Bill Tarter likes to say he grew up a Southern Illinois farm boy. The oldest of nine in a tight-knit Irish Catholic family, he found money was scarce, but opportunity was not.

His parents, both high school graduates, fostered an environment that encouraged their children to participate in 4-H, FFA, school plays, band and anything else that expanded their world.

“We didn’t have a penny, but neither did anyone else,” he said. “We didn’t know you were supposed to have money. We just knew you were supposed to work hard and show up.”

Dakoda Maguire, a senior in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Robert M. Harrison Leadership Award.

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is redefining educational access with the launch of ACES 102: Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems. Approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and debuting this fall, the course marks the first dual-credit class offered by the Urbana campus. 

When students enroll in Agricultural and Consumer Economics 241: Advanced Personal Finance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, many expect a traditional course with many lectures and challenging tests. But what they find instead is an immersive, practical experience designed to strengthen financial literacy and prepare them for the real world. A component of the course that makes it different from others is the Action Learning Project. Students are then able to apply classroom concepts to benefit communities beyond campus.

Eight undergraduates from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) have been selected to participate in an on-campus, paid internship program to pursue work related to global food and nutritional security. 

“This is essentially a paid research experience to work in a lab for an ACES professor,” says Lauren Karplus, assistant director of international programs for ACES, who manages the internship program. 

The Illini Pullers, a registered student organization at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received a generous donation of software from Simma Software, Inc. to help the student team build safer, more advanced tractors for competition and learning.