People

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign each year presents Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction to exceptional faculty and staff members, graduate teaching assistants and advisers campuswide. This year’s recipients, two of which are from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), are being honored at a ceremony. 

Black Americans experience racial discrimination as a chronic stressor that influences their quality of life. But it exists in conjunction with other social factors that may modify the impact in various ways. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how discrimination, gender, and social class affect individual well-being and relationship quality for Black Americans.

Valentine’s Day is here and plenty of couples are celebrating, but for some, chocolate is their one true love. Elvira de Mejia, professor of food science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), investigates the health benefits of dark, white, milk, and even Valentine’s Day chocolates.

After serving as the interim director for nine months, Kelly Swanson has been named director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences (DNS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, starting Feb. 1.

Every year, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has the honor of recognizing several outstanding ACES alumni for their achievements. Alumni Award recipients are chosen in the categories of Outstanding Young Alumni, Career Achievement, Award of Merit, and ACES Family Spirit.

URBANA, Ill. — For University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students Saira Cruz and Mercedes Saavedra, majoring in animal sciences is making their dream careers possible. Thanks to a new partnership between the Department of Animal Sciences at U. of I.

Professor Elizabeth Olson will serve as the first associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Olson’s tenure will begin on Jan. 16, 2024, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. 

After five trailblazing years, the Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a new executive director, John Reid, who plans to support CDA’s growth across all dimensions of use-inspired research, translation of research into practice, and education and workforce development. 

Natural resource management decisions in protected areas impact more than the wildlife and landscapes they’re charged to conserve. They also affect neighbors, who could otherwise hunt, build, or recreate as they choose on their own land. For decades, community members primarily voiced their opinions through brief and impersonal public comment periods. But an initiative led by environmental social scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is putting a new spin on neighborly communication. 

URBANA, Ill. —The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been a leader in agricultural education since its founding, turning out scores of teachers who inspire the next generation. Now, an ACES alumnus has helped revitalize agricultural education in his local district with the development of an agriculture education building and program at Meridian High School in Macon, Illinois.