News Bureau

A Minute With™... law professor Christine Hurt

Editor’s note: The number of tick-borne illnesses diagnosed annually in the United States doubled between 2004 and 2016, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Summer is prime tick season, and people spending time outdoors should be vigilant, says University of Illinois entomology professor Brian F. Allan. An expert in the spread of insect- and tick-borne diseases, Allan discussed ticks in Illinois, how to prevent bites and when to seek medical attention in an interview with News Bureau biomedical sciences editor Liz Ahlberg Touchstone.

Social media companies are experimenting with hiding metrics on their platforms – something University of Illinois art professor Ben Grosser has been exploring since 2012 with his Demetricator projects.

Illinois professors Erik McDuffie and Carol Symes have been awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships for 2017.

A Minute With...™ Jamie Jones, who is writing a book on the literature, art and culture surrounding the whaling industry

An Illinois historian describes how everything changed for those involved in the Stonewall riots 50 years ago, and the event’s place in the history of gay rights.

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

Eight civil service staff employees were honored with the Chancellor's Distinguished Staff Award at a banquet April 25 at the Student Dining and Residential Programs building. The award recognizes exceptional performance.

The U. of I. Police Department last week started citing smokers who flout the campus's smoking ban.

A graphic illustration of the freshman class, which boasts the university’s largest class since 2005.

A Minute With™... Marcelo Garcia, an expert in river hydrology

Fear of reprisals from outraged parties on social media and unspoken rules about acceptable discourse on college campuses constrain what faculty members teach, research and discuss, says sociology professor Ilana Redstone.

Amelia Lee wasn’t sure she wanted to attend the University of Illinois. As a serious oboist, her idea of college was an arts institution such as Oberlin Conservatory or the Manhattan School of Music. Her mother, however, wanted Lee to get a more well-rounded education, and with a top-10 ranked music school, the U. of I. suited them both.

Educational history professor Jon Hale discusses how Freedom Schools promote civil rights and educational equity and the implications for Illinois in funding these schools as part of the state's education reform initiative.

Indexing capital gains to inflation could be a simple fix to stimulate a teetering economy, but several significant implementation hurdles remain, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

The polarization and dysfunction in Congress has spread in recent years to the voting public, says professor Thomas Rudolph, but it’s more about simply disliking political opponents than differences over ideology.

She just returned from Turkey and is planning a trip to Israel. This is the work life of Brooke Eisenmenger, the director of international advancement.

An accurate census is essential for public and private planning, but the 2020 effort is underfunded and behind schedule, an Illinois expert says.

Special education professor James Shriner on a case recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the educational benefits that public schools are required to provide to students with disabilities.

A ruling in favor of college athletes in Johnson v. NCAA could potentially herald the most consequential change in college athletics since the NCAA was formed in 1906, says Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

As many newspapers decline and disappear – highlighted by two Chicago Tribune reporters recently sounding the alarm about a perceived threat to the Trib – a journalism professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign touts the growth and viability of nonprofits and other alternatives.

Between Sept. 1, 2009, and Aug. 31, 2010, 270 faculty members and academic professionals retired from the UI, according to the Office of Academic Human Resources. Of those new retirees, 171 retired under the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program or Voluntary Retirement Program. (Last year, during the same time, 143 academic employees retired.)

Swapping food stamps for food boxes would mean scrapping 'the most successful government program we have going today,' said U. of I. professor Craig Gundersen

Four students at the University of Illinois were selected to study languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests as recipients of David L. Boren Scholarships.

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.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A group of distinguished incoming freshmen and returning scholars have been awarded James Newton Matthews Scholarships for academic excellence.

Amazon has announced an agreement with the U. of I. to open Amazon@Illinois, a staffed pickup location in the Illini Union Bookstore, 809 S. Wright St., Champaign. The first Amazon pickup location in the state of Illinois, Amazon@Illinois offers the campus community a place to pick up and return Amazon orders.

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.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes and remote work gradually turns into hybrid work, organizations will pay close attention to which workers and occupations function well in a hybrid-work arrangement, said Amit Kramer, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies the relationship between work, family and health.

Last spring, a Cinderella team from the U. of I. clinched a berth in the Final Four of a major college tournament. But this unheralded group of undergraduates used pawns, bishops and queens – not basketballs – to work their tournament magic.

The Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award honors eight civil service staff employees for exceptional performance.

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.

It can be challenging to distinguish between a paid political ad and one that is not in today’s media environment, especially on social media. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with advertising professor Michelle Nelson about the topic. New research from Nelson and her colleagues found that most adults – even those who are politically engaged and educated – do not fully understand online targeting, sources and funding for political ads, or the unique regulatory environment for political speech that is different from commercial speech.

The NFL team in the nation’s capital will no longer be the Redskins. It’s the highest-profile retirement of an American Indian name by a sports team in decades, says Jay Rosenstein, an Illinois professor of media and cinema studies. His documentary on the use of American Indian mascots in sports aired in 1997 and he has closely followed the issue since.

Leah Matchett, of Grand Haven, Michigan, and an alumna of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is one of 49 students selected in the first year of the Knight-Hennessy Scholar program for postgraduate study at Stanford University.

Seven Urbana campus faculty members have been named University Scholars and will be honored at a campus reception Sept. 28 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

A Minute With™... Amit Kramer, a professor of labor and employment relations

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.

There is a revolution brewing in the textbook world and, of course, the University of Illinois is leading it.

As more newspapers are purchased by “vulture” hedge funds – highlighted by the recent acquisition of Tribune Publishing Co. by Alden Global Capital LLC  – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign journalism professor Brant Houston touts nonprofit news organizations as a viable alternative to traditional newspaper business models.

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, discusses initiatives that are making college degrees attainable for more students.

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.

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

“Fabricating flexible electronics is my thing. I love it!” said Seung Yun “Simone” Heo, her enthusiasm evident even while speaking about the technical processes of metal vapor deposition and electron beam lithography. “We’re making everything from scratch. I can do it myself from step one. It’s not that hard to do, it’s more about time and effort.”

Leslie Looney is an astronomy professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and director of the Laboratory for Astronomical Imaging. He spoke with News Bureau physical sciences and media editor Lois Yoksoulian about the significance of solar eclipses and what to expect on April 8.

A new, automated system that allows flyers to pay for parking with credit cards has replaced the parking booth at the University of Illinois Willard Airport. Customers who wish to pay with cash may pay for parking inside the terminal.

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.

This year’s Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” has been canceled due to concerns related to the coronavirus.

A post-World War II romance is the first film announced for this year’s “Ebertfest,” coming April 10-13 to downtown Champaign and the U. of I. The film will be shown in memory of its co-star, Scott Wilson, a frequent past festival guest. Organizers also announced an added role in this year’s festival for film critic Richard Roeper.

The 2021 edition of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” has been moved to early September due to uncertainties related to COVID-19.