Men’s Basketball Coach Ron Rose just passed Jack Horenberger on IWU’s all-time wins list. He moved into second on the school’s all-time win list when the IWU men’s basketball team overpowered North Park University on Feb. 11.
Read more on Rose Rises on the All-Time Wins List as IWU Overpowers North Park from Illinois Wesleyan Athletics
Sey Ahn, Director of the IWU Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, was chosen as conductor of the Missouri All-State Orchestra and will provide a virtual session for the students, who will not meet to rehearse or perform this year due to the pandemic.
Read more on WSD Musician Selected for State Honor from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
STEM research continues amid the ongoing pandemic, as student researchers presented findings from their semester-long projects at the virtual 2020-21 Fall NexSTEM Research Symposium. Research projects ranged from a nature restoration project, assessing the power of physical therapy post-stroke, and developing a model for a non-profit grocery store in Bloomington.
Read more on NexSTEM Scholars Present Research Virtually from Illinois Wesleyan
Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw takes on the behemoth question of how to pay for healthcare in the United States in a new book: Medicare and Medicaid: A Reference Handbook. This book features Shaw’s own analysis as well as short essays from a number of perspectives.
Read more on New Faculty Book Tackles the Past and Present of American Healthcare from Illinois Wesleyan
Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center of McLean County at Illinois Wesleyan University Karen Bussone wrote about search engine optimization (SEO) for small businesses in her guest column in The Pantagraph.
Read more on Karen Bussone: Get help with search engine goals from The Pantagraph
The collection, “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” is on display in the Atrium Gallery of the IWU Ames School of Art. Instructional Professor and Gallery Director Carmen Lozar joined WGLT’s “The Leadoff” to discuss the exhibit.
Read and listen more on Provacative Posters At IWU Highlight Women’s Rights from WGLT radio
IWU Associate Professor of Psychology Ellen Furlong explains the physical, psychological and social benefits that President Joe Biden’s dogs, Major and Champ, can bring to the working environment of the White House. Dogs in the workplace have been proven to decrease stress, improve work satisfaction, and even enhance employee cohesion and communication.
Read more on Dogs can make stressful workplaces better for people. Even the White House. from Popular Science
The social scene at Illinois Wesleyan is still thriving safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a roster of limited capacity in-person events along with virtual and hybrid activities that – in some cases – have produced even higher attendance figures than pre-pandemic times.
Read more on Physically Distant Student Life Brings New Levels of Engagement from Illinois Wesleyan
Among 180 recipients of state funding to promote racial healing efforts, IWU used a grant to host a virtual anti-racism and racial justice workshop featuring the performing arts company BrownBody. The event was part of IWU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration.
Read more on IWU, Project Oz, YWCA Seek To Foster Racial Healing from WGLT Radio
Zoe Bouras, a 2018 Illinois Wesleyan graduate who moved to the U.S. from England when she was 10 years old, has returned to Central Illinois to help immigrants, like herself, thrive. Bouras currently serves as the communications and development coordinator for The Immigration Project.
Read more on Global Citizen Bouras ’18 Advocates Locally for Immigrant Rights from Illinois Wesleyan
Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Julie Ballard will be among participants in the Chicago Dance History Project’s Interview Marathon on Jan. 31. The seven-hour Interview Marathon represents decades of dance history personified in more than 40 interview subjects.
Read more on Chicago Dance History Project Announces Interview Marathon Schedule from Broadway World
R. Forrest Colwell Endowed Chair and Professor of English James Plath explored conspiracy theories in history and literature and discussed his edited volume, Critical Insights: Conspiracies.
Read more and listen to the full podcast on Our Lies: Jenny Offill and James Plath on Conspiracy Theories in History and Literature from Literary Hub
B. Charles and Joyce Eichhorn Ames Professor of Physics Gabriel Spalding delivered a talk entitled, “Shaping Light in Time & Space,” for the winter meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Listen to the full talk here
Assistant Professor of Nursing Amy Funk was selected as a member of the U.S.-Russia Social Expertise Exchange COVID-19 Response Public Health Working Group (PHWG). Four Americans and four Russians were selected for participation in this initiative. The goal of the group is to develop ideas for a bilateral project aimed at addressing health priorities in the U.S. and Russia including: promoting safety and self-care among at-risk populations in both countries, developing innovative solutions for disease detection and case management, and providing health-related services to vulnerable populations
Read more on U.S.-Russia Social Exchange
Madeline Johnson ’24 was chosen to sing the solo in an international collaboration between Glyndebourne Youth Opera (outside of London, England) and Minnesota Opera’s Project Opera.
Read more and watch the full video on Watch: The Place Beyond Tomorrow from Glyndebourne
Josefina Bañales ’14, with Professor and Chair of Sociology and Anthropology Meghan Burke and former IWU professor Kira Hudson Banks, has published “The impact of a diversity intervention on White college students’ colour-blind racial attitudes,” in the journal Whiteness and Education. Bañales is now Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology and the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
Read the full article on The impact of a diversity intervention on White college students’ colour-blind racial attitudes from Taylor & Francis Online
Former IWU men’s basketball coach and current Lewis University coach Scott Trost was among those included in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021.
Read more on Ridgeview’s Rodney Kellar leads IBCA Hall of Fame awards from The Pantagraph
As the pandemic forces many small businesses online, IWU students assist the Small Business Development Center of McLean County at Illinois Wesleyan in offering support, particularly with web design and social media strategies.
Read and listen more on Pandemic Pushes Smaller Retailers Online from WGLT Radio
Retired IWU Professor of Economics Mike Seeborg offered insight on the surge in retirements due to COVID-19.
Read and listen more on COVID Drives Retirements, But It’s Not Best Time For Everyone from WGLT Radio
Athletic trainers like Illinois Wesleyan’s Bill Kauth are adjusting to new demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more on Illinois State, Illinois Wesleyan athletic trainers adjusting to new demands in COVID-19 sports world from The Pantagraph
Volunteers from Illinois Wesleyan and other local universities and colleges assist with translation services for Congolese patients at the local nonprofit Community Health Care Clinic.
Read and listen more on B-N Congolese Patients Face Health Inequity from WGLT Radio
IWU golfers Rob Wuethrich ’21 and Jimmy Morton ’22 honored fallen soldiers as they participated in the Patriot All-America Invitational in Litchfield, Arizona.
Read more on IWU golfer Rob Wuethrich honoring Joshua Rodgers in Patriot All-America Invitational from The Pantagraph
When she’s not playing basketball at Illinois Wesleyan, Emily Kleffman ’24 crochets for charity. For the last three or four years Kleffman has been making baby hats, scarves, and blankets to donate.
Read more on When she’s not playing basketball at Illinois Wesleyan, Tinley Park’s Emily Kleffman crochets for charity: ‘Be the change you want to see.’ from the Chicago Tribune
Illinois Wesleyan’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was featured in a series reflecting on the creative, innovative moments in lighting design in 2020.
Read more on 31 Days of Plots: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot from Live Design
Illinois Wesleyan University junior chemistry major Allison Schrader ’22 has been selected from a competitive pool of candidates from across the country to receive the Ciba Travel Award in Green Chemistry. She will have the opportunity to attend and present at an upcoming green chemistry conference of her choosing.
Read more on Schrader ’22 Earns National Green Chemistry Honor from Illinois Wesleyan