Spectator - Monthly News for UI Alumni and Friends

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President Obama wrapped up a tour of college campuses April 25 with a stop at the UI Field House, where he spoke before an estimated 5,500 about student loans. It was Obama's second visit to the UI as president. More

PRESIDENTIAL PICK

Merrill appointed to National Council on Humanities

Christopher Merrill, director of the UI International Writing Program, will join the 26-member advisory body of the National Endowment for the Humanities. More

Related: World Bank president nominee is former UI student

ARTS CAMPUS REVIVAL

Regents approve funding, designs for replacement buildings

The Iowa Board of Regents has approved schematic designs and funding to bring arts buildings destroyed by the 2008 flood back to life, a significant step forward in the campus recovery process. More

Related: Pollock’s Mural takes a road trip

KEY APPOINTMENT

Scranton named dean of UI College of Engineering

Alec Scranton, newly appointed engineering dean, is a fifth-generation Iowan and a UI alumnus. More

Related: $600,000 gift supports engineering faculty

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Incoming Tippie dean discusses priorities, motorcycles

Sarah Gardial, vice provost of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was named the first woman dean of the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business in March. The Arkansas native recently discussed her plans and expectations for the Iowa post, which she assumes July 1. More

ACTUARIES, ACTUALLY

In-demand profession mathematically unearths fascinating facts about life and death

Actuaries are expected to be in demand in coming years. But what do actuaries do? Beyond something that involves math and insurance, explanations always seem mysterious and bizarre, something that only other practitioners of actuarial science can really understand. More

FARM MANUALS FAST

UI student’s online business restocks farmers around the world

Farm Manuals Fast, based in the UI entrepreneurship incubator, has sold more than 5,000 agricultural implement manuals to farmers in 22 countries in its first two years. More

BIG LIGHT

There is more to lighting a theater production than flipping a switch

Every theater production has light, but have you ever stopped to think about how it got there? Iowa Now went behind the scenes of Big Love, the Department of Theatre Arts’ current Mainstage production, to take a look at the process. More

CELEBRATION OF GIFTS

Donors continue a legacy of celebrating gifted education

Two gifts of $500,000 each have helped the Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, which is part of the UI College of Education, make major headway in its $2.5 million fundraising campaign to celebrate the center’s 25th anniversary in 2013. More

ART ICONS

Alumni artists Lasansky, Catlett die

Mauricio Lasansky, who led the UI printmaking area in the School of Art and Art History to international prominence, died April 2 at the age of 97—just one day before the death of sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett, 96, who received her master’s at the UI under the tutelage of Grant Wood.

Lasansky story: www.omaha.com
Lasansky video: www.youtube.com
Catlett: www.npr.org

HARDSHIP HELP

Carver Scholars named

Each year, 20 UI juniors are selected to receive a $5,200 renewable award from the Carver Trust. Part of the criteria is having overcome significant social and economic hardship while showing great potential and promise. Read the inspiring stories of three Carver Scholarship recipients. More

FINAL PLUNGE

Diving coach announces retirement

UI diving coach Bob Rydze, a member of the Hawkeyes swimming and diving program for the past 37 years, has announced his retirement, which will become effective June 30. More

NO SHIRT, NO PROBLEM

Nearly Naked Mile runners shed some clothing for charity

They didn’t have to be nearly naked to walk or run, but participants in the Nearly Naked Mile were asked to leave behind an article of clothing that would go toward United Action for Youth. More

DOCTORS’ ORDERS

Match Day caps student’s journey at Carver College of Medicine

Although she harbored serious doubts about medicine as a career choice, Amy Domeyer-Klenske focused on the human interactions that attracted her to medicine. Soon she realized she was on the right path—one that took a desirable turn on Match Day. More

NEW SPACE, MORE SMILES

College of Dentistry addition brightens experience for students and patients alike

A brand-new addition and planned renovations to the College of Dentistry's Dental Science Building promise to enhance the experience for students while giving patients some of the best care available anywhere in the world. More

EXTENDING THE UI LEGACY

Know a Future Hawkeye?

If you have family members who would benefit from a UI education, then tell us about them here, encourage them to find out more about the university, schedule a campus visit, or apply for admission.

“These guys were nuclear cowboys.”

Laurence Fuortes, UI professor of occupational and environmental health, who is helping ailing Cold War atomic weapons plant workers receive benefits (Gazette, Feb. 22).

More UI national news

“It could have been a story that maybe 10,000 people would have followed to its ending, and that would have been a lot of fun. But if this goes out, then 10,000 people are going to see it in one city in one day.”

History alumnus James Erwin, whose online story imagining a battle between Roman soldiers of the first century and U.S. Marines of the 21st century has been optioned for a movie for which Erwin has been hired to write a script (Wired, March 20).