UChicago News

Statement on the death of student Austin Hudson-Lapore

Laurie Davis, UChicago News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:12 -0500

Statement from Karen Warren Coleman, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services at the University of Chicago:

We are deeply saddened by the news today that third-year University of Chicago student Austin Hudson-Lapore has died and was found this morning in Lake Michigan.

Austin had been missing since June 12, the night of a storm in the Chicago area. Although it is too early for authorities to determine a cause of death, evidence suggests that his fascination with...

Bernard Sahlins, AB’43, co-founder of Second City, 1922-2013

Susie Allen, UChicago News — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:37 -0500

Comedy pioneer Bernard Sahlins, who co-founded Chicago’s famed Second City theater, died Sunday at age 90, according to news reports.

As a Second City producer, Sahlins, AB’43, pushed the boundaries of sketch comedy and helped make performers like Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner household names. He also continued to give guidance and inspiration to generations of UChicago students.

The...

Student Austin Hudson-Lapore reported missing

Jeremy Manier, UChicago News — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:19 -0500

Austin Hudson-Lapore, a third-year student in the College at the University of Chicago, has been reported missing. He was last seen at his apartment, on the 5300 block of South Kimbark Ave., around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12.

Austin is 20 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, approximately 120 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing black gym shoes and blue jeans.

The University is working closely...

University of Chicago responds to racial incident involving mail delivery at fraternity

UChicago News — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:57 -0500

This letter to the editor by Eleanor Daugherty, Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Associate Dean of the College at the University of Chicago, was published in...

University of Chicago and Marine Biological Laboratory agree to form affiliation

Jeremy Manier, UChicago News — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:00 -0500

The University of Chicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. have agreed to form an affiliation that will strengthen both institutions’ missions of leadership and innovation in scientific research and education.

The affiliation will build on shared values and historical ties between Chicago and the MBL, which was led by University of Chicago faculty members for the first four decades of its existence. The MBL has been a driving force in biological...

Robert Fogel, won Nobel Prize in Economics, 1926-2013

Ethan Grove, UChicago News — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:15 -0500

Robert W. Fogel, an economic historian at the University of Chicago who won the Nobel Prize in 1993 for his studies of slavery in the United States and the role railroads played in the development of the economy, died Tuesday, June 11. His death at age 86 followed a brief illness, according to his family.

Fogel used quantitative methods to explain economic and institutional change. His work often challenged conventional wisdom and was, at the time, controversial. His research showed...

Anonymous gift of $3.5 million to support Leo Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics

Laurie Davis, UChicago News — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:30 -0500

The University of Chicago has received a $3.5 million gift from anonymous donors to support a new intellectual enterprise that will be named the Leo Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics.

Kadanoff is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Physics and Mathematics and a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific honor.

A major goal of the center is...

Perfect pitch may not be absolute after all

William Harms, UChicago News — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:47 -0500

People who think they have perfect pitch may not be as in tune as they think, according to a new University of Chicago study in which people failed to notice a gradual change in pitch while listening to music.

When tested afterward, people with perfect, or absolute pitch, thought notes made out of tune at the end of a song were in tune, while notes that were in tune at the beginning sounded out of tune.

About one out of 10,000 people has absolute pitch, which means they can...

Evolutionary study shows bridge species drive tropical engine of biodiversity

Greg Borzo, UChicago News — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:25 -0500

Although scientists have known since the middle of the 19th century that the tropics are teeming with species while the poles harbor relatively few, the origin of the most dramatic and pervasive biodiversity on Earth has never been clear.

New research sheds light on how that pattern came about. Furthermore, it confirms that the tropics have been and continue to be the Earth’s engine of biodiversity.

By examining marine bivalves (two-shelled mollusks, including scallops...

Jazz Age magazine 'The Chicagoan' reborn online

Rachel Rosenberg, UChicago News — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:54 -0500

The Chicagoan—a Jazz Age magazine fashioned after The New Yorker—entered a new era this week, after the University of Chicago Library launched a website that makes digitized copies of nearly every issue available online for the first time.

First published in 1926, the Chicagoan came on the scene just 16 months after the initial appearance of the New Yorker and was...