UChicago News

Mary Lou Gorno appointed chair of Smart Museum Board

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 16:15 -0500

Mary Lou Gorno, a business executive and alumna of Chicago Booth who serves as vice chair of the University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees, has been appointed chair of the Smart Museum of Art’s Board of Governors.

Gorno, managing director of the executive search firm Ingenuity International, serves the University in a variety of capacities, including chair of the University of Chicago Phoenix Society, a trustee of Court Theatre and a director at NORC. She has been a member of UChicago’s Board of Trustees since 2004.

“Mary Lou Gorno brings to the Smart Museum Board of Governors a deep knowledge of the University of Chicago and extensive experience in leading organizations. I look forward to seeing momentum as the Smart Museum continues to grow with her board leadership, supporting the expanding role of the arts at the University,” President Robert J. Zimmer said.

Gorno’s two-year appointment as board chair is effective Sept. 1. The Smart Museum of Art is UChicago’s fine arts museum, home to thought-provoking exhibitions, a wide-ranging collection, and public programs that encourage the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice, both contemporaneously and across history.

"The arts have an important and growing role at the University of Chicago. I look forward to working with my fellow board members in support of Alison Gass and her dynamic team as the Smart Museum writes the future of university art museums," Gorno said.

Gorno succeeds Pamela Hoehn-Saric, MAT’81, who has served as chair of the Smart Museum Board since 2012. During that period, the Smart Museum celebrated its 40th anniversary, appointed Alison Gass as the Dana Feitler Director and launched the Feitler Center of Academic Inquiry. Hoehn-Saric will continue to serve as a member of the Smart Museum Board.

“I am thrilled to welcome Mary Lou to the board as chair-elect,” said Hoehn-Saric. “The Smart is on an exciting trajectory, and Mary Lou brings extensive experience and talent in board development and strategy, which will help Ali, the board and the staff realize Ali’s exciting vision for the museum.”

Gorno earned a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Saint Mary’s College, a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and master’s degree in finance and accounting from UChicago’s Booth School of Business.

Gorno began her career in advertising, becoming a senior executive at the Leo Burnett Company where she worked with Walt Disney, Reebok and Procter & Gamble. She later moved to the executive search profession and currently leads the CEO and Board practice for Fortune 500, mid-cap and privately owned companies. As a board and CEO adviser, she specializes in organizational governance, succession planning and leadership issues.

In addition to her extensive involvement at the University, Gorno serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, vice chair of the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic School Board and director of the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Innovation Fest to highlight pioneering discoveries, entrepreneurship at UChicago

Tue, 01 May 2018 10:00 -0500

The University of Chicago on May 1 will kick off UChicago Innovation Fest, a monthlong celebration of pioneering discovery and entrepreneurial endeavors at the University.

Led by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the month of events, workshops and accelerator programs, including the globally recognized Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge, highlights the breadth and impact of innovation at UChicago in the areas of entrepreneurship and research commercialization, scientific advancements, and social impact. In the first two years of the program, more than 80 events were held in Chicago and in key cities across the world.

Capstone events of this year’s Innovation Fest include a panel of Chicago Booth alumni discussing the cross-disciplinary formula for a successful venture moderated by Inc. magazine editor-in-chief Eric Schurenberg, a Facebook Live event discussing the end of online privacy, a research computing symposium on how to solve societal challenges with artificial intelligence and five faculty-led teams competing for up to $500,000 in early-stage venture capital investment at the UChicago Innovation Fund spring cycle finals. This year, Innovation Fest will conclude with UChicago Alumni Weekend, a four-day program featuring more than 100 events for alumni and their families with the theme of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Launched in the spring of 2014 by the Polsky Center, UChicago Innovation Fest initially began as Innovation Week, a weeklong solution to connect the various finals competitions of the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge. In 2016, to engage more of the UChicago community, the Polsky Center teamed up with partners in innovation across campus to create Innovation Fest as it exists today.

The University of Chicago invites all members of campus, the Chicagoland community and across the world to experience the pioneering discoveries and entrepreneurial activities happening as part UChicago Innovation Fest.

A full list of UChicago Innovation Fest events, including livestreams, can be found here.

LGBTQ young adults experience homelessness at more than twice the rate of their peers

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 15:00 -0500

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer young adults are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness as their non-LGBTQ peers. They are also at greater risk for experiencing high levels of hardship, including higher rates of assault, of exchanging sex for basic needs and of early death. These findings emerged from research by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, which provides new insights to the challenges faced by America’s youth who experience homelessness.

“Our study reveals the vulnerability of LGBTQ youth in our country today. They are at higher risk both before and during their experiences of homelessness,” said Bryan Samuels, executive director of Chapin Hall. “Given the evidence that our young people are in harm’s way, we have an obligation to act to protect them. Fortunately, our findings point to solutions, too.”

This is the second in a series of research briefs on youth experiencing homelessness. A paper published in the Journal of Adolescent Health was the basis for the first brief, which identified high levels of youth homelessness nationwide.

The report is among the first national assessments of the increased risks facing LGBTQ youth. It found:

LGBTQ youth are among the most at-risk sub populations for homelessness. Young adults (18-25) who identify as LGBTQ experienced homelessness at more than twice the rate of their non-LGBTQ peers. Black LGBTQ youth, especially young men, had the highest rates of homelessness.
Among youth experiencing homelessness, LGBTQ youth had twice the rate of early death as other youth. LGBTQ youth also experienced higher levels of adversity, including higher rates of assault and of exchanging sex for basic needs.
Youth made decisions about seeking services based on the reputation of the agency providing the services. Safe and affirming systems and services are important to LGBTQ youth.
The factors that led young LGBTQ people to experience homelessness stem from more than “coming out.” Their families faced broader issues of instability, including poverty, violence, addiction or mental health problems that contributed to their risk for homelessness and adversity.

In addition to revealing critical insights to LGBTQ youth homelessness, the report also details solutions that can help protect LGBTQ youth who are homeless now and that can prevent homelessness in the future. These solutions include:

Provide enhanced training across the provider community, including Medicaid providers, to identify and respond to the trauma and hardship faced by this population.
Engage LGBTQ youth as full partners in strengthening systems and services.
Encourage community organizations and systems working with runaway and homeless youth to institute more sensitive data collection about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Add or revise guidance in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Block Grant on how these resources can better support LGBTQ and minority LGBTQ youth.
Evaluate the most promising programs and interventions to determine their effectiveness for LGBTQ youth. The federal government can take the lead by providing evaluation funding for core interventions.

“One critical insight we’ve gained from this study is that LGBTQ youth won’t use services they don’t trust,” said Matthew Morton, research fellow at Chapin Hall, who oversaw the study. “The reputation of providers matters, and that reputation has to be earned. Safe and affirming systems and services are critical to helping LGBTQ youth. If we don’t take action on this, we run the risk of missing out on the talents, skills and contributions of many LGBTQ youth.”

The first Voices brief on National Estimates found that one in 10 young adults, and one in 30 teens ages 13-17, experienced homelessness over a year. Upcoming briefs will explore findings on other subpopulations of youth experiencing homelessness, including pregnant and parenting youth and rural youth.

Nipam Patel appointed director of the Marine Biological Laboratory

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:30 -0500

Nipam Patel, a leading scholar in modern evolutionary and developmental biology, has been appointed director of the Marine Biological Laboratory, an affiliate of the University of Chicago. In addition, Patel will be appointed as a faculty member at the University of Chicago.

Patel currently holds the William V. Power Endowed Chair in Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is professor and co-chair of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and professor in the Department of Integrative Biology. His appointment is effective Sept. 4.

Patel’s connections to the MBL and the University reach back two decades. For the past 17 years, he has taught the MBL Embryology course, having served as co-director from 2007 to 2011. Patel’s ties to UChicago include serving as a professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy from 1995 to 2003.

Patel studies the evolutionary changes that have brought about the diversity of life seen today. Over the course of his career, he has established a marine crustacean named Parhyale hawaiensis as a genetic model for understanding how diverse body plans develop and evolve. Patel’s significant scientific contributions complement a core focus of the MBL: discoveries emerging from the study of novel marine organisms, including research in comparative evolution and genomics, regenerative biology, neuroscience and sensory biology.

Prof. Nipam Patel established a marine crustacean, Parhyale hawaiensis, as a model system for studying the evolution and development of diverse body plans. (Image courtesy of Nipam Patel, MBL Embryology course 2017)

“From a pool of extraordinarily accomplished candidates, Nipam distinguished himself as particularly passionate about MBL’s rich history and even more so about its promising future,” said David Fithian, executive vice president of the University of Chicago, MBL trustee and co-chair of the search advisory committee. “He will be a compelling spokesperson for and determined leader of the MBL’s next chapter.”

“It is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to lead the MBL, an institution that has had a remarkable influence on my own career through the teaching and research opportunities it has provided me over almost 20 years,” Patel said. “I am excited to build upon the MBL’s extraordinary history to elevate it to even greater prominence, and to partner with the University of Chicago in this endeavor. I look forward to working with all the dedicated MBL scientists and staff, as well as all those who come to visit and share in the magic of the MBL.”

Patel grew up in El Paso, Texas and received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Princeton University and a PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University. He joined the University of California, Berkeley in 2003, where he has held the Schubert Endowed Chair, and serves as faculty curator at the Essig Museum of Entomology. Patel has served as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and an adjunct professor at the National Institute of Genetics in Shizuoka, Japan. He began his career as a staff associate in the Department of Embryology at the Carnegie Institution in Baltimore, Maryland.

Patel is the editor of the journal Development and serves on the editorial boards of eLife, EvoDevo, Developmental Biology, Development Genes and Evolution and Evolution and Development. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has served on numerous advisory boards, including the board of directors of the Society for Developmental Biology.

Patel is a member of the MBL Education Committee, which provides strategic planning for more than 20 advanced research training courses and other educational programs at the MBL, including collaborative initiatives with UChicago.

Patel succeeds interim MBL co-directors Melina Hale, the William Rainey Harper Professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy and in the College, and vice provost for academic initiatives at UChicago; and Neil Shubin, the Robert R. Bensley Professor in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at UChicago.

The MBL in Woods Hole, Massachusetts is a leading international center for investigation in the biological and ecological sciences. Founded in 1888, the laboratory convenes scientists from institutions around the world to collaborate in its resident and visiting research centers and to teach in its education division. UChicago and the MBL formed an affiliation in 2013.

The selection of the new director by President Robert J. Zimmer was informed by a search advisory committee, which Fithian co-chaired along with Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, an investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

Robert H. Malott, trustee emeritus, 1926-2018

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 14:00 -0500

Trustee Emeritus Robert H. Malott, former chairman and chief executive officer of FMC Corporation, who served as vice chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees, died April 4. He was 91 years old.

Malott was elected a trustee of the University in 1976. He served as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1988 to 1993, was elected a life trustee in 1993, and was named a trustee emeritus in 2007. Malott joined FMC in 1952 and was elected chief executive in 1971, moving the corporate headquarters to Chicago. He led FMC for two decades, retiring in 1991.

Malott’s civic leadership and philanthropic work ranged from higher education to scientific research to the arts. He served on the governing board of Argonne National Laboratory, which the University manages for the U.S. Department of Energy, and chairman of the board of overseers of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Malott was chairman of the board of the National Museum of Natural History and served on the boards of the Public Broadcasting Service, the National World War II Museum and the National Academy of Sciences. He was a life director of the Lyric Opera Company of Chicago and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Malott was born in Boston. His father, Deane W. Malott, became chancellor of the University of Kansas where his son enrolled at age 16, studying chemistry and playing basketball. Malott enlisted in the U.S. Navy a year later and served on an electronics repair ship stationed in San Francisco. After World War II, he returned to the University of Kansas to finish his bachelor's degree. He earned an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and attended New York University Law School. Malott served as assistant to the dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration before joining FMC.

Malott is survived by his three children, Liza, Barb and Deane. Elizabeth “Ibby” Malott, his wife of 43 years, died in 2003. In keeping with UChicago board tradition, a memorial resolution in honor of Malott will be presented at the board meeting in May.

Message on police shooting incident

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:13 -0500

President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier sent the following message to the University of Chicago community on April 4, 2018:

We are writing to provide an update on an incident that occurred near campus last night. This is a difficult incident for our community, and our concern is with all of the individuals involved and their families.

At approximately 10:12 pm, University of Chicago police officers responded to a call of a burglary in process in the Hyde Park neighborhood in the alley between South Kimbark Avenue and South Woodlawn Avenue near 53rd Street. Three officers arrived at the scene and encountered a young male individual with a long metal pipe, breaking car and apartment windows. Upon arrival, following protocol, the officers demanded that the individual drop the pipe.

The individual ignored the officers’ repeated requests to drop the pipe, and at one point charged an officer with the weapon. At that time, the officer discharged his weapon, striking the individual in the shoulder. After the incident the UCPD learned that the individual is a student at the University of Chicago. The student’s parents have been contacted.

The student was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was last reported to be in stable condition. The Chicago Police Department will be investigating the incident. In addition, the University Department of Safety and Security will conduct an administrative investigation. Under police department protocol, the officer has been placed on mandatory administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. There is body camera footage of the incident, which will be released to the media as soon as feasible.

Maintaining our community’s safety, security and well-being is of paramount importance. Support services and resources for students will be provided by the College and Campus and Student Life. The University will release additional updates as more information becomes available.

Renaissance Society builds upon history of artistic expression, experimentation

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 16:25 -0500

The Renaissance Society, the non-collecting museum on the fourth floor of Cobb Hall, has undergone many transformations in its more than century-long existence.

Begun in 1915 at the University of Chicago to “stimulate study of the art of the present time,” the museum became one of the country’s most important contemporary arts institutions, featuring works by Gaugin, Matisse, Picasso and Calder. In the last half-century, it has premiered projects by prominent artists, including future UChicago faculty Jessica Stockholder and William Pope.L.

Today, its reputation for ambitious exhibitions has made it a destination for artists seeking to experiment and have their work seen on a global scale. Among the recent successes are works featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London and the Art Institute of Chicago.

“We give artists a chance to produce new work,” said Solveig Øvstebø, the Renaissance Society’s executive director and chief curator since 2013. “We are so happy to see that the artworks often go on to live their lives in other institutions and museums, where they are encountered by even more audiences.”

“Our faith in artists and their ideas means that our work plays a unique and vital role in the field of contemporary art and the broader cultural landscape.”Solveig Øvstebø, executive director of the Renaissance Society

B. Ingrid Olson is a Chicago-based artist who benefitted from the chance to experiment. Several pieces from her recent exhibition at the Renaissance Society were purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City after a MOMA curator to see her show at UChicago.

Olson, who first visited the Renaissance Society as an art student while at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008, said the support and exposure she received were instrumental in developing her recent project.

“I had the option to show work already in existence, but there was encouragement and support, intellectually and financially, to conceive and produce something that I hadn't yet realized,” Olson said. “It would have been really difficult, if not impossible, to proceed with making the new works on my own.”

Olson joins a growing list of artists with works commissioned by the Renaissance Society that have recently gone on to major museums, including Kevin Beasley’s Your Face Is/Is Not Enough (2016), which has gone to the Tate Modern in London; and Mathias Poledna’s film Substance (2014), acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago.

B. Ingrid Olson’s work in Klein/Olson at the Renaissance Society, 2017. (Photo by Tom Van Eynde)

“It is a testament to the bold vision of the artists that these amazing works have gone on to such esteemed collections, and we are proud to have played a part in their genesis,” Øvstebø said. “Our faith in artists and their ideas means that our work plays a unique and vital role in the field of contemporary art and the broader cultural landscape.”

The newest installation, Unthought Environments, curated by Karsten Lund, is an examination of the natural world as seen through the lens of media studies, ecology and philosophy. The new artwork uses video, sculpture and more to explore a variety of subjects, from mining operations collecting natural materials for computers to the state of water in countries around the world.

In addition to cultivating new work from artists, Øvstebø has also focused efforts to fund this focus on production through a campaign called the Next Century Fund, which to date has raised more than $4 million with major gifts provided by the Edlis Neeson Foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation and the Zell Family Foundation.

Kevin Beasley, Your Face Is/Is Not Enough (detail), 2016. (Photo by Tom Van Eynde)

The Ren also has been working closely with students to continue to expand its reputation on campus. Fourth-year art history major May Makki said she stumbled upon the Renaissance Society during her second year at UChicago and was thrilled with the discovery.

Makki is a now member of the Ren’s Student Committee, which works to encourage greater interaction between the student body and the Ren. Makki says the group launched a free student membership program, which has gained nearly 200 members in less than a year.

“The Ren is such an incredible resource,” Makki said. “In the past year, the student committee has tried to make more events just for students, which has been successful. We’re making it a space for students with a shared interest to get together.”

Podcast: Smart sensors capture pulse of Chicago

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 09:45 -0500

Editor’s note: Knowledge Applied is a podcast from the University of Chicago. Each episode will take listeners inside the research of UChicago scholars helping reshape everyday life. The first season of Knowledge Applied will feature researchers tackling some of the biggest questions facing cities today.

Imagine a health monitor for the city, but instead of measuring heart rate or daily steps, this device measures everything from air quality to vehicle traffic.

The idea may sound like science fiction, but it’s becoming a reality for cities like Chicago through the Array of Things project, a collaborative effort between scientists, universities, local government and community members to collect real-time data on the city.

The project, based out of Argonne National Laboratory, is led by Charlie Catlett, director of the Urban Center for Computation and Data at UChicago and Argonne. Catlett is aiming to install 500 sensor nodes around Chicago and eventually setup a network around the world “to improve living and working in the city.”

“We talked to people in the city of Chicago to understand what their challenges are,” Catlett said. “And we found from talking with them and from our own work there’s a lot of data that’s missing, that should be able to be measured, and that requires data analytics, it requires data integration infrastructure and it requires a measurement strategy.”

On this episode of Knowledge Applied, we visit with Carlett at his lab at Argonne to see how the sensors are designed, learn more about their sophisticated measuring capabilities, and discuss the future of “smart cities.”

Subscribe, rate and review Knowledge Applied on iTunes and Stitcher. New episodes appear Mondays.

Students, scholars explore African-American archives in Chicago libraries

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 11:15 -0600

Second-year College student Megan Naylor spent the past summer as an intern in the Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University, organizing a new collection of materials from Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

The internship was part of a program offered by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, a Chicago-based association of libraries, universities and archival institutions, including the University of Chicago. The consortium members hold collections related to African-American and African diasporic culture, history and politics, with a special focus on materials relating to Chicago.

Naylor hadn’t considered a career in archival research before the internship, but she now sees herself as possibly entering the field. She recently was selected for a second internship with the archives at the Chicago History Museum, which is a member of the consortium.

“I really like the internship program because I think it’s important getting young African-American students into a field where they are underrepresented,” Naylor said. “It’s also doing good work preserving history and giving people access to it.”

UChicago is the host institution for the consortium, which was founded in 2006 by then Dean of the Humanities Danielle Allen. Brenda Johnson, Library Director and University Librarian, said it is an important part of civic engagement initiatives for the Library and the University.

“It gives us the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in the Chicago region, to forge stronger connections with the Chicago community, and to offer unique research and internship opportunities to undergraduate students, graduate students and scholars from University of Chicago and around the world,” Johnson said.

In addition to preserving and preparing historical materials related to African-Americans for research, the consortium is focused on training new archivists through their Archie Motley Archival Internship Program, designed to address the underrepresentation of people of color in the field.

“We are seeking to diversify the profession and really provide exposure to students,” said Andrea Jackson, the executive director for the consortium and former head of the Archives Research Center at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library. “We want students of color to go into fields like archives or library science or museum studies.”

Jackson hopes to build upon the success of the consortium, while offering new opportunities for future archivists by extending the internship program.

“Right now we are working with undergrads, but we’re hoping to grow the program and work with graduate students, as well as reaching out to high school-level students to share what we do as archivists within the profession.”

Summer fellowship program brings researchers to Chicago

For more than a decade, the consortium has worked to preserve the archives of the African-American experience in Chicago while extending opportunities in the field for undergraduate and graduate students and offering research opportunities to scholars from around the world.

Researchers also can take advantage of the wealth of collections available at the consortium’s member institutions through a summer program that has supported 95 fellowships since 2008. Among the valuable resources held by consortium members are the Ida B. Wells Papers at the Special Collections Research Center at UChicago Library and the Harold Washington and Timuel D. Black Jr. papers at the Chicago Public Library.

One of this year’s fellows was Sonja Williams, a professor of communications at Howard University. Twenty years ago she produced a documentary for NPR on affirmative action in higher education, using UChicago as a case study. This past summer, she conducted archival research at UChicago on student experiences in the 1960s and 1970s when affirmative action policies were instituted at the University.

Williams said she benefited from the resources of several member institutions, including Special Collections at UChicago Library.

“Resource-wise it’s rich being able to have access and utilizing the minds of the archivists at the institutions,” Williams said. “Being able to collaborate and hear about projects from scholars and other fellows was fantastic.”

Yesomi Umolu, exhibitions curator at Logan Center, named artistic director of next Chicago Architecture Biennial

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 09:03 -0600

Yesomi Umolu, exhibitions curator at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, will serve as the artistic director of the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2019 edition, the Biennial and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on March 6.

With a background in architectural design and curatorial studies, Umolu focuses her work on global contemporary art and spatial practices. Her recent projects—including the exhibitions Kapwani Kiwanga: The sum and its parts, The Land Grant: Forest Law, and The Museum of Non Participation: The New Deal—have explored the politics of the built environment. A Chicago-based curator and writer, Umolu is a visiting lecturer, critic and speaker at a number of international universities and institutions.

“I am honored to be invited to serve as artistic director of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial,” said Umolu. “Having my roots in the field of architecture, spatial questions have always been an important consideration of my work with contemporary artists, architects and urbanists from across the world. I am excited to embark on the journey of engaging the city of Chicago and it publics, as well as visitors to Chicago from across the country and around the world, in these conversations.”

Jack Guthman, chairman of the Biennial, said Umolu’s “broad curatorial experience makes her ideally suited to build upon the critical acclaim accorded to our 2015 and 2017 Biennials by our dual constituencies—the architecture profession worldwide, as well as Chicagoans and visitors to our city.”

In the coming months, Umolu will formalize and convene an international curatorial team of creative practitioners with strong knowledge of visual arts, architecture and design practices globally. The members of the curatorial team will be announced this spring. Umolu’s vision for the next Chicago Architecture Biennial features the exploration of emerging practices and global locations that are developing new approaches to architecture, urbanism and spatial practice. Through this process, she will use the Biennial as a forum to explore creative responses to shifting spatial conditions at local, regional and international levels.

“Yesomi is a visionary curator with strong roots in Chicago, and she will work tirelessly to cultivate an incredible cultural, educational and economic event for the city,” said Emanuel. “With Yesomi at the helm, the third Chicago Architecture Biennial is sure to secure its reputation as the most innovative architectural, art and design showcase of its kind.”

“We are delighted by Yesomi Umolu’s appointment as the next artistic director of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. The appointment further testifies to the curatorial imagination and dexterity she has demonstrated so well at the Logan Center for the Arts,” said Daniel Diermeier, provost of the University of Chicago. “By consistently showcasing the best in architectural innovation—in a city renowned for its architectural achievements—the Biennial advances the conversation about the potential impact of design. That conversation is playing an increasing role at the University of Chicago, and it is vital, of course, to the future of Chicago’s South Side, as to cities around the world.”

Umolu was selected by a committee comprised of Chicago Architecture Biennial board members, as well as past artistic directors, who considered candidates from around the world and from a variety of disciplines. Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial artistic directors, said: “Umolu’s curatorial practice, which boldly, yet elegantly, traverses the fields of art and architecture, makes her uniquely situated for success in this role. The Biennial is a complex and multifaceted platform for exploring both the history and present-day challenges in the field, and we eagerly await the outcomes of Umolu’s curatorial inquiry and exploration.”

Now in its third edition, the Biennial will return Sept. 19, 2019 and run through Jan. 5, 2020.

Following a successful partnership in 2017, the opening of the 2019 edition will align with EXPO CHICAGO, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, and the main site of the Biennial will once again be the Chicago Cultural Center.

—Adapted from a Chicago Architecture Biennial news release.

Neurological study reveals cuttlefish have surprising control of skin spikes

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 12:29 -0600

Wouldn’t it be useful to suddenly erect 3-D spikes out of your skin, hold them for an hour, then even faster retract them and swim away? Octopus and cuttlefish can do this as a camouflage tactic, taking on a jagged outline to mimic coral or other marine hiding spots, then flattening the skin to jet away.

A new study clarifies the neural and muscular mechanisms that underlie this extraordinary defense tactic, conducted by scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory and the University of Cambridge. The study is published in iScience, a new interdisciplinary journal from Cell Press.

“The biggest surprise for us was to see that these skin spikes, called papillae, can hold their shape in the extended position for more than an hour, without neural signals controlling them,” said Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido, a lecturer in neuroscience at University of Cambridge and a former staff scientist at the MBL. This sustained tension, the team found, arises from specialized musculature in papillae that is similar to the “catch” mechanism in clams and other bivalves.

Papillae expression for camouflage in the giant Australian cuttlefish (Sepia apama). (Courtesy of Roger T. Hanlon)

“The catch mechanism allows a bivalve to snap its shell shut and keep it shut, should a predator come along and try to nudge it open,” said corresponding author Trevor Wardill, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge and a former staff scientist at the MBL. Rather than using energy to keep the shell shut, the tension is maintained by smooth muscles that fit like a lock-and-key, until a chemical signal (neurotransmitter) releases them. A similar mechanism may be at work in cuttlefish papillae, the scientists found.

Gonzalez-Bellido and Wardill began this study in 2013 in the laboratory of Roger Hanlon, an MBL senior scientist and the leading expert on cephalopod camouflage. Hanlon’s lab had been the first to describe the structure, function and biomechanics of skin-morphing papillae in cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), but their neurological control was unknown.

Hanlon suggested the team look for the “wiring” that controls papillae action in the cuttlefish. As reported here, they discovered a motor nerve dedicated exclusively to papillary and skin tension control that originates not in the brain, but in a peripheral nerve center called the stellate ganglion.

Surprisingly, they also found that the neural circuit for papillae action is remarkably similar to the neural circuit in squid that controls skin iridescence. Since cuttlefish don’t have tunable iridescence, and squid don’t have papillae, this finding raises interesting questions about the evolution and function of the neural circuit in different species.

Cuttlefish expressing papillae (Courtesy of Roger T. Hanlon)

“We hypothesize that the neural circuit for iridescence and for papillae control originates from a common ancestor to squid and cuttlefish, but we don’t know that yet. This is for future work,” Gonzalez-Bellido said.

“This research on neural control of flexible skin, combined with anatomical studies of the novel muscle groups that enable such shape-shifting skin, has applications for the development of new classes of soft materials that can be engineered for a wide array of uses in industry, society and medicine,” Hanlon said.

Citation: Gonzalez-Bellido, Paloma T., Alexis T. Scaros, Roger T. Hanlon and Trevor J. Wardill (2018) “Neural control of dynamic 3-dimensional skin papillae for cuttlefish camouflage.” iScience doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2018.01.001

Smart Museum of Art establishes Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 10:32 -0600

The Smart Museum of Art is launching a center focused on integrating object-driven inquiry throughout the University of Chicago.

The Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry will provide a new resource for UChicago students, artists and faculty across disciplines—from art history to the physical sciences. It will be a destination for scholars and community members to engage in interdisciplinary research, learning and conversations driven by the study and experience of original works of art.

An early goal of the Feitler Center will be to introduce every student in the College to the practice of close examination at original works of art through an expanded program of curricular visits to the Smart Museum’s study room, which accommodated 130 University class visits and more than 2,000 students in the 2016–2017 academic year.

“The arts play a distinct role in fulfilling the University of Chicago’s commitment to open discourse and rigorous inquiry as informed by a diversity of ideas, identities and experiences. The new Feitler Center will serve as a place for thinkers to come together to advance new understandings through an exchange of diverse perspectives and ideas via the lens of art objects and artistic practices,” said Alison Gass, the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum.

Named for Joan Feitler, AM’55, and Robert Feitler, Lab’45, X’50, and their family in recognition of their support of and service to the University and the arts, the new center will be led by newly appointed director Issa Lampe. Lampe comes to the Smart Museum from the Yale University Art Gallery, where she was the Bradley senior associate curator for academic affairs.

Lampe holds a PhD in the history of art and architecture from Harvard University. She began her career as an assistant professor of modern art history at The American University in Washington, D.C., before developing a professional interest in museum education for university audiences. She has served as associate museum director and senior director of academic and public engagement at Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, and taught courses at five universities.

“I’m thrilled to join the Smart Museum and look forward to building upon its 40-year legacy in the world of academic museums. The Smart has the distinction of being among the first generation of academic museums to receive a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in the 1990s. This generous gift from the Feitler family will enable us to develop additional programs to support the teaching and learning of faculty and students at the University of Chicago,” Lampe said.

The Feitlers are longtime supporters of UChicago and were instrumental in establishing the Smart Museum in memory of Joan’s uncles, David and Alfred Smart. In 2011, they received the University of Chicago Medal, which recognizes distinguished service of the highest order to the University.

“Our relationship with the Smart Museum goes back 50 years last fall, to when it was just a germ of an idea presented by President Edward Levi to the Smart Family Foundation,” recalled Bob Feitler. “As the Smart begins a new chapter under Ali’s leadership, Joan and I thought there could be no better way to inspire a new generation of students and scholars than to create a lasting home for active learning and study through the visual arts.”

The Feitler Center will build on a foundation of existing academic initiatives at the Smart Museum. They include more than two dozen faculty-curated thematic exhibitions based on the Smart’s collection and a number of related catalogues that featured essays by dozens of faculty members and first-ever publication credits for students. These academic programs began in 1992 with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and subsequently expanded through a series of endowment challenge grants.

Through the Feitler Center, an expanded exhibitions program will provide additional opportunities for faculty-curated exhibitions at the Smart Museum that are designed around the curriculum, student-curated exhibitions where students learn to advance their ideas through the museum, and major scholarly exhibitions that advance research in a particular area, accompanied by major publications. Other programs will integrate the study of objects into the curriculum across campus and will share faculty research with the Smart Museum’s broader public audiences.

“The Feitler Center will enable object-driven inquiry to thrive at the University. It will not only serve as a catalyst for rigorous scholarship in Art History, it will also serve as a forum for discussing methodological and theoretical questions across disciplines, from archaeology to musicology and literary history,” said Bill Brown, senior adviser to the provost for arts and the Karla Scherer Distinguished Service Professor in American culture. “As a scholar who has spent the bulk of my career calling attention to the material object world I could not be more pleased and proud that the Feitler Center will make the University of Chicago the go-to intellectual hub for pursuing this scholarly endeavor.”

UChicago names recipients of Diversity Leadership Awards

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 10:55 -0600

Advocating for the concerns of those whose voices aren't heard is a hallmark of diversity leadership. The University of Chicago’s 2018 Diversity Leadership Award recipients have dedicated their lives to helping support underrepresented communities: Faculty member Randolph N. Stone, alumna Sunny Fischer and staff member Scott Cook have their own areas of public service interests, but are united in their passion for equality and justice.

Regina Dixon-Reeves, assistant vice provost for diversity and inclusion, praised the commitment of this year’s awardees, who will be honored Jan. 16 during the University’s annual MLK commemoration. “We are extremely proud of this year’s recipients as their collective years of work and sustained engagement in support of marginalized populations demonstrates the inclusive excellence valued by the University of Chicago.”

Defending all communities

A lifelong advocate for the underrepresented, Clinical Professor of Law Randolph N. Stone is dedicated to supporting and representing disadvantaged individuals and groups in the Chicago area. As founder of the Criminal Juvenile Justice Project, he works with law and social work students to defend children and young adults who have been charged with criminal behavior, reform juvenile and criminal law policies, and improve the criminal justice system. He continues his child advocacy as a board member of the Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.

“We started the CJP because we wanted to help stop the movement to criminalize African-American children,” Stone said. “Illinois was a leader in transferring children out of juvenile court to the adult criminal court by curtailing judicial discretion, lowering the age of transfer, and increasing the number and types of crimes for transfer. Moving forward, we want to continue to help children and young adults be treated with compassion and fairness.”

In addition to working on programs devoted to fair child sentencing policies, Stone also serves on the advisory board of the Federal Defender Program and served on Chicago’s Police Accountability Task Force. Throughout his career Stone has mentored hundreds of minority students, chaired the American Bar Association’s criminal justice section and served as the public defender of Cook County, where he helped increase the number of minority and women lawyers hired to the office while improving the quality of representation.

Confronting stereotypes

Sunny Fischer, AM’82, has worked as a teacher, social worker and executive in philanthropy. After earning her master’s degree at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, she went on to work with abused women in the community. Learning how women-focused organizations were under-resourced, she helped start the women’s funding movement, serving as executive director of The Sophia Fund, the first private women’s foundation solely devoted to women’s issues. She also co-founded the Chicago Foundation for Women, and had leadership roles in the Women’s Funding Network and Chicago Women in Philanthropy.

Later in her career, Fischer served as executive director of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, where she focused on historic preservation, the arts, and architecture and design, especially in low-income neighborhoods. While at the foundation, Fischer helped start a public housing museum in Chicago. Fischer was enthusiastic about this opportunity, as it combines her commitment to social justice and the arts, and it challenges stereotypes of public housing residents and the role of public housing.

After 10 years of exhibits and programs as a “museum in the streets,” the National Public Housing Museum is expected to open in 2019 in its own building in Chicago. A former resident of public housing, Fischer knows how damaging stereotypes can be, and she hopes that the museum will raise important questions about race and poverty, and the true meaning of “home.”

Fischer reflects on her perseverance: “These years of labor have been worth it,” she said. “If you believe in social justice and that art and culture can bring deeper understanding and can be a call to action, then the belief is motivation enough.”

Bridging political and social gaps

A clinical psychologist who spent much of his life working to improve health care services for minority populations, Scott Cook works at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Biological Sciences Division to help achieve culturally competent health care and reducing health care disparities across all communities.

“Health care disparities are immediate for me because the physical and emotional suffering that they create harm the people that I love the most in this world—my family, community and friends,” said Cook, who is a quality improvement and clinical transformation strategist. “I try to use the power afforded to me by my privileged identities to address these problems and the problems of others in groups that I may not belong to.”

Cook also serves as the deputy director of Finding Answers: Solving Disparities Through Payment and Delivery System Reform, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation geared toward identifying and reducing health care inequities. Throughout his career, Cook has worked with underrepresented communities in rural Missouri, as an intern at Chicago Cook County Stroger Hospital and at the Howard Brown Health Center. At Howard Brown, Cook worked directly with the LGBTQ community to create health care programs and interventions, including a smoking cessation public health campaign.

At these organizations Cook said he “learned so much about how bias, discrimination and oppression play out in people’s lives and damage their health and well-being.” Cook uses this knowledge along with personal experiences to continue working toward health care equality.

Scientists dig deep in soil for data to improve agriculture, pollution

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 15:39 -0600

For as long as humans have been farming, they’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on below ground. Soil is incredibly complex—full of organisms, microbes and chemicals that move and change constantly—and it all feeds into crop health and the Earth’s nutrient cycles in ways that aren’t fully understood. But getting data was a problem, since this generally required taking soil samples and then analyzing them in the lab, which is slow and often expensive.

Recent advances in wireless data communications and the growing revolution of portable, cheap sensors have made it possible for UChicago scientists, including Profs. Monisha Ghosh and Supratik Guha, both affiliated with the Institute for Molecular Engineering, to start a pilot program to take real-time soil measurements—and they started in their own campus.

Their project, called the Thoreau sensor network, buried more than 30 sensing boxes in a variety of different locations around the UChicago campus. Each one is a cube about five inches square, containing four sensors that measure the soil’s water content, salt, temperature and water potential, the measure of how readily the soil holds or drains moisture. Twice an hour, a tiny radio transmitter and antenna—fully buried underground—sends a burst of data to the receiver, located atop the William Eckhardt Research Center.

For the hardware, they used commercial sensors that already exist. But there were a lot of questions about how the sensors might behave underground: Can the signals make it to the receivers above ground? Does the battery die faster? What happens to the machinery during freeze-thaw cycles?

“This test run provides us extremely helpful real-world data on how one could actually run a sensor network like this,” Ghosh said. “For example, the Chicago winter gave us some very helpful information.” (A few of the sensors didn’t survive last winter.)

There were also questions about whether the radio signals would be able to be transmitted from below the ground. The research team found that they could successfully transmit over distances of one and a half miles, even though the antennas were buried six to eight inches below the surface of the ground.

Wet soil appears to inhibit the signal, they said, but the biggest issue so far is battery life. The group of undergraduate students working on the project have been a big help, Ghosh said. “They’ve come up with some really excellent ideas for saving battery life,” including a low-power timer that puts the sensor to sleep in between its 30-minute wake-up calls.

Seasons of change

The land that is now the University of Chicago campus was once sand, marsh and prairie at the edge of Lake Michigan. Now it’s home to a network of streets, century-old buildings, quadrangles, athletic fields, flowerbeds and libraries. Each use has different impacts on the soil below—and these differences show up in the data.

The study is just underway, but Ghosh said they’ve seen some interesting trends and questions in their data. “For example, we believe we’re seeing patterns in how water leaves different types of soil after a rainfall,” she said, as well as moisture differences in the growing season versus the winter.

As a materials scientist, Guha is interested in the sensor hardware. He heads the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, where research on developing new capabilities for sensors is underway.

“For example, what we would really love to do is to make a sensor that can measure soil nitrates,” he said. This would provide a way to measure how much of the fertilizer that farmers apply to their soil gets to the plants. It’s thought that less than half of the nitrogen goes to plants; the rest of it likely washes off and pollutes rivers, lakes and oceans.

“There’s a lot we’d like to do,” Ghosh said. “Can we hook sprinklers up to receive input from our sensors? How far down is the right depth for the best data? How much can we extend the range of how far a sensor can be from the receiver? Can we boost the signal to reach from beneath paved areas or sidewalks?”

A complementary project is ongoing in India, testing the water quality of the Godavari River in southern India and how it reacts to weather, pollution, fishing and general use. In this case, a boat carries a mobile sensing platform equipped with GPS along the river every few days, enabling scientists to map the river chemistry.

“Those results have been spectacular,” Guha said. “We’re seeing that dynamic mapping of river water quality can accurately help pinpoint and assess pollution sources.”

Students get hands-on experience

The researchers discussed the results at a Nov. 1-2 workshop at UChicago for the emerging field of soil sensing, funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal was to share knowledge on the pursuit of better subterranean sensing networks by gathering experts from fields including microelectronics, machine learning and modeling, together with those who study the microbes and physics of soil directly.

The UChicago students who have worked on the Thoreau project said they were getting hands-on experience with sensors as well as programming.

Undergraduate students William Kent and Jacob Gold worked on the site’s website, including different ways for users to download the data. “We were given a ton of freedom and flexibility to plan out how we would convey that data,” said Gold, a third-year computer science major.

Kent, a second-year and molecular engineering major, agreed. “They tell us the user needs to be able to do this, and we figure out how to make it work. I don’t think a lot of our peers really get that creative license in their research projects,” he said. “I feel like we’re really creating something.”

Undergraduate student Arseniy Andreyev also designed and built much of the initial hardware, working with postdoctoral scientist Xufeng Zhang, Guha said.

Gretchen Crosby Sims appointed executive director at Institute of Politics

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 10:00 -0600

Gretchen Crosby Sims will be the new executive director at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, the institute announced today.

Sims is an accomplished leader in the fields of politics and public policy, reflecting her deep commitment to the values of service and civic engagement central to the IOP’s mission.

Most recently, she was a director at Social Finance UK, a leading impact investment consulting firm in London. Previously, she served as the chief program executive at Chicago’s Joyce Foundation, where she oversaw grant making programs in seven issue areas, ranging from education to gun violence prevention. She also served for six years on the board of the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.

“Gretchen’s rich background and obvious passion made her a splendid choice,” said IOP founder and director David Axelrod in announcing the appointment. “She’s an exceptional person who will bring great energy and vision to the IOP. I’m thrilled to welcome her.”

Sims succeeds Steve Edwards, who in August returned to Chicago public radio as vice president and chief content officer for WBEZ.

Since opening its doors in 2013, the non-partisan IOP has brought more than 1,000 speakers from across the political spectrum and around the globe to engage in thoughtful dialogue with UChicago students.

Each quarter, the IOP also hosts a roster of visiting fellows; distinguished practitioners in politics, policy, and journalism, who lead seminars and mentor students. The IOP has sent more than 800 students on life-changing internships in the U.S. and overseas and supported students in launching innovative and impactful civic engagement programs of their own conception.

“Now more than ever, our country needs thoughtful, talented leaders for its political and civic institutions,” Sims said. “The Institute is playing an extraordinary role in inspiring, informing and preparing the next generation of those leaders for public service, and I’m delighted to join David and the IOP team in January to continue and strengthen this work.”

Sims has also worked at the Council on Foreign Relations, CNN, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and as a policy adviser to presidential candidate Bill Bradley. She holds a BA in government from Harvard University as well as PhD and MA degrees in political science from Stanford University, where she won a departmental award for teaching excellence. She was selected as an inaugural Fellow of the Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education Program, created by the Aspen Institute and the New Schools Venture Fund.

Symposium connects diverse firms with University, South Side decision-makers

Fri, 15 Dec 2017 11:15 -0600

The promise of new opportunity was in the air for representatives of 230 minority- and women-owned firms attending the University of Chicago’s 2017 Professional Services Symposium reception.

“The symposium puts you in the room with key decision-makers,” said Diane Primo, CEO of Intralink Global, a digital integrated communications agency. “Anyone in business knows that’s a tough thing to do. It says a lot about the University’s commitment to put that kind of power in the room.”

Established in 2009, the two-day annual event helps minority and woman business owners make face-to-face contact with top leaders across many University departments. As a result, the University has established contracts with 70 minority- and women-owned firms with a focus on professional services, and has made high-level contacts with about 250 more. Such firms constitute one of the fastest growing portions of the economy, said Nadia Quarles, UChicago’s assistant vice president for business diversity. Quarles said the University has already retained a firm that participated in this year’s event.

“These diverse partnerships have provided talent, skills and innovation to support the University’s academic excellence,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “Cultivating a campus climate that welcomes people of all backgrounds is imperative for the work and the character of the University of Chicago.”

A national model

UChicago’s Office of Business Diversity annually invites 25 to 30 minority- and women-owned firms to make business presentations before heads of communications, financial services, legal, information technology and money management. The symposium is seen as a national model, said Quarles, because it provides a forum for business owners to build direct relationships with senior level decision-makers.

The finale of this year’s symposium was held in halls at the UChicago Laboratory Schools named after two highly successful minority entrepreneurs—filmmaker Gordon Parks and Ariel Investments CEO John Rogers Jr. It featured a networking reception and “fireside chat” with Connie Lindsey, Northern Trust’s executive vice president and head of corporate social responsibility, global diversity and inclusion; and William Von Hoene, senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Exelon Corp.

Lindsey and Hoene are co-chairs of the Obama Foundation’s Inclusion Council, whose responsibility is to ensure diversity and inclusion are considered at each level of the Obama Presidential Center’s development, from construction to professional relationships to employment. As an important University neighbor, the foundation was invited to participate in this year’s symposium, both to cultivate best practices and to establish relationships with diverse business owners.

Looking at the symposium’s high turnout, Hoene said: “This reflects the potential of our work, business and society. If we don’t seize the opportunity to have the talents of everyone recognized, appreciated and put on an even table, then we can never be successful. This is our key to success.”

The future landscape requires courage from top leaders to work for greater change in business, Lindsey said. “We can never stop seeking, knocking, asking and demanding our place at the table.”

“This year, we invited new firms and University leadership who haven’t been here before, and that keeps it exciting,” said Quarles. “Having the Obama Foundation in on meetings was also new and added to the excitement.”

“This is the largest crowd we ever had,” said Rogers, a trustee to the University of Chicago who has built the largest African-American-led money management firm in the country. “There’s a lot of energy and a buzz. It shows you that we are having results. People are busy. For them to come back year after year during the holiday season means that something really special is happening here at the University of Chicago. People are getting a real chance to do business.”

Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Obama, to join University of Chicago Law School

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 10:45 -0600

Valerie Jarrett, who served in a leadership role in the Obama administration as senior adviser to the President, will join the University of Chicago Law School as a distinguished senior fellow. Jarrett's appointment begins Jan. 1, 2018.

Jarrett will bring deep and wide-ranging experience in the legal profession and public policy to the University of Chicago community. She will work directly with students and faculty at the Law School and across the University, participating in academic seminars, conferences and student-led initiatives. Jarrett expects to continue her work on a variety of issues, including gender equality, criminal justice reform, health care and civic engagement.

“Valerie Jarrett’s experience in the White House, her understanding of issues in law, policy and public service, and her deep personal connections to the University of Chicago will bring extraordinary experience and perspective to our community,” said President Robert J. Zimmer. “I am pleased that her involvement in the Law School and across the University will provide our students, faculty and community at large the opportunity to learn from and with her, amplified by this rich experience and history.”

“I am both delighted and honored to return to the University of Chicago as a distinguished senior fellow, and embark on this new journey with the students, faculty and wider Chicago community. With a rich history, a world-class interdisciplinary program and a vibrant student experience, I can’t think of a better location to continue my own lifelong learning than the University of Chicago,” Jarrett said.

The appointment marks Jarrett’s return to the University of Chicago community. She previously served as vice-chair of the University’s Board of Trustees and chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She left those posts in 2009 for the White House, where she served for all eight years of the Obama administration.

Jarrett’s leadership experience comes from both the public and the private sectors. Her public service career began in 1987, when she went to work for Mayor Harold Washington as deputy corporation counsel for finance and development. She later served as deputy chief of staff to Mayor Richard Daley, as commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, and as chair of the Chicago Transit Board. Immediately before joining the Obama administration, Jarrett was the CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company.

She joined the University of Chicago Board of Trustees in 2001 and became vice-chairman in 2006. Her service on the Medical Center Board began in 1996; she became vice-chair in 2002 and chair in 2006. Jarrett has served on several corporate and civic boards, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Navigant Consulting, USG Corporation, the Museum of Science and Industry, and WTTW. She currently serves on the boards of Ariel Capital Management Holdings, Inc.; Lyft; and 2U, Inc. She is also a senior adviser to the Obama Foundation and ATTN:.

Jarrett served as co-chair of the Obama-Biden transition team, and then became the longest-serving senior adviser to President Barack Obama. She oversaw the White House Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. She also chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls and co-chaired the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

“We are thrilled to welcome Valerie Jarrett back to the University of Chicago,” said Thomas J. Miles, dean of the Law School and the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics. “Her extraordinary career, which encompasses legal practice and corporate leadership, as well as public service at both the local and highest national levels, is an inspiration to our students. Her deep expertise in many areas will be a tremendous resource for students and faculty alike.”

Jarrett and her family have deep roots in Hyde Park and at the University of Chicago. Her father, the late James Bowman, was professor in the Departments of Pathology and Medicine at the University and the first African-American to be tenured in the Division of Biological Sciences. Her mother, Barbara Bowman, AM’52, a widely respected leader in early-childhood education, taught at the Laboratory Schools while earning her graduate degree in education, and has a large extended family with roots in Hyde Park.

Jarrett attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school in Massachusetts. She earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Stanford University in 1978 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981. Her daughter, Laura Jarrett, is an alumna of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

Brian Baldea, associate director of athletics and longtime baseball coach, 1955-2017

Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:00 -0600

Brian Baldea, University of Chicago associate director of athletics and former head baseball coach, passed away Dec. 5 at the age of 62.

Baldea was in his 28th year serving within UChicago Athletics & Recreation. He spent 24 seasons leading the Maroons baseball team from 1991 through 2014.

At the helm of the Maroons, Baldea became the winningest baseball coach in the program’s 125-year history. His career record stands at 411-377-5. On April 28, 2007, he surpassed Amos Alonzo Stagg as the school’s all-time leader in baseball victories with 281. Baldea's teams compiled 14 winning seasons and nine campaigns with at least 20 wins.

UChicago’s greatest baseball success occurred under Baldea’s leadership. From 1996-98, the Maroons compiled three-straight 20-win seasons—a feat never before accomplished during the program’s previous 105 years of competition. His 2001 squad set a new school record for victories with a 26-8 mark. Over his final five years as a coach, the Maroons racked up 15 All-Region selections. Alumnus Mark Mosier was named to the all-America and academic all-America teams in 1997, and was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the Major League Baseball draft.

In his role as associate athletic director, Baldea worked alongside Athletic Director Erin McDermott on strategic initiatives. Baldea oversaw the fitness and wellness programs and personnel, including the FitChicago program, personal training, and strength and conditioning, as well as the sports information and promotions office. Additionally, he helped coordinate enrichment programming for student-athletes and managed athletic facilities rentals.

A Chicago native, Baldea attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in suburban Palos Hills. He earned his bachelor’s degree from North Park University in 1976, and his master’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1978.

Before his arrival on the Hyde Park campus, Baldea was an assistant baseball coach at Illinois State University for seven years. While at ISU, he spent five years as head coach of a franchise in a summer collegiate league sanctioned by the NCAA and financed by Major League Baseball for the purpose of developing and showcasing college players who exhibit professional potential. Baldea's clubs won four consecutive league championships, and he recruited and coached approximately 40 players who went on to sign professional contracts.

Visitation is scheduled for Dec. 9 from 4 to 9 p.m. at Thompson & Kuenster Funeral Home, 5570 W. 95th St. in suburban Oak Lawn.

—This story first appeared on the Athletics & Recreation website.

Paul K. Kearns appointed director of Argonne National Laboratory

Fri, 17 Nov 2017 09:45 -0600

Paul K. Kearns has been appointed director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. President Robert J. Zimmer announced the appointment in his capacity as chairman of the board of directors of UChicago Argonne LLC, which operates Argonne for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Kearns, who has served in multiple leadership roles in the national laboratory system and at the Department of Energy, is currently the interim director of Argonne. His appointment is effective immediately.

Kearns is the 14th director of Argonne, a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center that seeks scientific and engineering solutions to the grand challenges of our time: sustainable energy, a healthy environment and a secure nation.

“Paul has a strong record of leadership at laboratories across the country, and brings to Argonne a deep understanding of how to support and advance research and scientific discovery,” said Zimmer. “We look forward to working with him on an ambitious program of research in science and engineering that helps address critical challenges faced by society.”

The University of Chicago manages the laboratory for the Department of Energy through UChicago Argonne, LLC. Argonne was established in 1946 following the first sustained nuclear reaction conducted at the University as part of the Manhattan Project. Argonne was the first in a series of national laboratories funded to conduct scientific research in the nation’s interest.

Today, the laboratory’s mission is to lead discovery and to power innovation in a wide range of energy and scientific priorities—from fundamental research on physics, computing and chemistry to cutting-edge applications for batteries and energy storage, security and sustainable energy analysis, and innovation.

The laboratory works closely with UChicago in these areas as well as such emerging priorities as quantum computing, microbiome research, sensing and detecting, and water research.

Kearns will lead the laboratory as it pursues the next generation of science. Such work includes bringing the nation to the next level of supercomputing power—called “exascale”—by the year 2021, and new initiatives in materials science and chemistry. Argonne is in the process of upgrading the brightness and energy of the Advanced Photon Source, the laboratory’s powerful X-ray synchrotron, where thousands of scientists annually conduct research across a wide-range of fields.

Kearns joined Argonne in 2010 as its chief operations officer. During his career at Argonne, he has helped drive and increase collaboration to advance Argonne’s most critical initiatives and expanded engagement with the University and its Institute for Molecular Engineering. He also has streamlined operations for efficiency, which improved execution and delivery of services. He also has worked to increase collaboration across the laboratory, as well as strengthen relationships and raise the laboratory’s visibility with sponsors and partners.

Kearns’ appointment was informed by a panel of distinguished leaders and scientists, chaired by Eric D. Isaacs, UChicago executive vice president for research, innovation and national laboratories and a former director of Argonne. Kearns became interim director in January after then-Laboratory Director Peter Littlewood stepped down to assume a faculty position at the University of Chicago.

Prior to joining Argonne, Kearns served as the laboratory director of Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and held a series of roles at Battelle Global Laboratory Operations. At Battelle, he conducted strategic planning and business development for research activities in energy, environment and national security.

Kearns holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in bionucleonics, and a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and environmental sciences, all from Purdue University. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Nuclear Society and the Society for Conservation Biology.

UChicago and U.S. Army Research Laboratory cut ribbon on ARL Central

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 11:10 -0600

The University of Chicago and the United States Army Research Laboratory held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the recently announced partnership between the organizations, and to observe Veterans Day with distinguished guests and elected officials.

The ceremony on Nov. 10 followed the Army Research Lab’s announcement in October of ARL Central, a new regional headquarters for research and technology development, to be based at the University's Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Hyde Park. Friday’s event included Ryan McCarthy, Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, and other leaders from the University of Chicago and ARL.

The rapidly expanding and robust innovation ecosystem on Chicago’s South Side helped attract the interest of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, which was looking to establish a new presence in the Midwest. ARL Central is designed to leverage expertise throughout the region by partnering with the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratories and several leading universities to accelerate discovery, innovation and the transition of science and technology.

“Our partnership with the Army Research Lab, and the establishment of ARL Central out of our campus, will bring the research and development capabilities of ARL to Chicago for the first time,” said Eric D. Isaacs, executive vice president for research, innovation and national laboratories at the University of Chicago. “It will allow ARL researchers to interact in new ways with leading scientists at the University of Chicago—as well as with faculty and researchers at our collaborating universities in the areas of materials and data sciences.”

ARL Central is part of the Army’s Open Campus program—an initiative building a science and technology ecosystem that will encourage groundbreaking advances in basic and applied research areas relevant to the Army. Like ARL West, which was established at the University of Southern California in April 2016 and ARL South, which was established with the University of Texas Systems earlier this year, ARL Central will allow faculty and researchers from UChicago to work alongside and in collaboration with ARL researchers on new discoveries that will help the Army solve current and future challenges.

“Today’s ribbon cutting marks the day we linked the ARL research web with the research powerhouse which is the University of Chicago,” said McCarthy.

“The Polsky Center will surely provide the backdrop needed to enhance our collaborative endeavors as we continue to perform research needed to bring technology options for new capabilities,” said Dr. Philip Perconti, director of the Army Research Laboratory. “This ribbon cutting will signify our new partnerships so that we can quickly get to work on the next discovery for innovation that will be a game-changer for the U.S. Army and the United States.”

In addition to the relationship with University of Chicago, ARL Central will involve many of the region’s other universities, including Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin. Representatives from those institutions were present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the city of Chicago, a tremendous opportunity for the South Side of Chicago, and a tremendous opportunity to address some very serious challenges—and take those challenges and make them new businesses and new ventures,” said Emanuel at Friday’s event.

“I believe that we have some of the greatest universities in the world within easy reach of the city of Chicago,” said Durbin. “And working with the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense, their research is not only going to keep America safe, but it will keep our economy strong.”

Additional guests included veteran entrepreneurs who have worked closely with the Polsky Center. They spoke with McCarthy about both their military service and current startup experiences. Veterans included Phillip Lange (Marines), Chief Technology Officer of Conduit Labs, Kimberly Jung (Army) and Keith Alaniz, MBA’18, (Army) of Rumi Spice, Daniel Rogers, MBA’13, (Army), co-founder of A.M. Money, and Corey Ritter, current Chicago Booth student, Army Reservist and instructor in UChicago’s ROTC program.

ARL Central will be based at the new Polsky Center innovation complex in Hyde Park, which was announced in June as a new project in partnership with Wexford Science and Technology. The project, expected to begin next year, is the second phase of the Harper Court redevelopment and will be a 270,000 square foot facility featuring lab and office space for researchers, industry partners and entrepreneurs to collaborate in the areas of data analytics and advanced materials. For the time being, ARL Central will operate out of the Polsky Center’s existing Polsky Exchange South building on 53rd Street.

“The Polsky Center is expanding its footprint on Chicago’s South Side to equip more innovators, community entrepreneurs and academic researchers with the resources they need to deliver high impact products, technologies and solutions,” said John Flavin, associate vice president for entrepreneurship and innovation and head of the Polsky Center. “We look forward to working closely with ARL and all the partner universities involved in ARL Central on joint projects and technologies that will bring the very best minds together in a collaborative way.”

Dieter Roelstraete appointed curator of Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society

Thu, 09 Nov 2017 12:45 -0600

Dieter Roelstraete, an internationally renowned curator of contemporary art, has been named the next curator of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society.

In his new role, effective November 10, Roelstraete will oversee all aspects of the Neubauer Collegium Exhibitions Gallery, working with the University arts community as well as with arts organizations in the city of Chicago and around the world.

Roelstraete joins the Neubauer Collegium after serving on the curatorial team that organized documenta 14, the international art exhibition that ran this past spring and summer in Kassel, Germany, and Athens, Greece. Widely hailed as a significant statement about the relevance and aesthetic concerns of the contemporary art world, the show brought together work by 160 artists at more than 80 sites.

The move is a return to Chicago for Roelstraete. Prior to his work with documenta 14, he served as the Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago from 2012 to 2015. During his time there, Roelstraete organized and co-organized a number of highly regarded shows, including The Way of the Shovel: Art as Archaeology (2015); The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now (2015), which told the story of a radical group of jazz artists from the South Side of Chicago; and Kerry James Marshall: Mastry (2016), a retrospective of the acclaimed Chicago-based artist that traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2011 Roelstraete was a curator at the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, where he organized large-scale group exhibitions as well as monographic shows.

“Dieter is one of the most creative and thoughtful curators at work today,” said Jonathan Lear, the Roman Family Director of the Neubauer Collegium. “His work exemplifies how artistic expression and humanistic research can meld together and support each other. I am looking forward to working with him, and I am eager to see how he’ll make use of the freedom our gallery affords.”

One of the Neubauer Collegium’s three key initiatives, alongside faculty-led collaborative research projects and a global visiting fellows program, the gallery presents both historical and contemporary art in support of the Neubauer Collegium’s mission to explore novel approaches to complex human questions. In its first two years of operation, the gallery has hosted 11 idea-driven exhibitions that reflect the productive interplay between visual arts practice and scholarly inquiry. Several shows have been curated as part of a campus-wide set of related exhibitions.

“After spending three years working on what is effectively the largest art exhibition in the world—a hugely complex and impossibly expansive affair—I am excited to start working in a much more concentrated, in-depth fashion. Curating in a beautiful, humanly sized space at the University of Chicago will both allow and require that,” Roelstraete said. “I am a long-standing advocate for the idea of art as a form of research and knowledge production, and I cannot think of a more welcoming home to further develop these intuitions in concert with the great minds that people the wilds of Hyde Park.”

In addition to joining the Neubauer Collegium, Roelstraete will co-teach a course this winter with acclaimed artist Assoc. Prof. William Pope.L. as Mellon Collaborative Fellow in Arts Practice and Scholarship at the Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. The course, titled “Art and Knowledge,” will extend their documenta 14 collaboration (also supported by the Gray Center) to explore the different types of knowledge art can produce. Roelstraete will pursue further teaching within the Department of Art History in the Humanities Division starting in the 2018-2019 academic year.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled by Dieter’s appointment. He joins an extraordinary group of internationally known curators working across the arts institutions at the University of Chicago,” said Alison Gass, the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum of Art. “This hire will benefit UChicago Arts and further advance the University’s commitment to arts scholarship and practice and curatorial excellence.”

The exhibitions program at the Neubauer Collegium will continue to play a vital role in advancing UChicago Arts’ commitment to visual arts exhibition, alongside colleagues at the Arts and Public Life’s Arts Incubator, Booth School of Business’ Contemporary Art Collection, the University Library’s Special Collections Research Center, Logan Center Exhibitions, the Oriental Institute, the Renaissance Society and the Smart Museum of Art.

Roelstraete succeeds Jacob Proctor, the Neubauer Collegium’s inaugural curator, who is pursuing international opportunities from his new home base in New York City. “The gallery as it stands today is very much a reflection of Jacob’s extraordinary talent and vision,” Lear said. “He has given us a remarkable foundation on which Dieter can build.”

The Neubauer Collegium’s current exhibition, Terence Gower’s Havana Case Study, runs through Jan. 26. Roelstraete is conducting research for his first exhibition as curator, tentatively scheduled to open next spring.

Daniel S. Follmer, director of College Admissions, 1982-2017

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 09:50 -0600

Daniel S. Follmer, deputy dean and director of College Admissions at the University of Chicago, died of cancer on Nov. 4 at the age of 34.

Follmer joined the University in 2008 and was highly regarded by colleagues, students and families alike. Those close to him said his work reflected a passion for increasing access to higher education for students from underrepresented communities, enthusiasm for the liberal arts and enduring curiosity.

“He will be remembered for his kindness, his integrity and his great respect for the humanity in every person,” said Follmer’s brother, Max Follmer.

Follmer was responsible for daily operations in College Admissions, and played a key role in designing and implementing strategy. That approach included a more personalized outreach to prospective students, expanded scholarship opportunities for low-income families and a comprehensive professional development program for admissions counselors.

In addition, through his personal admissions recruiting efforts in the Manhattan borough of New York City, Follmer built relationships with thousands of students, families, teachers and college counselors. His work contributed to the College’s dramatic increase in applications and the number of students who view UChicago as their first choice.

“Daniel was especially passionate about helping his staff establish long and successful careers in admissions and higher education,” said James G. Nondorf, vice president of Enrollment and Student Advancement and dean of College Admissions and Financial Aid. “He served as a friend and mentor to several cohorts of College Admissions counselors at UChicago. He leaves a formidable legacy, and we will miss him greatly.”

A lifelong resident of Hyde Park, Follmer was one of many family members with deep connections to UChicago. Survivors include his wife, Jessica Rhoades; his parents, Anita Samen and David Follmer, AM’66; brother, Max Follmer; and sister, Sarah Follmer, AB’05.

A memorial service will be held on campus in Daniel Follmer’s honor at 11 a.m. Nov. 8 in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

Octopus skin inspires engineers to develop programmable ‘camouflaging’ material

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 14:00 -0500

For the octopus and cuttlefish, instantaneously changing their skin color and pattern to disappear into the environment is just part of their camouflage prowess. These animals can also swiftly and reversibly morph their skin into a textured, 3-D surface, giving the animal a ragged outline that mimics seaweed, coral or other objects it detects and uses for camouflage.

This week, engineers at Cornell University report on their invention of stretchable surfaces with programmable 3-D texture morphing, a synthetic “camouflaging skin” inspired by studying and modeling the real thing in octopus and cuttlefish. The engineers, along with collaborator and cephalopod biologist Roger Hanlon of the Marine Biological Laboratory, report on their controllable soft actuator in the Oct. 13 issue of Science.

Led by James Pikul and Rob Shepherd, the team’s pneumatically activated material takes a cue from the 3-D bumps, or papillae, that cephalopods can express in one-fifth of a second for camouflage, and then retract to swim away with minimal hydrodynamic drag.

A live Octopus rebescens expressing its skin papillae. (Copyright Grayson Hanlon)

“Lots of animals have papillae, but they can’t extend and retract them instantaneously as octopus and cuttlefish do,” said Hanlon, who is the leading expert on cephalopod dynamic camouflage. “These are soft-bodied molluscs without a shell; their primary defense is their morphing skin.”

Papillae are examples of a muscular hydrostat, biological structures consisting of muscle with no skeletal support (such as the human tongue). Hanlon and members of his laboratory, including Justine Allen, now at Brown University, were the first to describe the structure, function and biomechanics of these morphing 3-D papillae in detail.

“The development of this material is an excellent example of the applications that can derive from studying the fundamental biology of marine organisms,” said MBL Director of Research David Mark Welch.

“The degrees of freedom in the papillae system are really beautiful,” Hanlon said. “In the European cuttlefish, at least nine sets of papillae are independently controlled by the brain. And each papilla goes from a flat, 2-D surface through a continuum of shapes until it reaches its final shape, which can be conical or one of a dozen possible shapes. It depends on how the muscles in the hydrostat are arranged.”

“Engineers have developed a lot of sophisticated ways to control the shape of soft, stretchable materials, but we wanted to do it in a simple way that was fast, strong and easy to control,” said lead author James Pikul, currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. “We were drawn by how successful cephalopods are at changing their skin texture, so we studied and drew inspiration from the muscles that allow cephalopods to control their texture, and implemented these ideas into a method for controlling the shape of soft, stretchable materials.”

“This is a classic example of bio-inspired engineering” with a range of potential applications, Hanlon said. For example, the material could be controllably morphed to reflect light in its 2-D spaces and absorb light in its 3-D shapes. “That would have applications in any situation where you want to manipulate the temperature of a material,” he said.

Octopuses and cuttlefish only express papillae for camouflage purposes, Hanlon said, and not for locomotion, sexual signaling or aggression. “For fast swimming, the animal would benefit from smooth skin. For sexual signaling, it wouldn’t want to look like a big old wart; it wants to look attractive, like a cool-looking mate. Or if it wanted to conduct a fight, the papillae would not be a good visual to put into the fight. Signaling, by definition, has to be highly conspicuous, unambiguous signals. The papillae would only make it the opposite.”

Citation: J.H. Pikul, S. Li, H. Bai, R.T. Hanlon, I. Cohen and R.F. Shepherd (2017) Stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing for synthetic camouflage skins. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aan5627

—Article originally appeared on the Marine Biological Laboratory website

Most Americans want government to combat climate change, poll finds

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 16:12 -0500

The largest shares of Americans say they oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. The number of people who say they favor fracking more than doubles when presented with evidence that it will save them money on utility bills.

Sixty-one percent of Americans think climate change is a problem that the government needs to address, including 43 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats, according to a new survey from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those numbers are even higher when only those who believe in climate change are asked. Seven in 10 Republicans and nearly all Democrats who believe climate change is happening think that the government needs to take action. When asked about key climate policy decisions, the largest shares of Americans say they oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.

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Climate Change Survey

While many Americans favor policies that would help the country lower emissions, questions on how much they would personally be willing to pay to confront climate change (in the form of a monthly fee on their electric bill) reveal great disparity. While half are unwilling to pay even one dollar, 18 percent are willing to pay at least $100 per month.

“These results put the polarized climate debate in sharp relief, but also point to the possibility of a path forward,” said Michael Greenstone, director of EPIC and the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics, the College and Harris Public Policy at the University of Chicago. “Although half of households said they were unwilling to pay anything for a carbon policy in their monthly electricity bills, on average Americans would pay about $30 per month, as a meaningful share of households report that they are willing to pay a substantial amount. What is particularly striking is that it’s projected to cost less than $30 per person to pay for climate damages from the electricity sector.”

“So, while the raw economics appears to be less and less of a problem," Greenstone added, "the open question is whether it is feasible to devise a robust climate policy that accommodates these very divergent viewpoints.”

The survey also reveals new insights into how Americans view hydraulic fracturing. The number of people who say they favor fracking more than doubles when presented with evidence that it will save them money, while fewer change their opinion on fracking when presented with environmental or health arguments. Specifically, Americans’ support for fracking jumps from 17 percent to 41 percent when presented with evidence that it will save them $250 annually on their personal natural gas bill. Meanwhile, the 41 percent who initially said they opposed fracking increased to 51 percent and 58 percent, respectively, when presented with health and environmental arguments against it.

“Public opinion around many energy issues tends to be fluid, with people often defaulting to partisan starting points. But this survey shows an opportunity for consensus building through discussion and debate,” said Trevor Tompson, director of The AP-NORC Center. “Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree that climate change is happening, and there are signs that consensus could happen on other issues, too.”

Additional findings from the survey include:

Seventy-two percent of Americans believe climate change is happening, including 85 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans. Nineteen percent remain unsure.
Political party and belief in climate change are the main determinants of whether people are willing to pay a modest fee to combat climate change, as opposed to education, income, or geographic location. Democrats are consistently willing to pay more than Republicans.
Fifty-seven percent support actions taken by some mayors and governors to honor the goals of the Paris climate agreement despite U.S. withdrawal, and 55 percent think their state and local government should do more to address climate change. A third say they should stick to the status quo.
Climate change and energy policy are very or extremely important to 48 percent and 54 percent of Americans, respectively, while at least two-thirds say health care, the economy, and terrorism are important policy priorities.
Thirty-five percent oppose the direction of energy policy in the United States, while 45 percent lack an opinion and only 17 percent support the direction. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor the direction of energy policy, but they are most likely to lack an opinion.
Roughly equal shares of Americans favor, oppose, and neither favor nor oppose the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.
Forty percent of Americans oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which the Trump administration is reviewing. Thirty-seven percent lack an opinion, while just 20 percent favor its repeal.
More Americans lack an opinion on the use of fracking in the United States than support it: 37 percent neither favor nor oppose fracking, 17 percent favor it, and 41 percent oppose it.
An equal number of Americans either support or lack an opinion on the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, while the largest number opposes withdrawal: 42 percent oppose it, 28 percent support it, and 28 percent neither support nor oppose withdrawal. Half of those who support withdrawal say the agreement was too costly for the United States.

—Story first appeared on the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago website.

Exhibit illustrates magical powers of Book of the Dead in ancient Egypt

Fri, 22 Sep 2017 09:00 -0500

In ancient Egypt, you did not go to the afterlife empty-handed. The Book of the Dead, a collection of spells and charms, was there to guide you.

Starting Oct. 3, visitors to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago will have a unique opportunity to peruse copies of the Book of the Dead: Two 2,200-year-old papyri, each more than 30 feet long and beautifully illustrated with texts and images. They are on display in their entirety for the first time at a museum, accompanied by the mummy of a woman who lived over 2,000 years ago, as well as statues, stelae, scarabs, magic bricks, ushabtis (small funerary figurines) and other artifacts.

“The exhibition demonstrates how the ancient Egyptians developed the Book of the Dead to address humanity’s mortal anxiety,” said Foy Scalf, curator of the exhibit. “They believed the Book of the Dead was imbued with magical power, and when this magical power was combined with the appropriate funerary rituals, each individual could become an immortal god in the afterlife and take on the identity of Osiris, the god of the dead.” (An elegant statue of Osiris greets visitors as they enter the exhibit.)

The exhibit presents 76 artifacts that demonstrate how religious beliefs shaped the lives and material culture in Egypt over a period of more than 2,000 years (from 2500 B.C. to 100 A.D). Most are from the permanent collection of the Oriental Institute, whose museum holds the Chicago area’s largest collection of Egyptian art and artifacts, as well as galleries devoted to the other cultures of the ancient Middle East.

A central feature of the exhibit is an enclosure featuring the mummy of an ancient Egyptian woman from the city of Akhmim. In the display, she is surrounded by mortuary objects inscribed with Book of the Dead spells—typical for an Egyptian burial chamber, where multiple copies of the same spells could be found. Long strips of linen inscribed with Book of the Dead spells reveal how ancient Egyptian priests wrapped the Book of the Dead around the body to protect it within an amuletic cocoon of powerful religious texts.

The two Book of the Dead papyri on display, from two different regions of Egypt, were painstakingly hand-produced by a team of skilled scribes and illustrators. Seeing the papyri laid out end-to-end makes their compilation starkly apparent, the curators said; each Book of the Dead papyrus is not a single book at all, but a collection of shorter spells compiled together in a single manuscript.

“The ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead has often been described as a ‘map’ of the next world, but in reality, it is much more than that,” said Scalf. “Copies of the Book of the Dead could have as few as one spell, or as many as 165. The content in these spells covers many facets of the Egyptians’ spirituality: the existence of the soul, what awaits us in the afterlife, how will we be judged, the nature of god, and the continued relationship with friends and family on Earth.

“What we discover is that the Book of the Dead is actually about eternal life, not death,” he said.

The Field Museum of Natural History has loaned several rarely displayed objects, including several limestone blocks inscribed with large Book of the Dead spells from the tomb of a man named Bakenrenef, as well as a papyrus inscribed with a composition known as the First Book of Breathing. Over the course of the second and first centuries B.C., the Book of the Dead was largely abandoned in favor of the Books of Breathing; they represent the last documents in a tradition of funerary literature stretching back more than 2,500 years.

“What we discover is that the Book of the Dead is actually about eternal life, not death.” Foy Scalf, exhibit curator

“Exhibit curator Foy Scalf has done a truly remarkable job in creating a tightly conceived exhibit that explores the Book of the Dead in all of its complexity—the fullness of its religious, cultural and archaeological contexts, as well as its development, use and production,” said Chris Woods, director of the Oriental Institute.

A companion catalog contains essays by 13 prominent scholars with expertise in religion and the use of funerary literature in ancient Egypt. It includes complete photographic documentation of the two Book of the Dead papyri from the Oriental Institute in color for the first time.

“Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt” runs from Oct. 3, 2017 to March 31, 2018 at the museum, located at 1155 E. 58th St. The exhibit is supported by Misty and Lewis Gruber and by members of the Oriental Institute.

Photo and video available for media upon request; contact louise@uchicago.edu.