1. education
2. alumni and reunions

April 29
2015
For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago
2015
SILVER
CIRCLE
WINNERS
more on page 7
VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 30
uicnews.uic.edu
2
JAMES MEIERHOFF
FOUND HISTORY IN
HIS OWN BACKYARD
3
PRESIDENT THROWS
OUT THE FIRST PITCH
5
C2V: STUDENT
ENTREPRENEURS
PITCH GOOD IDEAS
15
SPORTS INJURY SETS
RIDDLE PRIZE WINNER
ON HIS CAREER PATH
INSIDE:
CAMPUS NEWS 4
CALENDAR 12
STUDENT VOICE 13
POLICE 14
PEOPLE 15
SPORTS 16
PUZZLES 14
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Photos: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
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send profile ideas to Gary Wisby, [email protected]
PROFILE
JAMES
MEIERHOFF
Uncovering POW camps in suburbs
By Gary Wisby — [email protected]
James Meierhoff ’s study of Mayan
refugees for his Ph.D. led his father to
say, “You know 2,000 years of ancient
Guatemalan history, but you know nothing about Chicago or Illinois.”
It got Meierhoff looking around his
own backyard.
When he learned that thousands of
German prisoners of war were held in
the northern suburbs during World War
II, he was fascinated. Before long, he became an expert on the subject, sharing
what he learned in lectures to suburban
audiences.
By far the largest POW camp was at
Fort Sheridan, where 4,000 German
prisoners were held in barracks that had
emptied out when the war began. Elsewhere in the northern suburbs, much
smaller camps, with names like Camp
Pine, Camp Thornton and Camp Skokie
Valley, housed 200 or so.
“The camps were built specifically to
put the prisoners to work in local industries, mainly agriculture,” Meierhoff said.
One such business was Pesche’s Garden Center, a 7-acre plant nursery that
still operates in Des Plaines near what
was Camp Pine during the war.
At the Des Plaines Historical Society,
Meierhoff discovered photos of local
growers and POWs at Camp Pine, waving and smiling at the camera.
“They had to hire 10 [prisoners] at a
time, for at least a week,” he said. “So you
had 10 to 40 guys, at the going rate for
labor.”
Being in one of these POW camps
was very little like being in prison. The
book Stalag Wisconsin, by Betty Cowley,
notes that many of the prisoners blended
with the local community, drinking at
taverns and dating local women.
Their familiarity with residents caused
James Meierhoff, graduate student in anthropology, is an expert on POW camps based in the northern suburbs during World
War II, such as a camp at Fort Sheridan that held 4,000 German prisoners. — Photo: Joshua Clark
resentment among returning American
soldiers, Cowley writes.
In the north suburbs, Meierhoff said,
“The Germans got along surprisingly well
with citizens, after an initial nervousness.
This was probably because a lot of local
families were of German extraction.”
The prisoners could listen to the radio
and buy newspapers and magazines, unlike
their American POW counterparts in
German prison camps whose access to
news was restricted.
Security was lax enough that occasionally a German prisoner managed to escape.
Meierhoff heard the tale of one who disappeared and ended up working in a Chicago bookstore, which he later purchased.
According to another story, an escapee
“You know, I think it’s possible or I wouldn’t be
doing it.”
Beth Richie, director of the Institute for Research
on Race and Public Policy and a member of the
NFL policy group developing league programs on
domestic violence, April 22 WFRV-TV, Green
Bay, Wisconsin
who had no interest in returning to Germany, where his hometown was held by
the Soviets, made his way to California
and became a tennis pro.
Many of the prisoners liked living in
this country so much that they returned
at war’s end to become permanent residents, Meierhoff said.
Nationally, the U.S. government
grossly underestimated how many German prisoners it would have to place in
camps here. The number was thought to
be 50,000 to 75,000, but ended up being
420,000 by the time the war was over.
Meierhoff, who lives in Morton
Grove, grew up in the northwest suburbs
and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UIC.
“Imagine the district needing to borrow money
in the future. Are you going to trust a school
district that has not honored its commitments
in the past?”
Michael Pagano, dean of the College of Urban
Planning and Public Affairs, on a proposal to
deal with the Chicago Public Schools budget
deficit by declaring bankruptcy, April 22
Chicago Tribune
He’s working on his Ph.D. in anthropology, studying Mayan refugees in Guatemala in the 1850s who fled a civil war
known as the Caste War of Yucatan, in
which native Mayans revolted against
those of European descent.
“They were getting rid of the colonizers,” Meierhoff said. “One group that
wanted to remove themselves from the
violence fled to the jungle and built villages in Belize and Guatemala.”
When he started delving into local
history, he also became interested in the
Black Hawk War of 1832.
“It was the last Indian insurgency east
of the Mississippi River,” he said. “And
the last battle was fought in Illinois, in
Kellogg’s Grove in Stephenson County.”
“In the early rounds, they need to back off
high-stakes interpretive use of the scores.”
James Pellegrino, distinguished professor of
psychology and education and co-director of
the Learning Sciences Research Institute, on
glitches in Florida’s online testing system for
schools, April 26 Tampa Bay Times
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More than 7,500 honored at commencements
Maria Hinojosa, four-time Emmy
Award-winning news anchor and correspondent for CBS, NPR and CNN, and cardiovascular researcher Victor Dzau, president of
the Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences, are among the featured speakers at next week’s graduation ceremonies.
More than 7,500 students will be honored May 6 through 10 at ceremonies for 14
colleges.
Hinojosa will receive an honorary degree
and Dzau will be awarded the College of
Medicine Medal of Honor.
Here’s a list of ceremonies and speakers:
•
•
•
•
• Pharmacy: May 7, 7:30 p.m., UIC
Forum. William Fitzsimmons, UIC
alumnus and executive vice president
of Astellas Pharma Global Development Inc.
• Jane Addams College of Social Work:
May 8, 9 a.m., UIC Pavilion. Mark
Mattaini, associate professor of social
work
• Urban Planning and Public Affairs:
May 8, 10 a.m., UIC Forum. Lee Fisher,
president and chief executive officer of
CEOs for Cities
• Medicine: May 8, 2 p.m., UIC Pavilion.
Victor Dzau, president of the Institute
Honors College: May 6, 7 p.m., UIC
of Medicine
Forum. Diane Primo, founder and CEO
• Public Health: May 8, 3:30 p.m., UIC
of IntraLink Global and founder of a
Forum. LaMar Hasbrouck, executive
West Side homeless shelter
director of the National Association of
Nursing: May 7, 1 p.m., UIC Pavilion.
County and City Health Officials
Bonnie and Mark Barnes, founders of
the DAISY Foundation and the DAISY • Business Administration: May 9, 9
a.m. UIC Pavilion. Steven Fradkin,
Award for extraordinary nurses
president of wealth management busiApplied Health Sciences: May 7, 2 p.m.,
ness, Northern Trust
UIC Forum. Grant Korgan, extreme
• Dentistry: May 9, 10 a.m., UIC Forum.
sport and adventure athlete overcoming
Clark Stanford, dean and distinguished
spinal cord injury
professor
Education: May 7, 6:30 p.m., UIC Pavil• Engineering: May 9, 2 p.m., UIC Paion. Nell Bernstein, author of Burning
vilion. Jenny Zhao, UIC alumna, generDown the House: The End of Juvenile
al manager of Google Beijing and
Prison
Commencement ceremonies for 14 colleges will take place May 6 through 10
at the UIC Pavilion and UIC Forum. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
director of engineering for Google
Search
• Architecture, Design, and the Arts:
May 9, 7 p.m., UIC Pavilion. Mike
Delfini, UIC alumnus, executive vice
president and chief operating officer of
the Shedd Aquarium
• Liberal Arts and Sciences: May 10, 10
a.m., UIC Pavilion. Maria Hinojosa,
news anchor and reporter.
For more information on the ceremonies, visit commencement.uic.edu
Peoria medical students enter
‘99 Differentials’ in music contest
By Nicole Cardos — [email protected]
A study break could be dinner or a
movie, but second-year medical students Sakina Karimjee and Sabirah
Kasule entered a music video contest.
With their classmates at the College of Medicine at Peoria, they created the video “99 Differentials” for the
Memmys, a medical version of the
Emmys sponsored by the University
of South Carolina School of Medicine.
The music video is a satire of a Jay-Z song.
The music video, online at go.uic.
edu/99peoria, is a satire of Jay-Z’s “99
Problems.”
Winners will be announced in late May
“What we were thinking about is the
or early June. The selection process starts
problem of patients not understanding
from the top five videos with the most
medical language, and how the miscom“likes.” From there, a panel of judges demunication can have an impact on them,”
cides on first, second and third place. Winsaid Kasule, who produced the video. “So
ners receive money for the school’s health
we wanted to start an open dialogue on
sciences library.
how to fix that.”
“Even if we don’t win, we want to get the
Making the video was motivation to
message out and start a conversation,”
study during their hardest unit, cardiopulKarimjee said.
monary renal anatomy and physiology.
In the video, physicians try to diagnose
“We were excited, and that excitement
a patient who doesn’t understand the medallowed us to get to the books,” Karimjee
ical vocabulary, while hospital staff rap and
said.
dance to lyrics written by Karimjee and
The contest calls for fun videos that exKasule. Third-year medical student Justin
press the experience of being a medical
Zheng does the break-dancing.
student, but Karimjee said they wanted to
The message: “In order to be good docdo more.
“We wanted to send a message and use it tors, there’s more than just science. We
have to be humans, too,” Kasule said.
as a social commentary,” said Karimjee.
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT THROWS FIRST PITCH
Incoming University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen poses with the
team after throwing out the first pitch at the Flames baseball game versus Milwaukee Friday at Granderson Stadium. Although UIC lost the
game, the Flames are back on top of the Horizon League after winning
the other two games in the series. Killeen, who was vice chancellor for
research and president of the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, officially becomes U of I president May 18. For more
UIC baseball, see page 16.
— Photo: Joshua Clark
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send information about campus news to Sonya Booth, [email protected]
CAMPUS NEWS
A ‘love letter’ to Chicago Imagism art movement
By Anne Brooks Ranallo — [email protected]
“HAIRY WHO &
THE CHICAGO
IMAGISTS”
A documentary screening and panel discussion Thursday focus on the 1960s
Chicago Imagism art movement, described as graphic, comical and absurd.
The Jane Addams Hull-House
Museum invites all to a free film
screening and panel discussion Thursday on the 1960s art movement Chicago Imagism.
The museum will screen “Hairy
Who & The Chicago Imagists,” a 2014
documentary film directed by Leslie Buchbinder that the Chicago Tribune described
as “a love letter.”
A panel discussion, “Gender Equality in
the Visual Arts,” will follow, with curator
Leaders explore global trade issues
at Great Cities Institute symposium
By Anne Brooks Ranallo— [email protected]
Officials and scholars from Africa, Asia,
Europe and the Americas will speak on
global trade today and Thursday at “Cities
Across the Globe,” the annual symposium
of the Great Cities Institute.
Diego Aulestia, minister of international trade for the Republic of Ecuador, will
open the symposium at 9:30 a.m. today,
speaking on “Global Exchange: Building
Local Economies Through World Trade.”
An economist, Aulestia will present alternative growth strategies that have helped
Ecuador and may apply to other economies.
A panel discussion will follow on devising a national economic agenda to produce
commodities for export while bringing
capital back into neighborhoods. Panelists
are Thomas Bartkoski, World Business
Chicago, Laura Ortega-Lamela, International Business Council of the Illinois
Chamber of Commerce, Raul Raymundo,
The Resurrection Project, and Teresa Córdova, Great Cities Institute.
On Thursday, scholars from around the
U.S., Australia, Mexico, Turkey, West Africa and the U.K. will join UIC faculty to
discuss urban design, urban diasporas, social welfare, taxes and corporate responsibility.
The free symposium is co-sponsored by
CITIES ACROSS THE GLOBE
GREAT CITIES SYMPOSIUM
Today–Thursday, greatcities.uic.edu
and critic Claudine Isé, executive director of Woman Made Gallery, Barbara
Rossi, a Chicago Imagist, and artist Sue
Williams. The discussion will be moderated by Judith Russi Kirshner, deputy
director for education, Art Institute of
Chicago.
“Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists”
is a lavishly illustrated documentary on
Chicago Imagism, the 1960s art movement that challenged Pop Art’s status
quo, then faded from view. Forty years
later, its funk and grit inspire artists from
Jeff Koons to Chris Ware.
Variously described as graphic, comical, absurd, pugnacious, puerile and scatalogical, Chicago Imagism celebrated a
different version of popular art from that
STUDY ALL NIGHT
The Daley Library and Library of the
Health Sciences-Chicago will have extended hours through the end of finals
week.
The Daley Library is open aroundthe-clock through 7 p.m. May 8. Students, faculty and staff must show valid
i-card to enter the building from 9 p.m.
to 6:30 a.m.
Until May 7, the Library of the
Health Sciences will be open Sunday 9
a.m. to 2 a.m., Monday through Thursday
7 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Friday 7 a.m. to
midnight. A valid i-card is required to
enter after 7 p.m.
NETWORKING NIGHT
A networking meetup will be sponsored May 14 by the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women, 5 to 7
p.m. at Three Aces, 1321 W. Taylor St.
RSVP to [email protected]
Diego Aulestia
World Business Chicago, the Illinois
Chamber of Commerce and the UIC Office of International Affairs. For more information, visit greatcities.uic.edu
SUMMER U-PASS
The summer session Ventra U-Pass
will activate May 13 for students registered full time for summer by May 5.
Ventra cards for summer session
students who haven’t previously had a
U-Pass will be available May 13 for
students who registered and had their
i-card photo taken by May 5. Ventra
cards can be picked up at the student
ID centers.
Students not registered full time for
summer session can continue to use their
5:30 P.M. THURSDAY
GALLERY 400
of the detached cool of New York, London and Los Angeles.
The post-screening panel discussion
will focus on gender equality in the visual arts, which is discussed in the film.
Many Imagist artists have advocated
the equal treatment that male and female artists in their group enjoyed.
Some describe this quality as one that
set Imagism apart from the male-dominated environments in other art centers.
The event at Gallery 400 begins with
a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by
the film at 6 p.m.
and the discussion at
8 p.m.
For more information, call 312-4135353.
Ventra U-Pass by adding funds to their
account online at ventrachicago.com or
vending machines located at CTA stations.
They will be charged regular full fare until
five days before fall semester.
For more information on the Ventra
U-Pass, visit uic.edu/depts/idcenter
WHAT’S YOUR BRAND?
A professional development workshop
May 14 will discuss individual communication styles and personal branding.
The free workshop, sponsored by the
Academic Professional Advisory Committee, will be led by Elizabeth Herrera, assistant director of career services in the
School of Public Health.
It will be held noon to 1:30 p.m. in 932
School of Public Health, 1603 W. Taylor
St. Register online at go.uic.edu/brand
CHANCELLOR DISCUSSES BUDGET
The university’s strategic plans in the
face of proposed cuts in state funding
will be discussed at a town hall May 5
with Chancellor Michael Amiridis and
Janet Parker, associate chancellor and
vice provost for budget and resource
planning.
The town hall, 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the
Moss Auditorium, College of Medicine
Research Building, is open to all faculty,
staff and students. The event is sponsored
by the Academic Professionals Advisory
Committee.
Register by April 27 at uofi.uic.edu/fb/
sec/2024760
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Aspiring entrepreneurs make their pitches
STARTUPS WIN THOUSANDS IN CASH AT CONCEPT2VENTURE CHALLENGE
By Jeffron Boynés — [email protected]
Aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their
ideas to judges for a chance to win up to
$5,000 at UIC’s Concept2Venture Startup
Challenge business plan competition April
17.
Thirty-five semifinal teams — students
and alumni from nine different colleges
— presented startup ideas in 60-second
elevator pitches before a packed house in
Lecture Center A.
After the semifinals, seven teams remained to compete for the grand prize.
Their ideas ranged from a process that recycled waste material into micron-sized carbon spheres, to an app-based consulting
service to improve sports performance and
health.
“C2V showcases the talent, tenacity, creativity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit
that pervades UIC,” said Nancy Harvey,
executive director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, which hosted the
event. “It’s a real thrill to see the vast diversity of the UIC community brought together by the zeal to launch a startup and
the passion for making a difference.”
Anautomy, an auto repair price aggregator, won the top prize of $5,000.
“We attribute our success at C2V to our
belief that Anautomy has the capability to
be a disruptive force in the auto repair sector,” said Aman Choudhury, Anautomy
co-founder and business grad. “We have
the capacity to significantly change how
auto repair is done and how the public
views the entire experience overall.”
Choudhury and Anautomy co-founder
Roy Moran, an engineering undergrad, received help from strategic adviser Hrish
Lotlikar, managing director of
the early-stage venture capital
funds Startup Labs and EastLabs.
The second place prize of
$2,000 went to Little Genius
Games, a platform for interactive digital educational
games. GPS Campus, a free
app to help students make the
most of their college experience, won $1,000 in the elevator pitch/fan favorite
category.
SOUK, a platform bridging Middle East artisans and
North American consumers,
won $500 in the best early
venture category.
The remaining finalists
each won $500.
The 10th annual C2V was
the biggest to date, with more
than 60 teams.
“For me, perhaps the most
exciting aspect is realizing
Students from 35 semifinal teams presented their startup ideas in 60-second elevator pitches
that through these startups,
at the Concept2Venture business plan competition April 21. — Photos: Joshua Clark
UIC students not only bring
innovation to life, but they
find paths that transform
their lives and make an enduring social and
commercial contribution to the greater
community,” Harvey said.
C2V was sponsored by the College of
Business Administration, Caterpillar, the
Coleman Foundation, Microsoft, Brightstar Corp., 7 Wire Ventures, TLC Management, FONA International, Trillium
and Rabine Group.
Minor in social justice to focus
on issues of equality, inequality
By Brian Flood — [email protected]
A new minor in social justice, beginning fall semester, will study issues of
equality and inequality in society.
The minor will be offered in the
gender and women’s studies program,
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“UIC students have long been at the
forefront of critical social justice movements in Chicago and beyond,” said
Jennifer Brier, associate professor and
director of gender and women’s studies.
“We hope that this interdisciplinary
minor will provide all students, no matter their major or college, with a critical
understanding of justice and equality as
well as inequality and marginality, and
the struggles to redress them.”
Students in the minor, which requires a total of 16 credit hours, will
learn about historical and contempo-
rary strategies for social change, work
with social organizations and study the
connections between local and global
movements.
The minor includes two new social
justice courses, a capstone community-based learning experience with a
partner organization and six elective
credit hours.
The first of three required courses
will be taught by Barbara Ransby, director of the Social Justice Initiative and
professor of African American studies,
gender and women’s studies and history.
Students will explore personal narratives,
memoirs and biographies of people engaged in social and political change.
More more information, visit go.uic.
edu/sjminor or email Natalie Bennett,
[email protected]
Aman Choudhury (left) and Roy Moran won the top prize. — Photo: Joshua Clark
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Scientists a step closer to discovering better batteries
By Jeanne Galatzer-Levy — [email protected]
The race is on around the world for scientists striving to develop a new generation
of batteries that perform beyond the limits
of the current lithium-ion based battery.
UIC researchers have made a significant
step toward a battery that could outperform the technology used in electric cars
such as the Chevy Volt.
They replaced the lithium ions (each
carrying a single positive charge) with
magnesium ions (which have a plus-two
charge) in battery-like chemical reactions,
using an electrode with a structure like
those in many of today’s devices.
“We hope that this work will open a
credible design path for a new class of
high-voltage, high-energy batteries,” said
Jordi Cabana, assistant professor of chemistry and principal investigator on the study.
The research is part of the Joint Center
for Energy Storage Research — a Department of Energy Innovation Hub led by
Argonne National Laboratory — that
seeks revolutionary advances in battery
performance.
Every battery consists of a positive and
negative electrode and an electrolyte. The
electrodes exchange electrons and ions,
which are usually of positive charge. Only
the ions flow through the electrolyte, an
electric insulator that forces the electrons
to flow through the external circuit to
power the vehicle or device.
To recharge the battery, the exchange is
reversed. But the chemical reaction is not
perfectly efficient, which limits how many
times the battery can be recharged.
“The more times you can do this back
and forth, the more times you will be able
to recharge your battery and still get the
use of it between charges,” Cabana said.
“We want to maximize the number of
electrons moved per ion, because ions distort the structure of the electrode material
when they go in or leave. The more the
structure is distorted, the greater the energy cost of moving the ions back, the harder
it becomes to recharge the battery.
“Like a parking garage, there are only so
many spaces for the cars,” he added. “But
you can put a car in each space with more
people inside without distorting the structure.”
Establishing that magnesium can be
reversibly inserted into electrode material’s
structure brings researchers one step closer
to a prototype, Cabana said.
“It’s not a battery yet, it’s a piece of a battery, but with the same reaction you would
find in the final device,” he said.
The study is online in advance of print
in the journal Advanced Materials.
Chunjoong Kim, postdoctoral research
associate in chemistry, was first author of
Magnesium ions could replace lithium ions used in high-voltage batteries,
says UIC researcher Jordi Cabana. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
the paper. Co-authors are Tanghong Yi
and Ryan Bayliss, chemistry; Patrick Phillips and Robert Klie, physics; Baris Key,
Sang-Don Han, Zhengcheng Zhang and
Anthony Burrell, Argonne; Dennis Nord-
lund, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Meinan He, Argonne and Worcester
Polytechnic Institute; and Young-Sang Yu,
UIC and Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory.
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7
WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEACHER?
YOUTUBE.COM/UICMEDIA
SILVER CIRCLE AWARDS
Since 1966, the Silver Circle Award has been presented to some of UIC’s best teachers.
Winners, who are honored at their college commencements, receive $500 and their
names join a long list of distinguished colleagues. But what makes the award especially
meaningful is its selection committee: the graduating seniors.
By Jeff Boynés, Nicole Cardos, Brian Flood, Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Sam Hostettler, Christy Levy, Sharon Parmet, Anne Brooks Ranallo, Gary Wisby
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
MARK CANUEL
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
There was a time when Mark Canuel wanted to go to
law school.
“After speaking to people who were in law school, and
who had gone into careers after law school, I realized that
what they were doing was not what I wanted to be doing,”
Canuel says.
Instead, he became a scholar of literature and professor
of English. “What I was most interested in was political
and legal theory, as they connected to the history of literature and culture.”
The author of four books and editor of an anthology of
essays, Canuel studies the connection between political
action and literature in the British Romantic era.
“Believe it or not, I think that Jane Austen has some say
about those issues,” he says.
Canuel’s next book will look at the way Romantic writers imagined politics during that era.
“The exciting aspect of scholarship is the thrill of discovering works,” he says.
In addition to his specialty, Canuel teaches classes on
novels, Romantic aesthetics and survey courses in British
literature. Next fall he’ll teach a course on Romanticism
and the Gothic.
“My expectations of the students’ response to a text don’t
always align with their actual reaction,” he says. “It’s one of
the things that is a constant joy.”
While he enjoys sharing research in class, many times
it’s the students who make him see things in new ways.
“That’s the really special thing about UIC,” he says. “We
have all kinds of students who enrich the university.”
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
JOSEPH HUMMEL
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
College of Engineering
Joseph Hummel’s undergraduate course isn’t the most
popular class on campus.
It’s Computer Science 109, required for engineering
students who aren’t planning to become computer scientists.
So Hummel was surprised when students recognized
him with a Silver Circle award.
“It means that a lot of students went out of their way to
say nice things, which is really remarkable,” says Hummel,
research associate professor of computer science.
Each semester, he teaches 230 students about C++ and
programming with MATLAB. He makes the large lecture
hall feel smaller by using clickers to get students involved.
“I try to make the class interactive,” he says. “I use a
model called peer instruction, where you ask questions
during class. Students answer them, then discuss amongst
themselves. It’s effective — more people come to class, the
grades are better and I think the learning is better.”
Hummel also teaches CS 341, an upper-level programming languages course for computer science majors.
He was a researcher at UIC from 1998 to 2000, then
left to teach at Lake Forest College. He returned in 2012.
“I like the energy of the students,” he says. “I like their
diverse backgrounds and that they are motivated. I enjoy
what they bring to class.”
Hummel’s interest in computer science started in high
school. His current research focuses on parallel programming — how to make programs run faster on today’s computer hardware.
“You get to build stuff and it’s fun,” he says.
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
JOHN IRELAND
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF FRENCH AND
FRANCOPHONE STUDIES
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
“Coming out of a class that went really well makes my
whole day,” John Ireland says.
Ireland, associate professor of French and Francophone
studies, teaches students from every year and level at UIC,
from French 201 through master’s-level courses.
His research and teaching touch upon a range of subjects, including 20th century theater and prose, avantgarde theory and practice, theater and theatricality, Sartre
and existentialism, and French Canadian literature, film
and critical theory.
He helps his undergraduate students understand “what
an intensely social phenomenon literature is, with all sorts
of reverberations.”
“I really enjoy the moments when a discussion reaches a
point where every participant has forgotten everything else
about themselves except for their involvement in an idea, a
character’s dilemma, or the implications of a particular narrative strategy,” he says.
Ireland considers Introduction to French Literature I as
one of his most important courses.
“I enjoy the challenge of presenting 19th century French
literature as a crucible in which so many of our examined
and unexamined ideas and mythologies about literature
and culture today, here in the United States, are formed,”
he says.
He often cites a noted philosopher when giving advice
to students.
“Jean-Paul Sartre once said, ‘L’intelligence est une exigence.’ Intelligence is the demand we make of ourselves to
think further, not to be self-satisfied.”
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SILVER CIRCLE AWARDS
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
MICHAEL JONES
CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF KINESIOLOGY
AND NUTRITION
College of Applied Health Sciences
Mike Jones’ interests have drawn him to widely differing pursuits, including a national tour of the Disney
musical “Beauty and the Beast” and 13 years as a massage therapy instructor.
But it’s teaching that “makes me want to get out of
bed — early! — every morning,” he says.
His Silver Circle was awarded for his first year of
teaching at UIC, but it’s not the first UIC award for
Jones, who earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. here.
As an undergrad, he received the Chancellor’s Award for
Service and second place in life sciences at the Student
Research Forum. As a graduate student, he won teaching
awards in 2012 and 2013 and was voted the most outstanding teaching assistant in kinesiology.
“Learning on a daily basis” is what Jones likes best
about his job.
“I enjoy working side by side with students in applied
settings — anatomy labs, research, mentoring — to
make discoveries,” he says. “There is no other profession
as dynamic and meaningful as being an educator.”
Asked what kind of student he likes to teach, Jones
replies, “a humble student.”
“True learning rarely involves a pretty process,” he says.
“Inquiry necessitates confusion, which begets self-reflection. Any student who is willing to humble themselves
before the hard work of learning is someone I relish
teaching.
“Great teaching is about facilitating how to learn. As
one student said to me recently, ‘You taught me to appreciate the process.’ I can’t express the notion any better.”
His work enables him to serve others, Jones says.
“Certain people throughout my life have directly influenced my path. To be in a position to pay that forward
is an honor.”
— Photo: Alicia McConnell-Hatch
MARIPAT KING
CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR OF BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH
SCIENCE
College of Nursing
Maripat King knows what her patients are going
through.
As a child, she was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a condition that causes rapid heartbeat. She sat for hours in doctor’s offices, passing the time
by looking through the colorful pages of medical books the
doctors let her borrow.
“I understand illness and illness prevention and what
happens to people when they become sick,” says King, now
a nurse who specializes in cardiovascular diseases.
King sees each patient’s chart as a puzzle; she carefully
reviews every piece of data to find what patients need to
restore their health.
“I believe one of the most important things as a nurse is,
you have to have a natural curiosity about the entire patient
— their family background, where they live, what access
they have to health care. I want my students to look at a
patient in a holistic way, not just treat them.”
King is always seeking new ways to teach her students.
One of the programs she developed, along with several
colleagues, is transitional care, where students follow up on
patients once they leave the hospital. Students call patients
or visit them at home to ensure that they understand their
discharge instructions.
“We want our patients to avoid rehospitalizations, and
this is a way to decrease readmission for the first 30 days
after going home,” King says. “It’s worked really well.”
In her 10 years as a UIC instructor, King has won the
Silver Circle Award four times.
“I work with so many amazing people and I’ve been
blessed to be a part of an amazing faculty. It’s a great honor
to win this award,” she says.
“I really love what I’m doing. I love coming to school
every day.”
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
PAUL MALCHOW
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Paul Malchow is open to any strategy to better engage
his students, combining new technology with tried-andtrue methods.
Malchow’s Bios 100 class has nearly 350 students, but
with Blackboard, he creates a class picture to study on his
commute. As a result, he knows each student’s name.
“It’s a lot of fun to hand a microphone to someone and
say, ‘Joe, what do you think?’” Malchow says. “It makes a
very different dynamic.”
He assigns short animations, so that students come to
class already familiar with the topic. “If you ask a student
to read a chapter, they won’t,” he says.
He likes class demonstrations, involving as many students as possible. To help them understand the cell cycle,
he brings them to the front of the room to walk through
the process of replicating DNA and dividing.
“The feedback that I’ve gotten from the students is that
these demonstrations really serve to clarify concepts which,
for a beginning student, can be challenging and mystifying.”
Malchow’s research concerns the retina — how its cells
talk to one another using various chemical cues.
“I view it as a happy part of the brain to study, easily accessible and readily stimulated in natural ways,” he says.
“I like the blending of teaching and research. One informs the other and that’s a good thing.”
To make students feel more comfortable, Malchow
holds office hours in two informal locations: an atrium
near his lab in the Science and Engineering Laboratories
building and at the African American Cultural Center library.
He likes the moment “when you see that light bulb go
on,” he says.
“Suddenly there’s an ‘aha!’ moment. It’s addicting, that
‘aha!’ moment.”
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SILVER CIRCLE AWARDS
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
LINDA RAE MURRAY
ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HEALTH POLICY
AND ADMINISTRATION
School of Public Health
“I want my students to think holistically about what
public health means,” says Linda Rae Murray. “It’s not just
about people. It’s about the whole planet, including climate
change, animals, plants, humans and social structures and
social justice.”
Murray, who earned her bachelor’s, M.D. and master’s
in public health at UIC, has more than 40 years of experience as a public health professional — and she’s still a student herself.
She retired as chief medical officer for the Cook County Department of Public Health in December and hopes
to finish her doctoral thesis in the next few months. Her
topic: the role of public health departments in monitoring
local health equity.
She also sees patients once a week at the Woodlawn
Health Center.
Murray, who mentors minority students interested in
the health professions, is enthusiastic about undergraduate
studies in public health. The first class of students earning a
bachelor’s in public health from UIC graduated last year.
“Undergraduate students are really able to see the big
picture when it comes to public health because they haven’t
narrowed down their focus or specialties quite yet,” she says.
Murray, adjunct assistant professor of health policy and
administration, co-teaches two classes: Using the Public
Health Toolbox and a four-week course that uses literature
to examine the relationships between public health, culture,
politics, social movements and medicine.
“Some of the things I learned years ago in medical
school are no longer relevant because facts, especially in
medicine, are constantly changing,” she says.
“My goal in the classroom isn’t to have my students
memorize facts, but to teach them to think critically and
challenge assumptions so that they can solve problems.”
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
SHARON OIGA
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
College of Architecture, Design and the Arts
Like many of her students, Sharon Oiga went to public
schools and worked her way through college, graduating
with a bachelor’s in graphic design at UIC.
“I can relate to the students and they can relate to me.
We’re similar, so they find me approachable,” she says.
Oiga earned a master’s of fine arts at Yale, then returned
to Chicago and worked at StudioLab, a firm headed by
Marcia Lausen, director of the School of Design.
Oiga joined the UIC faculty in 2003, where she teaches
courses in typography to undergraduates and a thesis development class to graduate students. She is on sabbatical this
semester, working on two books, two typography conferences and a solo exhibition.
She finds the class that most impresses students is Typography III: Dimension. Each student designs a letterform
in two and three dimensions, documented with a book, a
poster and an exhibit. They also work together on a publication.
“It’s such a whole experience. They feel immersed, they’re
living it. It’s complex and has so many components,” Oiga
says.
Her students have won top honors from the University
and College Design Association.
“I like to help students find their own sensibility. I don’t
want them to make things like I’d make them,” says Oiga,
who encourages students and alumni to get involved in professional conferences.
“All of their work develops so differently. I have high expectations, so right away they know I believe they can do it.”
Oiga stresses three things.
“Good old-fashioned hard work,” she says. “There’s no
getting around it. Self-initiation. You have to want to do it,
not wait to be told. And attitude — unceasing positivity.
Take advantage of every door that opens.”
2015
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
JENNIFER OLSON
VISITING CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
College of Education
Jennifer Olson taught for 10 years at Chicago’s Harper
High School, which underwent two turnarounds in 11
years, before she started her doctoral studies in education
at UIC.
Olson did her dissertation on how students in two other
urban high schools were affected by turnarounds — a process where the Chicago Board of Education replaces a
school’s administration, teachers and staff.
Those experiences showed Olson the value of relationships between educators and students, so she appreciates
receiving a Silver Circle after only two years of teaching at
the college level.
“It’s so meaningful for me to have an award given by my
students,” says Olson, visiting clinical assistant professor.
“Teaching is absolutely what’s most important to me.
“I struggled with leaving my job as a high school teacher.
I loved it so much. Now that I’ve been here two years, I
know I can teach my students to make connections with
their own students, and that way I can make an impact on
more students.”
Olson especially enjoys teaching the course in curriculum, instruction and assessment that immediately precedes
student teaching. By then, her students have studied theory; they need practical tools and strategies.
“I’m able to make connections between theory and practice, because I pull from my experience as a high school
teacher. If we talk about classroom management, I give
them examples and tell them what worked for me.”
Before their student teaching, Olson’s students do a 60hour practicum in Chicago high schools. She gives them
feedback after watching a lesson.
“That’s exciting, because for many of them, it’s the first
time they’ve been in front of real teenagers. Those conversations afterward are really fun,” she says.
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SILVER CIRCLE AWARDS
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
BRENDA PARKER
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF URBAN PLANNING
AND POLICY
College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
Brenda Parker specializes in human geography: the
interplay between physical space and social relations. So
it’s no wonder she guides her students to empathy and a
sense that they can bring about change.
“Cities are for all people, so we should be bothered
when women are harassed on public transportation, for
example, or when large populations live in slums or so
many people of color are imprisoned,” she says.
“I want my students to understand how inequity comes
to be, and how they are the lever to make things better as
planners, activists or citizens. Not the government; we are
the government. Our daily actions matter.”
Parker, assistant professor of urban planning and policy,
teaches mostly undergraduate classes on gender, political
economy, globalization, and places and institutions.
“I try to offer different ways to find passion in the work,
whether it’s through discussion, debates, papers or films,”
she says.
Parker’s research concerns urban homesteading —
people who are self-sufficient by growing food, bartering
goods and services and doing household projects.
“Sometimes my students raise questions that make me
go back and explore,” she says. “Working with students
helps me know how I need to communicate my research.”
Before joining UIC in 2008, Parker worked for AmeriCorps and taught at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She comes by her empathy naturally, having grown up
as the third of 11 children.
“There’s high energy in a household with a lot of kids,
and it engenders possibilities and a sense of justice,” she
says.
“I really want to bring out the best in my students,” she
says. “I make them work hard, but in the end, I’m proud,
and they’re proud.”
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
KARINA REYES
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The Behavioral Sciences Building may be a maze
to some, but not Karina Reyes. Many of the psychology classes Reyes took as a UIC undergraduate are in
the same building where she now teaches.
“I have never stopped identifying with undergraduate students,” Reyes says. She vividly remembers her
days as a UIC student and incorporates some of the
things she learned from her instructors into her own
teaching.
After graduating from UIC, Reyes received a master’s and Ph.D. in clinical community psychology at
DePaul University.
“I wasn’t sure about my future in the field because
of how competitive it is,” she says. “I feel privileged
and happy about how things have turned out for me,
especially here at UIC. This is really where I grew
and found my passion as a teacher.”
Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Reyes attended a high school where academic success fell victim to outside influences such as gangs, drugs and
violence. She left that neighborhood behind, but its
influence remains — her research asks why some
high-risk kids don’t finish high school, while others
succeed.
Her research is assisted by graduate and undergraduate students.
“UIC students are wonderful to work with,” she
says. “They are so bright and eager to learn.
“I want to provide them with the best education
possible. I tell them, ‘Use me, use me. I’m here to help
you make the best use of your college education.’
“I have been fortunate to win several teaching
awards, but winning this one feels extra special somehow.”
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
RENATA TARASIEVICH
LECTURER IN MANAGEMENT
College of Business Administration
The satisfaction of positive feedback from students
makes teaching worthwhile for Renata Tarasievich, who
mixes case studies, discussions and student presentations
with instruction to transform her classes into learning laboratories.
“They appreciate the real world aspect of many of our
topics and they benefit from that. In many cases, the benefit
is for years down the road,” says Tarasievich, lecturer in
managerial studies.
In addition to courses in organizational theory and organizational behavior, she teaches Family Business Management, Human Resource Management and Managerial
Effectiveness Through Diversity.
“I think the more relatable I can make a topic, the more
likely a student will be to understand the material and be
able to apply it in their careers,” she says.
The work ethic of UIC students inspires Tarasievich.
“I mean that figuratively and literally,” she says. “Many of
our students worked or work full time. They are able to
apply what we talk about later that same day in some cases.
They also see — first-hand at their workplaces — how beneficial a college degree is, and that motivates them.”
Tarasievich, who joined the business faculty in 2004, believes what students learn in the classroom is only part of
their work.
“Sometimes it is about the process as much as the results,”
she says. “The college diploma itself is of course significant,
but what you learned and gained along the way is substantial as well. I gain tremendous insight in preparing for my
classes and the process of preparing makes my results, I
hope, that much more meaningful.”
Winning her third Silver Circle Award is a memorable
moment in her career, Tarasievich says.
“I am humbled to be recognized by my students,” she says.
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SILVER CIRCLE AWARDS
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
ANDREW TILLOTSON
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
KATHERINE ZINSSER
CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Andrew Tillotson began his career
teaching physics at a Chicago high
school where he got to know each student. It was a big change when he
joined UIC in 2008, teaching as many
as 100 students in each class in a large
lecture hall.
“It felt like there was this invisible
wall between me and them, and I was
up here doing this performance,” said
Tillotson, clinical assistant professor of
physics. “That’s why what I’ve been
going after is getting the students involved.”
Most students in his Physics 107
course are planning careers in the
health sciences. “They’re usually not
super excited to have to take physics to
begin with,” he says. “Right out of the
gate, you have a challenge trying to get
their attention.”
So Tillotson “flips the classroom.”
Students read course materials and
watch videos of him lecturing outside
2015
of class. Class time is for active learning. Tillotson uses Learning Catalytics,
which lets student answer questions,
draw graphs or make sketches with
their smartphones or laptops during
class.
“It really gets students involved
without forcing them to raise their
hand,” he says.
Tillotson, who also runs a research
lab on physics education, is honored to
win the Silver Circle — especially since
most of his students are not physics
majors.
“For a student to reflect back on
their entire experience at UIC and remember me and say, ‘That guy helped,’
is an honor,” he says.
Tillotson’s advice to graduating students: plan for the future.
“Don’t just expect things to happen,”
he said. “Come up with a goal first.
Once you have a goal in mind, the plan
can come from that.”
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
The classroom relationship between
preschool educators and their students is
one of Katherine Zinsser’s many research
interests.
She identifies effective social and emotional teaching practices and classroom
environments that promote teacher and
child well-being.
“I walk into my college- and graduate-level classes and have in my head what
it is to be a great preschool teacher, and
map that onto what it takes to be a great
higher education instructor,” says Zinsser,
assistant professor of psychology.
“It comes down to relationships and
being a trusting, respectful person.”
That means creating a college classroom where expectations are clear and
students are encouraged to engage in discussion, she says.
“I am going to respect you as an individual and an independent thinker. I am
going to try to create a positive classroom
environment where you have a voice and
you feel comfortable as a learner,” Zinsser
tells her students on the first day of class.
Her developmental psychology course,
which focuses on how individuals’ behaviors and mental processes change over a
lifespan, is “inherently interesting to students.”
“We talk about issues around identity
formation and the transition from adolescence to adulthood, how workplace climates impact life satisfaction,” she says.
“They are poised and hungry for information about what is it going to be to be
an adult.”
Zinsser, who came to UIC in 2013, is
grateful for the different perspectives and
backgrounds her students bring to the
classroom, particularly in discussions.
“I couldn’t ask for a richer database,” she
says.
“The students in my classes have had
practically every experience under the sun
and that means there will always be a great
example for their classmates to learn from.”
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Send information about campus events to Christy Levy, [email protected]
CALENDAR
MAY 6–10
COMMENCEMENT
More than 7,500 students will be
honored at ceremonies for 14
colleges. View complete schedule
of events, information and FAQ at
commencement.uic.edu
UIC Pavilion, UIC Forum
EXHIBITS
MAY 8 THROUGH
AUGUST 8
THROUGH JUNE 30
“GSC 20/20”
After Today
Highlighting 20 years of LGBTQ and allies
education, activism and community on campus.
Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center
Exhibit includes seven artists’ projects that
respond to Chicago’s social, political and
economic conditions. Curated
by Lorelei Stewart
Hours: Mon.–Thurs. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Fri. 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Hours: Tues.–Fri. 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Sat. noon–6 p.m.
Gender and Sexuality Center Gallery, 183 BSB
genderandsexuality.uic.edu
Gallery 400, ADH
LECTURES
APRIL 29
APRIL 29-30
MAY 5
Building the Great Lakes Basin
Railroad
Cities Across the Globe
Budget Outlook
Frank Patton, managing partner of the
Great Lakes Basin Railroad, LLC, discusses
plans for a 275-mile railroad that would
operate between Janesville, Wisconsin, and
Michigan City, Indiana. Sponsored by the
Urban Transportation Center
Symposium sponsored by the
Great Cities Initiative. Keynote
speaker Diego Aulestia, minister
of international trade, Ecuador.
Topics include spatial planning,
public space, economic
restructuring and more
Town hall with Chancellor Michael Amiridis and Janet Parker,
associate chancellor and vice
provost for budget and resource
planning. Sponsored by the
Academic Professionals Advisory
Committee
Noon–1:30 p.m. / 217 SRH
greatcities.uic.edu
1:30–3:30 p.m.
Moss Auditorium, COMRB
SPECIAL EVENTS
APRIL 29
APRIL 29
APRIL 30
Zumbathon
Lavender Graduation
Choral Masterworks
UIC Campus Recreation is partnering
with the New Life
Volunteer Society for
the event, which raises
money for St. Jude
Children’s Research
Hospital. Cost is $5 for
students; $7 for others
Event honors the
academic achievements
of LGBTQ students and
their allies at UIC. Keynote speaker is Angelica
Ross, executive director
and CEO of TransTech
Social Enterprises
The UIC Choirs are joined by a
professional chamber orchestra,
the Janus Ensemble, to perform
Mozart’s Coronation Mass and
Haydn’s Missa pro Defunctis.
Conducted by Michael J. Anderson and Andrew Lewis
5:30–7:30 p.m.
5–10 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
St. Francis of Assisi,
813 W. Roosevelt Road
FOR MORE UIC EVENTS, VISIT EVENTS.UIC.EDU
APRIL 29, 2015
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Want to contribute a story? Email Christy Levy, [email protected]
STUDENT VOICE
TIPS
YOUR
ACE FINALS
to help you
By Holly Brenza — [email protected]
Selwyn Varghese studies for finals in the
Daley Library. — Photo: Timothy Nguyen
By Aneta Murphy — [email protected]
With finals around the corner, it is time to start
studying extra hard. Late-night cram sessions the
night before a final are no fun, so here are some
study tips to help you prepare this week:
• If you are making flashcards or rewriting your
notes, try using different colors. It will help.
• Prepare a quiet study area. Make sure it’s clean
and organized, and that there are minimal distractions. Studying in your living room near the
TV is distracting and you will most likely end
up watching a show instead.
• If you don’t have a quiet study area, try the library. If you are studying with a group, you can
reserve a room.
“I am UIC, and always will be, long after the final box of things is packed and the skyline is in the rear-view
mirror,” says Holly Brenza, who graduates next week with an English degree. — Photo: Jenny Fontaine
It’s August 2011. Do you remember what you were
doing? If you’re graduating this year, maybe our August
was similar.
I was packing everything up to move to UIC. Then I
was moving into an unfamiliar place, knowing only one
other person living in the residence halls. The next thing I
knew, my family was gone and I was on my own.
That’s when the panic set in. I was embarking on an
entirely new journey and completely terrified. This terror
carried into the next few days as I met roommates and
other eager freshmen.
On my first day of class, I learned just how different
college professors are from high school teachers – just one
of the many big changes in my life. I knew the only way to
feel a sense of belonging and potentially ditch the homesickness would be to join leadership organizations. So I
did.
I started with my building’s hall council. It seemed like
a sense of sameness to me, as I was so involved with my
high school’s student council. I attended countless other
things, and in January 2012, I was inducted into the National Residence Hall Honorary, perhaps my favorite
thing I’ve done while at UIC.
Then I was hired as a resident assistant in my building.
I was thrilled and couldn’t wait for another new experience to begin.
Until it was August 2012 and I was moving in. I felt
like I was losing weeks of my summer by having to move
back early (spoiler alert: this feeling comes back every
year). But serving as a primary resource to 60 freshmen
residents really made me forget about some of the struggles I was facing.
Things only got better. I took some of my favorite
classes sophomore year, learning about everything from
the universe to professional media writing. Sophomore
year was when I discovered what I want to do as a career.
This was a huge moment for me, as I’m sure it is for all of
us.
I came back to campus junior year feeling accomplished; I had completed an amazing public relations internship over the summer, and suddenly, college had a
purpose to me. I knew I was headed in the right direction.
I loved meeting my residents (this time only 25) and helping them in whatever way possible. I was voted to the executive board of the National Residence Hall Honorary. I
started blogging for “I am UIC.” Blogging meant so much
to me and made me feel so connected with the entire UIC
population. I realized that whether we live on campus,
commute, are faculty or staff, we are all UIC, and there are
a lot of things we have in common from being a part of
such a great university.
In the winter of 2013, I started another internship, and
• Speaking of groups, pick your study group
wisely – people who will actually study with
you and not be a distraction. Sometimes studying with your friends is not the best idea because you can get off topic.
• If your professors offer an optional review session, go. I know it’s tempting to just stay home,
but these review sessions are extremely helpful.
Hope these tips help you ace your finals.
Good luck!
that’s when the bug hit me. I loved internships, and with
the little time I had left in college, I vowed to do as many
as I possibly could. A huge part of my junior year was
writing a proposal to reinstall a senior student staff position, which would allow me to serve as a resource to RAs.
I got the job – in the same building where I had lived
since freshman year.
I came back to campus this year more excited than ever.
I was going to do everything I hadn’t in the past three
years and get straight As (the first probably didn’t happen
but the second did!). In my new supervisory role, I helped
new and returning RAs with many parts of the job. I
started a yearlong internship on campus that made me
feel even more connected to UIC.
Being involved and making great friends defined my
college experience. I am not just a blogger for “I am UIC”
– I am UIC and always will be, long after the final box of
things is packed and the skyline is in the rear-view mirror.
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APRIL 29, 2015
Students, colleagues remember
professor with tree-planting ceremony
SUDOKU: ULTRA EASY
Sudoku Puzzler by Ian Riensche, www.sudokupuzzler.com
By Sharon Parmet— [email protected]
Use logic and process of elimination to fill in the blank cells using the numbers 1
through 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and 3x3 block.
Find the answer to this week’s puzzle online at go.uic.edu/puzzle429
WORD SEARCH: CHICAGO BULLS
Former students and
colleagues of Dan Miltner, a faculty member in
the Office of Mathematics Education who died
suddenly on March 25,
2014, remembered him
with a tree-planting ceremony April 24.
Miltner, 46, was assistant director of the Office
of Mathematics Education and clinical assistant
professor in the College
of Education and College
A tree and plaque are a memorial for Dan Miltner,
of Liberal Arts and Sciwho died last year. — Photo: Erin Schubert
ences. He received two
Silver Circle Awards and
Mathematics Education.
a teaching award from the Council for ExThose who spoke at the ceremony incellence in Teaching and Learning.
cluded Brooke Shipley, professor and head
The memorial on the east side of the
of mathematics, statistics and computer
grove near the Science and Engineering
science; math professor emeritus John
Offices building includes a young oak tree
Baldwin; Evan Taylor, one of Miltner’s stuand a plaque that reads “beloved teacher
dents; and math department colleague
and colleague.”
Kelly Darke.
“It’s something that will always be here
Students hung paper leaves from the
on the campus, and thus will serve as a con- tree with one word that finished the senstant reminder that Dan will always be here tence, “As Professor Miltner’s student, I
with us,” said Alison Superfine, associate
learned and will always remember that a
professor and director of the Office of
teacher needs to be ...”
POLICE
UIC Police emergency: 312-355-5555
Nonemergency: TDD: 312-996-2830
312-413-9323
Visit the UIC Police crime map
uiccrimemaps.org/map
and the Chicago Police CLEAR Map
gis.chicagopolice.org
APRIL 20–26
CRIMES REPORTED TO UIC POLICE
Theft: 3
Assault: 1
Battery: 1
ARRESTS BY UIC POLICE
April 25: A man was arrested for assault
at 3:02 a.m. at 913 S. Aberdeen St.
A man was arrested for narcotics
Criminal damage: 1
Harassment by telephone: 1
Narcotics possession: 1
possession-hallucinogens at 9:03 p.m. at
the UIC Pavilion.
UIC News Staff
Published on Wednesdays during the academic year (monthly during summer) by the Office
of Public and Government Affairs of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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GASOL
GIBSON
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MOHAMMED
MOORE
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ROSE
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Sonya Booth . . . . . . . [email protected]
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uicnews.uic.edu
APRIL 29, 2015
I
UIC NEWS
I uicnews.uic.edu
15
PEOPLE
CODY LEE
Injury helped shape
Riddle Prize winner’s future
By Christy Levy— [email protected]
During his sophomore year, Cody Lee spent 20
weeks on crutches with a stress fracture in his femur.
The injury kept him on the sidelines of the UIC cross
country and track team for a year.
“I felt like a new person,” Lee said. “I just wanted
to get back to running and being who I was.”
The injury had a major impact on his career choice.
A student in the GPPA medicine program and Honors College, Lee knew he wanted to go to medical
school, but spending so much time with his orthopedic surgeon showed him what specialty to pursue.
“It’s weird to say, but it was actually a hidden blessing,” he said. “I realized that what I want to do for a
living is to bring people back to their passion.”
Lee is this year’s winner of the Donald and Leah
Riddle Prize for Outstanding Graduating Senior. The
prize, named for a former chancellor and his wife, is
among UIC’s top undergraduate honors.
Since completing his studies in December, Lee has
interned with an orthopedic surgeon in Hindsdale,
photographing and videotaping knee and shoulder
surgeries.
“I get to be involved in something medically related but take a different, creative approach to it,” he
said.
He will attend medical school next fall and dreams
of being a physician for a professional sports team.
“My No. 1 goal is to be a physician who is compassionate and understands his patients on more than a
medical level but as a human,” he said. “Broken bones
or a torn ACL are really debilitating and take you away
from who you are.”
Lee finished his dual-degree program in biochemistry and Spanish in three-and-a-half years.
“Biochemistry was a great way for me to prepare for
classes in medical school but Spanish was my interesting major,” he said. “It was a way for me to explore a
different academic world.”
He managed his rigorous schoolwork while competing on the cross country and track team. He vividly recalls his best race at the beginning of sophomore year.
“It felt like an out-of-body experience,” he said. “I
was running and my mind was totally free. I didn’t feel
the pain of running a 5-mile race. I felt like I was running like a champion.”
Time management and a passion for running kept
him going, even though his days were tightly scheduled.
“The magic recipe is that everything you have to do
is something you actually want to do,” he said. “I didn’t
have an athletic scholarship and I wasn’t one of the best
ones on the team. I was purely there because I wanted
to be there. The friendships I built with other student
athletes really made my college experience special.”
Lee said he will always cherish his time as a UIC
Cody Lee is heading to medical school in the fall.
— Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
student and Flames athlete.
“UIC is going to be a big player in my future career and
something I reflect on a lot,” he said. “It’s an institution
that I foresee myself going back to and hopefully serving
in the future.”
CRISTIAN NUNO
Truman scholarship winner wants to simplify complex information
By Brian Flood— [email protected]
Cristian Nuno plans a career in municipal finance
and urban policy. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin
Cristian Nuno plans a career in municipal finance and
urban policy, making complex information easier to understand for government leaders and the public.
Nuno, a junior in the Honors College, was named a
2015 Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation scholar, a
highly competitive award for students planning careers in
government or public service. He will receive $30,000 for
graduate school.
Nuno, a dual-major in economics and urban and public affairs, is one of 58 Truman Scholars selected nationwide. Scholars also receive leadership training, career and
graduate school counseling and internship opportunities
with the federal government.
Inspired by researching public-private partnerships,
Nuno enjoys the challenge of analyzing complicated municipal finance information.
“My biggest passion is taking something that people
don’t care about and making it relevant,” said Nuno, a resident of Glen Ellyn.
A 2012 graduate of Glenbard South High School,
Nuno is a first-generation college student. He was in the
inaugural class of the President’s Award Program Honors
Scholarship, a four-year tuition and housing scholarship
for exemplary first-year Honors College students.
UIC research and leadership programs, such as the
Summer Research Opportunities Program, the Urban
Public Policy Fellowship and the Graduate Pathways to
Success Program, were valuable preparation for the rigorous Truman selection process, Nuno said.
“UIC lets you be great at whatever you want to be great
at. We have students that feel comfortable enough to learn
whatever they want to learn,” he said. “Thanks to my time
at UIC, I am excited to be a social scientist.”
As the third UIC student to earn the Truman scholarship since 1993, he hopes his selection will inspire other
UIC students.
“The resources we have can take students anywhere
they want to go,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you go
to school. It’s what you do with where you are.”
This year’s scholars were selected from among 688 candidates nominated by 297 colleges and universities. They
were chosen in a multi-stage process that concluded with
regional interviews by 16 independent selection panels.
The scholars will gather May 19 for a leadership development program at William Jewell College in Liberty,
Missouri. They will receive their awards in a special ceremony May 24 at the Truman Library in Independence,
Missouri.
uicnews.uic.edu
16
I
UIC NEWS
I
APRIL 29, 2015
SPORTS
BACK
BASEBALL ON TOP
FLAMES RECLAIM
FIRST PLACE IN
HORIZON LEAGUE
By Mike Laninga — [email protected]
The baseball team (20-17-1, 15-6 HL) is back on top
of the Horizon League standings after a doubleheader
split against Milwaukee (24-15, 10-10 HL) Sunday afternoon.
The Flames won two-of-three versus the Panthers over
the weekend. UIC has won all seven conference series this
season.
UIC heads to Wright State for a three-game series
beginning Friday and returns home Tuesday to host
Michigan at 6 p.m. at Granderson Stadium.
The Flames pounded out 11 hits in game one but could
push across only two runs in a 7-2 defeat. Joe Pavlovich
(4-1) tossed a complete game for the Panthers and threw
136 pitches. The Flames left two runners on base in each
of the final three innings.
UIC starter Ian Lewandowski (4-4) allowed seven
runs on 11 hits over 6.3 innings. Noah Masa relieved Lewandowski in the seventh and tossed 2.2 scoreless innings
out of the bullpen.
Tyler Detmer, Jeff Boehm and Rob Calabrese had two
hits for the Flames. Boehm and Alex Lee both drove in
runs on sacrifice flies. Boehm and Zenon Kolakowski
scored UIC’s runs in the second and eighth innings.
Milwaukee scored three runs on three hits in the first
inning before UIC got one back in the bottom of the second. Boehm led off with a double to left center and scored
on Lee’s sacrifice fly to center.
The Panthers extended their lead to 7-1 with two runs
in the fifth and seventh innings. The Flames scored their
final run in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Kolakowski walked with one out and advanced to third
on Detmer’s single through the left side. Boehm brought
Kolakowski home on a fly ball to left field for his
team-leading 46th RBI of the season.
Kolakowski was the hero in the series finale as he
slapped a game-winning infield single in the 10th inning
that plated Conor Philbin, giving UIC the 3-2 triumph.
Kolakowski came in to pinch hit for Gabe Dwyer and
recorded the walk-off hit on a 0-2 pitch.
Trevor Lane got the starting nod for the Flames and
allowed two runs over seven innings. He scattered eight
hits, walked six batters and struck out three.
Cody Bohanek went 3-of-4 from the dish and improved his team-leading batting average to .353. Mickey
McDonald scored an RBI, going 2-for-5 from the plate.
The Flames got on the scoreboard first with one run on
three hits in the bottom of the first inning. Bohanek singled with one out and advanced to second on Detmer’s
single up the middle. McDonald drove in Bohanek with a
two-out single to left field.
Milwaukee tied the score at 1-1 with two hits in the
top of the fourth inning. The Panthers had two hits and
one run in the seventh inning but Lane left the bases
loaded to limit the damage.
UIC pushed across the tying run in the eighth. McDonald and Philbin singled with one out before Lee
walked to load the bases. With two outs, Dwyer reached
on an error by Milwaukee’s Tell Taylor and Philbin came
around to score.
Senior Ryan Hinchley tossed the final three innings
and picked up the win as his season record improves
to 2-1.
Softball wins series at Wright State
By Laura White— [email protected]
Elaine Heflin threw her 12th complete game
Sunday at Wright State. — Photo: Steve Woltmann
The softball team (21-18, 12-5 HL) pulled together for
a 3-2 win Sunday against Wright State (16-29, 11-6 HL)
to take the series, 2-1, at the WSU Softball Field. With
the win, the Flames take sole possession of second place
in the Horizon League standings.
The Flames play their final nonconference game of the
season at 5 p.m. tonight at Northern Illinois in DeKalb.
It was a low-hitting affair as the two teams combined
for 12 hits, with UIC taking just five. Tiana Mack-Miller
registered her 12th multi-hit game of the year as she tallied two doubles. Eleni Polites, Dana Capocci and Savannah Soppet also had hits for the Flames.
Elaine Heflin threw her 12th complete game en route
to her 10th victory, ninth in conference. Heflin struck out
seven batters and gave up no walks in 107 pitches.
“It was great to see Elaine (Heflin) and Erica (Hampton) be in control throughout the game,” head coach Michelle Venturella said. “Our offense did a nice job of
having some long offensive innings. ”
After leaving the bases loaded with a trio of walks in
the first, UIC worked the free base again in the second.
Erica Hampton and Soppet drew back-to-back walks,
Polites singled, then Mack-Miller doubled for the 13th
time this year to score two.
The Flames put up another run in the third. The Raiders responded with two runs in the bottom half.
Tyler Detmer had two hits for the Flames versus
Milwaukee Sunday. — Photo: Steve Woltmann
Men’s basketball adds
No. 3-ranked center
By Mike Laninga — [email protected]
Julian Torres, ranked the
No. 3 center in Illinois and
the 44th-ranked player
overall according to
PrepHoopsIllinois.com, will
join the men’s basketball
team next season.
“Julian will add great size
and skill to our frontcourt,”
head coach Steve McClain
said. “He has an incredible
Julian Torres
skillset and I look forward
to developing his game.”
Torres (F/C, 6-9, 240, Bolingbrook) attended
Bolingbrook High School, where he averaged 9.5
points and 7.2 rebounds during his senior year. He
helped guide the Raiders to a third-place finish in the
2015 4A State Championships, the highest finish in
program history. Bolingbrook ended the year with a
25-7 record and a ranking of No. 4 in the final Super
25 Boys Basketball Poll.
Torres competed for the Mac Irvin Fire
on the AAU Circuit, where he averaged 10.9 points
per game.