Taboo Buster
Dr. Nicole Williams, ’97 LAS, ’97 LAS, doesn’t get mad—she gets motivated. When a guidance counselor suggested that she consider becoming a nurse instead of a doctor, Williams doubled down on her studies, earned...
Chamber-alt Cellist
They play music in a converted garage. Equipped with a vaulted ceiling and retrofitted with asymmetrical walls, vibration-free floor and acoustical insulation, the space has gone from a bay for your dad’s Oldsmobile to...
“I”s on the World: En Bateau
With the local Notre Dame of Mantes-la-Jolie in the background, Richard, ’67 ACES, MS ’71 ACES, and Barbara Jurgens, ’73 ACES, enjoy a Paris-to-Normandy cruise along the waters of the Seine. The medieval Collegiate...
“I”s on the World: Go (Key) West
If you went to the ends of the Earth, you’d likely find loyal Illini. Most certainly you’ll find them at the southernmost tip of the U.S. From left, John LeVanti, ’75 MEDIA—who made his...
My Alma Mater: Home Among the Murals
There will always be a few places in my life that I will never forget. La Casa Cultural Latina at the University of Illinois is one of them. When I arrived on campus in...
Seeds of Success
Armed with a new-fangled device called a laptop that was “the size of a suitcase,” Jeanne Bailey, ’85 ACES, MS ’88 ACES, and her fellow ACES intern, Karen Bender, ’85 LAS, MS ’88 ACES,...
Planet Hopping with Richard Powers
Through each of his 13 novels, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Powers, ’78 LAS, MA ’80 LAS, has used the lenses of science, technology, history and the arts to explore what it means to be...
Kidney Sisters
Rachel Kindred Kesler, ’09 BUS, and Mandy Lockman Leib, MS ’09 MEDIA, played together as toddlers and attended grade school, high school and the U of I together. Now they live a block apart...
My Alma Mater: Semper Fighting Illini
In 1966, after one semester of college, I ran out of money and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. The Vietnam War was then well underway, and my balmy tour of southeast Asia took place...
Aviation Enthusiast
Visit an air show, and you just may see Paul R. Wood, ’76 BUS, waving to you from the cockpit of a World War I biplane or a Vietnam-era supersonic jet. Wood is founder...
