News
College of LAS News
Marketing and Media
Faculty Honors and RSS Feed
Faculty Honors 2008
LAS professors bring honor and recognition to the college.
January | February | March | April | May
May
Phil Newmark, professor of cell and developmental biology, has been selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (HHMII). Newmark's research revolves around the amazing regenerative powers of planarians and focuses on their stem cell biology, germ line development, and neural regeneration and plasticity. Investigators are selected through rigorous national competitions in order to assure the winners have the greatest potential to make important new contributions to science. Once selected, the researchers continue to be based out of their home institution but are supported by HHMI field staff throughout the country and have access to considerable resources.
Wilfred van der Donk, professor of chemistry, has been selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator for his noted research in antibiotic discovery and design. Investigators are selected through rigorous national competitions in order to assure the winners have the greatest potential to make important new contributions to science. Once selected, the researchers continue to be based out of their home institution but are supported by HHMI field staff throughout the country and have access to considerable resources.
April
John Lynn, professor of French and military history, was selected to take part in the analysis and celebration of Franco-American friendship in Paris. In 2004, Lynn earned the Palmes Academiques, one of France's highest academic honors, for his work as a historian. The conference, taking place December 12-14 and entitled "Transatlantic Modernity: What is Lafayette's Legacy to Us Today?" coincides with the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Marquis de Lafayette, a strong French military ally to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.
Alejandro Lleras, professor of psychology and Beckman Institute affiliate, received an Early Faculty CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, an award that supports the early career development of professors who best exemplify the role of teacher-scholars. The $400,000 award will be distributed over five years, beginning in 2008. Lleras' research explores fundamental questions of perception: "How is it that we become aware of visual information and what is it that determines which information we see and attend to, and which information we ignore or suppress?"
Richard Braatz, Millennium Chair and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was elected a Fellow of the International Federation on Automatic Control (IFAC), a multinational federation of approximately 50 national member organizations concerned with automatic control. "The IFAC Fellow Award is for persons who have made outstanding and extraordinary contributions in the field of interests of IFAC, in the role as an Engineer/Scientist, Technical Leader, or Educator." Professor Braatz studies the control of events at the molecular to nanoscopic scales, with applications in microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and biomaterials.
Dan Pack, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been awarded the 2008 Xerox Award for Faculty Research in the College of Engineering. Pack's research involves developing drug and gene delivery systems.
Jeffrey Moore, professor of chemistry, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his pioneering work in self-healing materials and his "fundamentally new way of doing chemistry," involving a novel approach to manipulate matter and drive chemical reactions to a desired end. Moore joins other famous American Academy members like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein, and U of I's own chancellor Richard Herman. See also January.
March
Carol Symes, assistant professor of history and medieval studies, has been awarded the Pinkney Prize, given by the Society for French Historical Studies, for the best new book in French history. Symes's A Common Stage: Theater and Public Life in Medieval Arras, explores how 13th century vernacular plays in the medieval town of Arras fit into a group of public media for communication that both captured and created public opinion in the Middle Ages.
February
Jeffrey F. Gardner, professor of microbiology, was elected as a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). Gardner's research focuses on the genetics and biochemistry of DNA binding proteins. The AAM, an honorific leadership group composed of a rigorously selected group of fellows, is the only group of its kind devoted entirely to microbiologists and the study of microbiology.
James A. Imlay, professor of microbiology, became a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM). Imlay has focused his research on the molecular mechanisms of oxidative damage, cellular defenses against oxidants, and obligate anaerobiosis. The AAM, an honorific leadership group composed of a rigorously selected group of fellows, is the only group of its kind devoted entirely to microbiologists and the study of microbiology.
James B. Kaler, professor emeritus of astronomy, has been awarded the 2008 American Astronomical Society (AAS) Education Prize. The prize recognizes Kaler for his outstanding contributions to the education of the public, students, and the next generation of professional astronomers. Specifically, the AAS acknowledges Kaler's contributions to astronomy, inspired teaching and mentoring, engaging astronomy textbooks, popular astronomy website, and work with the public through planetarium, television, and radio programs.
January
Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, Swanlund Professor and Center for Advanced Studies Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has received an honorary degree from the University of Milan, Italy. Professor Katzenellenbogen was recognized for "biomedical research that has advanced our understanding of the actions of estrogens and estrogen receptors in women's health and diseases such as breast cancer."
Bruce Levine, J.G. Randall Professor of History, was awarded the 2007 Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Scholarship, for his book, Confederate Emancipation: Southern Plans to Free and Arm Slaves during the Civil War, which examines various proposals that arose within the Confederate States of America to free and arm its own slaves in order to win the Civil War, the reception that such proposals received, and the consequences of trying to implement one such proposal in the spring of 1865.
Jeffrey Moore, professor of chemistry, was honored as one of Scientific American's SciAM 50, which recognizes outstanding technological leadership by 50 individuals, teams, or companies, in research business, or policymaking each year. Moore was part of a University of Illinois team honored for its development of self-healing material.
Robert Ghrist, professor of mathematics, was honored as one of Scientific American's SciAM 50, which recognizes outstanding technological leadership by 50 individuals, teams, or companies, in research business, or policymaking each year. Ghrist was recognized for using mathematical tools to solve key problems with networks of distributed sensors.