Chemical Catalyst
ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD When Joe Glas, MS ’62 LAS, PHD ’65 LAS, was put in charge of the Freon division of chemical company DuPont in 1985, he thought the controversy surrounding the refrigerant—namely, the...
Student aid
Dyslexia can have devastating consequences for young children learning how to read, yet many teachers are overwhelmed by other demands in their classrooms and can’t give such children the individual instruction they need. Enter...
Cultural Commissioner
Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin, ’86 MEDIA, is managing director of the acclaimed New American Theatre in Los Angeles. Celebrating its 25th year in 2020, NAT has put on more than 100 mainstage plays and hundreds...
Mr. Speaker
How good of a commencement speaker is James Franklin Sharp, ’59 ENG? The Chester, Ill., native has delivered five keynote addresses at his hometown’s grade school and high school, and he bested the draw...
“I”s on the World: South American Way
The globe-trotting Williams family craves action. On a recent trip to Peru, they climbed to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain, scaled the face of a 1,300-foot cliff to zipline back to the base...
Alumni Interview: Kevin Rhodes
When people hear that I’m a conductor, most assume I grew up in a music-rich home. Not me. My parents ran a 24-hour truck-stop diner in Evansville, Ind. The only music came from the...
Memory Lane: It’s Showtime!
At Illinois, going to a movie theater in town was once nearly as common as going to class. Chris Alix, ’88 RNG, fondly remembers the high spirits at a midnight showing of Blue Velvet...
In Class: Horror Buff
I’ve been teaching film since I was a graduate student in English, back in the mid-90s. I’ve always loved it. I used to use film to make points in classes about prose fiction. Eventually...
The Governor’s Messenger
Michael Albert, ’87 LAS, has become a reluctant celebrity, thanks to his work as a sign language interpreter at Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily coronavirus briefings. He’s been interviewed by print, broadcast and social...
Social Mediator
When Warner Bros. announced its fourth film set in the world of the dystopian thriller, The Matrix, it was a testament not only to our love of cutting-edge action movies, but to our predicament...
