Illinois Physics | The Grainger College of Engineering | UIUC

On April 19-20, 2024 Illinois Physics hosted more than 45 teachers across Illinois for the 2024 Spring AAPT Meeting, organized by Morten Lundsgaard, Coordinator of Physics Teacher Development.  The meeting was kickstarted by an IOLab workshop, followed by several speakers from Southern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Romeoville High School, Parkland College, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  The full program can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/illinois-section-aapt/meeting-archive/spring-2024.

Illinois Physics Professors Paul Selvin and Charles Gammie have been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honor societies in the nation. Academy members, leaders in the arts and sciences, business, philanthropy, and public affairs, work to address societal challenges, making nonpartisan recommendations to policymakers and leaders in government, higher education, and the private sector.

A performance about a journey of two voyagers exploring the quantum realm has inspired a group of professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to launch a new art and science collective.

In 2018, physics professor Smitha Vishveshwara and theater professor Latrelle Bright created an interdisciplinary performance called “Quantum Voyagers,” which presents the story of two people guided by the spirit of knowledge, Sapienza. 

Now, in collaboration with UIUC music professor Stephen Taylor, Vishveshwara and Bright are launching the Collective for Art-Science, Creativity and Discovery, etc., or CASCaDe.

Illinois Professor of Physics and Astronomy Charles F. Gammie was named the Ikenberry Endowed Chair in January 2024. This campus-level appointment was established in honor of Stanley O. Ikenberry’s tenure as the 14th President of the University of Illinois, funded by a gift from Geraldine B. Cooke and other sources. On March 26, a ceremony was held to honor Gammie and another distinguished faculty member, Andrew Leakey, recently appointed the Aiken Chair in Plant Biology.