert’s Film Festival hosted by Chaz Ebert, also known as “Ebertfest,” coming April 13-17.

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.

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

The University YMCA will hold its annual Dump and Run sale Saturday, Aug. 26, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Illinois Stock Pavilion, 1402 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana. Admission is $3. A follow-up sale will occur Sunday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the pavilion, with a “free” sale from 2:30 to 3 p.m. Dump and Run is a community recycling program that reduces litter and consumer waste, saves space in landfills, lowers dumping costs for certified housing and apartments, and provides inexpensive items for people to purchase.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is holding Illini Fest, its first-ever downtown Chicago festival. The event will include more than 40 displays and interactive experiences from colleges and units, including robots, photo booth, virtual reality experience and a solar telescope.

Passes for the 22nd annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” go on sale Nov. 1.

The University of Illinois System has officially launched its largest, and most ambitious, comprehensive fundraising initiative that aims to raise $3.1 billion over the next five years to support students, faculty and academic and research programs and facilities. 

This initiative is built on individual campaigns for each of the System’s universities in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign that were officially launched during campus-based kickoff events in October.

A new research project led by University of Illinois recreation, sport and tourism professor Matthew Browning intends to explore how urban forestry affects health care spending, and then build a free online modeling tool city arborists can use to estimate their communities’ potential rate of return on their investments in parks and other natural elements.

Films and the media industry in changing times will be the subject of this year’s online Ebert Symposium, on Oct. 8 and two later dates, with filmmakers, media professionals and academics part of the discussion. Participants will explore the effects of the pandemic, the racial justice movement and other factors on the media industry, documentary filmmaking and media representation.

“The College Years of a Catholic Radical: Dorothy Day, University of Illinois Dropout,” scheduled for July 18 at 4 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 500 S. Gregory St., Urbana, illuminates Day’s experiences as a U. of I. student, their impact on her later work and the legacy of Day’s presence on campus.

A seed grant, along with some hard work by U. of I. student volunteers and museum staff, has grown a butterfly garden at the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum in Champaign. The “Growing Prairies and Growing Minds” butterfly garden and an archaeology exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, July 30, from 1-5 p.m. at the museum, 346 N. Neil St., Champaign. Guest speakers at the beginning of the event include Illinois state Sen. Scott Bennett and Deb Frank Feinen, the mayor of Champaign. 

January 2019 will be a month remembered by an unseasonably warm start, followed by a torrent of winter storms and ending with a monumental Arctic air outbreak that shattered many record-cold temperatures across the state.

In the first 10 days of January, the statewide average temperature was 9 to 14 degrees above normal, according to Brian Kerschner, spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office, part of the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I. The highest temperature recorded for the month was 66 degrees, which occurred at two stations: one in Pulaski County on Jan. 2 and one in Jersey County on Jan. 8.

A public event in support of missing scholar Yingying Zhang will take place Thursday evening at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The event is organized by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

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.

Today, the National Science Foundation  announced a $110 million, five-year award to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois and 18 partner institutions to continue and expand the activities undertaken through the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, a cornerstone of the nation’s cyberinfrastructure ecosystem.

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

Stadium passes and parking passes for news media representatives covering the May 14 commencement at Memorial Stadium may be picked up through Thursday this week at the Office of Public Affairs between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

This year’s Ebert Symposium will focus on inclusion and diversity in the media industry, with a keynote address provided by Stacy Smith, director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a global think tank studying inequality in entertainment.

Scott E. Denmark, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

With a theme of “Pursuing the Dream in Challenging Times,” the 2017 communitywide celebration of the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. includes a half-dozen events throughout Champaign and Urbana.

European Union Day at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is online this year, with Sweden’s ambassador to the U.S. speaking on gender equality and a Swedish hip-hop artist discussing racial concerns. EU Day will also include a U.K.-based theater performance of an ancient Greek play focused on refugees.

Illinois alumnus St. Elmo Brady was the first African American to obtain a doctorate in chemistry in the U.S. He received his degree in 1916 for work completed at Noyes Laboratory and continued his career as a professor of chemistry at historically black colleges and universities. Brady was recently honored for his accomplishment by the American Chemical Society through the designation of a national historic chemical landmark.

The University of Illinois Press announced the debut of a new logo in anticipation of its upcoming 100-year anniversary.

Founded in 1918, the University of Illinois Press publishes 33 scholarly journals and 100 new books per year, distributed worldwide, with 2,500 books currently in print. The Press's publishing program promotes research and education, enriches cultural and intellectual life and fosters regional pride and accomplishments, enhancing and extending the reputation of the University of Illinois.

The chief operating officer for the academy that awards the Oscars will be a featured guest for a discussion of inclusion and equity in the media, part of this year’s online Ebert Symposium.

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

The University of Illinois Summer Band will present its annual summer concert series on the Quad on Thursday, June 23, and Thursday, July 21, both at 7 p.m. The performances are free, and attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

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.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s 150th birthday celebration begins Tuesday with festivities at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Xinzhu Yu, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is a recipient of the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. 

According to the NIH, the New Innovator Award “supports investigators at each career stage who propose innovative research that, due to their inherent risk, may struggle in the traditional NIH peer-review process despite their transformative potential.” The award provides $2.4 million in funding over the next five years.

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.

The Center for Advanced Study has appointed 20 faculty members as associates or fellows for the 2021-22 academic year.

Illinois’ milder winter soil temperatures may have an impact on pest populations, according to researchers at the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Overall, soil temperatures were milder than normal, according to Jennie Atkins with the Illinois State Water Survey’s Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program. At depths of 4 inches under bare soil, temperatures averaged 35.2 degrees this winter, or 1.4 degrees above the long-term average. Soils averaged 1.8 degrees cooler than last winter. 

Members of the news media are invited to attend a community meeting Thursday, June 22, to discuss campus support for the search for Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China who has been missing since June 9.

The Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has appointed 16 faculty members as associates or fellows for the 2022-23 academic year.

Sixteen academic professionals and civil service staff members have received the 2024 Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award. Employees with at least three years of service are eligible for nomination in one of eight functional categories.

The Call to Action Research Program, initiated by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones to address structures of racism and injustice, is seeking proposals from the Urbana campus and the local community.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fourteenth Biennial Black Sacred Music Symposium Concert begins Sunday, March 10, at 5 p.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.

The EU Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host political scientist and author Ivan Krastev for a lecture on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is reshaping the political imagination of Europe.

Abbott Power Plant’s 77-year-old south stack will be taken down in much the same way it went up, one piece at a time. Crews this month began preparations to disassemble the 197-foot concrete stack at the plant, located on the U. of I. campus at 1117 S. Oak St. The work is expected to end this summer.