2026 Alumni Awards
ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Deb (Ridgeway) Neubek Deb (Ridgeway) Neubek, ’82 FAA, grew up in Illinois gazing at the stars, dreaming of designing space stations and lunar habitats. She chose the
Book Doctor
Earning a degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine is an estimable achievement, but not a particularly rare one. In 2005, Dipesh Navsaria, MSLIS ’04, UIC MD
Alumni Interview: Omar Yaghi
When I first arrived at Illinois to do my Ph.D. in chemistry with Walter Klemperer, he gave me a task: to make a perturbation on an existing molecule using a
Pirates’ Toolmaker
Like millions of other kids, Charlie Young, ’20 LAS, dreamed of being a big-league baseball player—and never made it past high school ball. “Fortunately, I was better at computer science.”
Alumni Interview: Elizabeth Hausler
If you look at my LinkedIn page, you’ll see that I identify as a social entrepreneur, safe housing advocate, and bricklayer. I was a bricklayer first. My dad owned a
Reformer at Heart
Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr., ’05 LAS, is Chicago South Side born and bred. It is a fact he proudly states. It is a communal and cultural identity that grounds him
Alumni Interview: Tatyana McFadden
I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, with spina bifida. My birth mom couldn’t afford to take care of me, so I lived in an orphanage for six years without
Alumni Interview: Kevin Jackson
When I arrived at Illinois in 1990, a kid out of a tough neighborhood south of Chicago, I had no idea I’d become a research scientist. I was a football
Alumni Interview: Amanda McGrory
It’s summer 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and I’m holding a Paralympic silver medal in the 1,500 meters. Beside me is my teammate Tatyana McFadden, ’13 ACES, EDM ’19, one
Union Leader
It’s Rebecca “Becki” Salzman’s favorite campus event of the year: the LateNighter. As executive director of the Illini Union, Salzman ’94 LAS, MA ’07 ED, marvels at seeing thousands of
