Ingenious: Professor of Poverty
Oscar Lewis was no stranger to controversy—or to accolades and honors. This was certainly the case after the U of I professor of anthropology published The Children of Sánchez in 1961. Critics bristled at...
Ingenious: The best
When organizers of the Armour Institute in Chicago were seeking “the best man” to head their new library in 1893, they sought the advice of librarian Melvil Dewey, who created the Dewey Decimal Classification...
Ingenious: The nation’s oldest
In October 1969, students protesting the Vietnam War charged toward the Morrow Plots located in the heart of the UI campus. In a bit of guerilla theater, they planned to run through the historic...
Ingenious: Beneath icy waters
The Antarctic toothfish, which can weigh more than 200 pounds and grow as long as 5 feet, moves easily through the crystal-clear water beneath the thick ice. The toothfish, like other fish in these...
Ingenious: When science came home
Beyond the main doors of Bevier Hall, the stairs rise to a landing adorned with a large painting of a larger-than-life woman—Isabel Bevier, for whom the building is named. In 1900, Bevier arrived at...
Ingenious: First in class
When Nathan Ricker graduated from the University of Illinois in 1873, he became the first person in the nation to receive a degree in architecture. He might have achieved that distinction even sooner but...
Ingenious: Indoor air quality
The world had not seen anything like it before. It was the 1920s and transportation planners had decided to build a tunnel directly below the Hudson River, connecting New York City with New Jersey....
Ingenious: Sonic surgery
Some called it “sonic surgery,” but William J. Fry described it as “surgery by sound.” Fry, a UI professor of physics, was one of the first to develop a system using ultrasound for surgical...
Class Notes Profile: Quick-starter
Success came early for sports journalist Taylor Rooks, ’14 MEDIA. While still an undergraduate, she broke athletic recruiting stories for scout.com and appeared on the Big Ten Network and CBS Sports Network. Months after...
Ingenious: Cureton’s cure
Thomas Cureton generated plenty of headlines in the 1950s when he boldly declared that, for many people, middle age begins prematurely at age 26. Without regular exercise, he argued, the body begins to deteriorate...
