University of Warwick And University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

The University of Warwick (informally known as Warwick University or Warwick) is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education and Warwick Medical School was opened in 2000(SONY PCG-5G2L battery).

Warwick is primarily located on a 290 hectare campus on the outskirts of Coventry, with an additional site in Wellesbourne. It is organised into four faculties - Arts, Medicine, Science and Social Sciences - within which there are approximately 30 departments. Warwick has around 23,400 full-time students and 1,390 academic and research staff and had a total income of £419.1 million in 2010/11(SONY PCG-5G3L battery), of which £86.3 million came from research grants and contracts.

Warwick describes itself as a "research-led institution" and in the last Research Assessment Exercise was ranked seventh in the UK amongst multi-faculty institutions. Warwick currently regularly ranks in the top ten in all major rankings of British universities[5] and entrance is highly competitive, with around nine applicants per place. Warwick is the second most-targeted university in the UK by top employers(SONY PCG-F305 battery).

Warwick is a member of AACSB, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Association of MBAs, EQUIS, the European University Association, the Russell Group and Universities UK.

Warwick banner on University Road

The idea for a university in Warwickshire was first mooted shortly after the Second World War, but it was a bold and imaginative partnership of the city and the county which brought the university into being on a 400-acre (1.6 km2) site jointly granted by the two authorities. (SONY PCG-5J1L battery)There was some discussion between local sponsors from both the city and county over whether it should be named after Coventry or Warwickshire.[8] The name "University of Warwick" was adopted, even though the County Town of Warwick itself lies some 8 miles (13 km) to its southwest and Coventry's city centre is only 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northeast of the campus(SONY PCG-5J2L battery). The establishment of the University of Warwick was given approval by the government in 1961 and received its Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1965. Since then, the university has incorporated the former Coventry College of Education in 1979 and has extended its land holdings by the continuing purchase of adjoining farm land. The university also benefited from a substantial donation from the family of Jack Martin, which enabled the construction of the Warwick Arts Centre(SONY PCG-5K2L battery).

The university initially admitted a small intake of graduate students in 1964 and took its first 450 undergraduates in October 1965. Since its establishment Warwick has expanded its grounds to 721 acres (2.9 km2) with many modern buildings and academic facilities, lakes and woodlands. In the 1960s and 1970s, Warwick had a reputation as a politically radical institution. (SONY PCG-5L1L battery) More recently, the University was seen as a favoured institution of the Labour government which was in power from 1997 to 2010. It was academic partner for a number of flagship Government schemes including the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and the NHS University (now defunct). Tony Blair described Warwick as "a beacon among British universities for its dynamism, quality and entrepreneurial zeal"(SONY PCG-6S2L battery).

The Leicester Warwick Medical School, a new medical school based jointly at Warwick and Leicester University, opened in September 2000.

On the recommendation of Tony Blair, Bill Clinton chose Warwick as the venue for his last major foreign policy address as US President in December 2000. Sandy Berger, Clinton’s National Security Advisor, explaining the decision in his Press Briefing on 7 December 2000(SONY PCG-6S3L battery), said that: "Warwick is one of Britain's newest and finest research universities, singled out by Prime Minister Blair as a model both of academic excellence and independence from the government." In his speech Clinton covered a number of issues, including Third World debt relief, fighting infectious diseases such as AIDS, basic education rights, and the "digital divide"(SONY PCG-6V1L battery), which he summarized as the new development agenda for the 21st century. Clinton was accompanied by his wife Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton. During his visit, he planted a Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) sapling outside Senate House, the (then) university administration block.

21st century

University Hospital Coventry, which opened in 2006 and is home to the clinical services activities of Warwick Medical School(SONY PCG-6W1L battery).

In February 2001, IBM donated a new S/390 computer and software worth £2 million to Warwick, to form part of a "Grid" enabling users to remotely share computing power.[18] In April 2004 Warwick merged with the Wellesbourne and Kirton sites of Horticulture Research International.[19] In July 2004 Warwick was the location for an important agreement between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions on Labour policy and trade union law(SONY PCG-7111L battery), which has subsequently become known as the "Warwick Agreement".

In June 2006 the new University Hospital Coventry opened, including a 102,000 sq ft university clinical sciences building. Warwick Medical School was granted independent degree-awarding status in 2007, and the School's partnership with the University of Leicester was dissolved in the same year(SONY PCG-71511M battery). In February 2010, Lord Bhattacharyya, director and founder of the WMG unit at Warwick, made a £1 million donation to the university to support science grants and awards.

In February 2012 Warwick and Melbourne-based Monash University announced the formation of a strategic partnership, including the creation of 10 joint senior academic posts, new dual master's and joint doctoral degrees, and co-ordination of research programmes. (SONY PCG-6W3L battery) In March 2012 Warwick and Queen Mary, University of London announced the creation of a strategic partnership, including research collaboration, joint teaching of English, history and computer science undergraduates, and the creation of eight joint post-doctoral research fellowships.

In April 2012 it was announced that Warwick would be only European university participating in the Center for Urban Science and Progress(SONY PCG-7113L battery), an applied science research institute to be based in New York consisting of an international consortium of universities and technology companies led by NYU and NYU-Poly. In August 2012, Warwick and four other Midlands-based universities - the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, Loughborough University and the University of Nottingham - formed the M5 Group(SONY PCG-7133L battery), a regional bloc intended to maximise the member institutions' research income and enable closer collaboration.[30]

Campus

Warwick is located on the outskirts of Coventry, 5.5 km (3.4 mi) southwest of the city centre (and not in the town of Warwick as its name suggests). The university's main site comprises three contiguous campuses, all within walking distance of each other. The university also owns a site in Wellesbourne, acquired in 2004 when it merged with Horticulture Research International(SONY PCG-7Z1L battery).

In a 2005 survey of UK university students by Opinionpanel, Warwick was voted as having the best campus of any British university.

Main campus

Recently constructed buildings on the main Warwick campus; (left to right) the International Manufacturing Centre (IMC), the Department of Computer Science (DCS), and the Zeeman Building (Maths and Statistics) (SONY PCG-7Z2L battery)  .

The main Warwick campus occupies a 2.8 km2 site straddling the boundary between the City of Coventry and the County of Warwickshire. The original buildings of the campus are in contemporary 1960s architecture, a style chosen in deliberate contrast to the medieval, classical, or "red brick" character of older British universities(SONY PCG-8Y1L battery). The campus contains all of the main student amenities, all but four of the student halls of residence, and the Students' Union. Other amenities include a Costcutter supermarket, pharmacy, two bank branches (Barclays and Santander), a hair salon, a post office, a copy shop, and an STA Travel agency. A Tesco superstore, which is open 24 hours, is located at the nearby Cannon Park shopping centre(SONY PCG-8Y2L battery).

Sports facilities

The main campus hosts a large leisure centre, comprising 25 m swimming pool, two sports halls, gymnasium, squash courts and rock-climbing facility. Elsewhere on campus are a number of other sports halls, outside tennis courts, 400 m athletics track, multi-purpose outdoor surfaces and cricket grounds(SONY PCG-8Z2L battery). Sports facilities are being constantly expanded, following the commencement of Warwick Sport, a 2005 joint venture between the university and the Students' Union. Indoor tennis courts have recently been opened on the Westwood Campus sports venue and an Olympic-size swimming pool has been rumoured in the long-term, depending on Coventry City Council's priorities. Most of the university's sports facilities are open to the general public(SONY PCG-8Z1L battery).

During the 2012 Summer Olympics, some football matches will be played at the nearby Ricoh Arena, home of Coventry City Football Club, and Warwick will provide training and residential facilities for the Olympic teams.

University House

University House, the main administration building

In 2003 Warwick acquired the former headquarters of National Grid plc, which it converted into an administration building renamed University House(SONY PCG-7112L battery). There is a student-run facility called the "Learning Grid" in the building, which includes two floors of PC clusters, scanners, photocopiers, a reference library, interactive whiteboards and plasma screens for use by individuals and for group work.[34]

Warwick Arts Centre

Situated at the centre of Warwick's main campus, the Warwick Arts Centre is a multi-venue arts complex and attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to over 3,000 individual events embracing contemporary and classical music, drama, dance, comedy, films and visual art(SONY PCG-6W2L battery). The centre comprises six spaces on the same site, including a concert hall, two theatres, a cinema, gallery, and conference room as well as hospitality suites, a restaurant, cafe, shops, and two bars. The site also includes the university bookshop.

The Arts Centre also houses the University of Warwick Music Centre with practice rooms, and an ensemble rehearsal room where music societies and groups such as the Brass Band rehearse(SONY PCG-5K1L battery).

The White Koan with the Warwick Arts Centre behind.

The White Koan is a modern art sculpture by Lilian Lijn which is on display outside the main entrance of the Warwick Arts Centre. The Koan was made in 1971 as part of the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation City Sculpture Project and was originally sited in Plymouth. It then moved to the Hayward Gallery in London before being purchased by Warwick in 1972(SONY VGP-BPL2 battery).

The Koan is 6 metres (20 ft) high, white in colour and decorated with elliptical of fluorescent lights. It is rotated by an electric motor whilst illuminated. The Koan is intended to represent the Buddhist quest for questions without answers (see Kōan).

[edit]Other sites

Other Warwick sites include:

the Gibbet Hill Campus, located contiguous to the main campus (home to the department of Life Sciences and the pre-clinical activities of Warwick Medical School) (SONY VGP-BPL4 battery);

the Westwood Campus, located contiguous to the main campus (home to the Institute of Education, the Arden House conference centre, an indoor tennis centre, a running track and some postgraduate facilities and student residences);

the University of Warwick Science Park;

University Hospital Coventry, located in the Walsgrave on Sowe area of Coventry (home to the Clinical Sciences Building of Warwick Medical School) (SONY VGP-BPL5A battery); and

Warwick Horticulture Research International Research & Conference Centre, located in Wellesbourne, Warwickshire.

Planned developments

In November 2005, Warwick made public its vision for the year 2020 and outlined proposals for how it would like to develop its campus over the next 15 years. These proposals built upon recent construction activity which included a new Mathematics and Statistics Building(SONY VGP-BPS2 battery), a new Computer Science Building, new Business School buildings, the new Heronbank Residences and an expanded Sports Centre. The proposals would see a shift in the "centre of gravity" on campus away from the Students' Union towards the new University House and a proposed "Academic Square", located around the new maths and computer science buildings(SONY VGP-BPS3 battery).

Organisation and administration

Warwick is governed by three formal bodies: the Court, Council and the Senate. In addition to these, a Steering Committee provide strategic leadership in between meetings of the formal bodies. Faculties are overseen by Faculty Boards which report to the Senate.[37] The Principal Officers of the university have responsibility for day-to-day operations of the University(SONY VGP-BPS4 battery).

Finances

In the financial year ended 31 July 2011, Warwick had a total income (including share of joint ventures) of £419.1 million (2009/10 - £408.5 million) and total expenditure of £399.7 million (2009/10 - £388.9 million). Key sources of income included £147.5 million from academic fees and support grants (2009/10 - £133.2 million), £88.2 million from Funding Council grants (2009/10 - £89.8 million) (SONY VGP-BPS5 battery), £86.3 million from research grants and contracts (2009/10 - £79.8 million) and £1.1 million from endowment and investment income (2009/10 - £0.8 million).[1] During the 2010/11 financial year Warwick had a capital expenditure of £51.3 million (2009/10 - £46.8 million).

At year end Warwick had reserves and endowments of £153 million (2009/10 - £123.1 million) and total net assets of £287 million (2009/10 - £259.9 million) (SONY VGP-BPS5A battery).

Coat of arms

Warwick University's coat of arms depicts atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear and Ragged Staff, historically associated with Warwickshire (and previously the Earls of Warwick) and the Elephant and Castle of Coventry. The bear is not chained in the current depiction of the university's coat of arms, although it had been in its original grant of Letters Patent by the College of Arms. (SONY VGP-BPS8 battery)

Academics

The foyer of the Department of Mathematics in the Zeeman building. On the left is one of over 800 university-owned artworks.

As of March 2011 the student population of Warwick was 22,648, with around two fifths being postgraduates.[42] About 27% of the student body comes from overseas[42] and over 114 countries are represented on the campus. The university has 29 academic departments and over 40 research centres and institutes, in four faculties(SONY VGP-BPS8A battery): arts, medicine, science and social sciences. There are 979 academic staff and 692 research staff (as of March 2011).

Research

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Warwick was ranked 7th overall amongst multi-faculty institutions and was the top-ranked university in the Midlands.[43] Over 65% of the University's academic staff were rated as being in "world-leading" or "internationally excellent" departments with top research ratings of 4* or 3*.(SONY VGP-BPL8 battery) Warwick achieved a 35% increase in the number of staff it submitted in RAE2008 compared to RAE2001, the third largest increase in the Russell Group, and submitted almost 90% of its staff to RAE2008.

Warwick ranked in the top five in Environmental Science, History, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering, Business School, French, Italian, Classics(SONY VGP-BPS9 battery), Business and Management, Film Studies and Theatre Studies. Warwick departments which were ranked in the top 10 in the UK in the assessment were:

Admissions

Entry to Warwick is competitive and according to The Sunday Times' University Guide 2006, Warwick has around ten applicants for every undergraduate place. Warwick students also average top A-Level grades (often equivalent to more than A*AAa at A-level) (SONY VGP-BPS9/S battery).

Warwick minimum fees will be £9,000 for undergraduate students in 2012.

International partnerships

Warwick students can study abroad for a semester or a double degree (degrees awarded by both partners). International partners include Columbia University, Queen's University, Fudan Business School, McGill University, HEC Montreal, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, SDA Bocconi, Sciences Po Paris, Duke University, Chulalongkorn University and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School(SONY VGP-BPS9A battery).

Library

Warwick University Library is located in the middle of the main campus. It houses approximately 1,265,000 books[48] and over 13 km of archives and manuscripts. It has recently been remodelled and now houses new services to support Research and Teaching practice and collaboration between departments(SONY VGP-BPS9A/B battery). The Wolfson Research Exchange opened in October 2008 and provides collaboration spaces (both physical and virtual), seminar rooms, conference facilities and study areas for Postgraduate Research students. The Teaching Grid, which opened in 2008, is a flexible space which allows teaching staff to try out new technologies and techniques. The library also runs the Learning Grid based in University House(SONY VGP-BPS9/B battery), which is a technology rich space for all members of the university to use and provides access to video conferencing facilities, smart boards, networked PCs and a collection of core text books.

In addition to the main library several departments have subject specific collections. Notably, these include Maths and Statistics, Life Sciences and Sociology(SONY VGP-BPS9A/S battery).

[edit]Awards

In 2008 the university launched a new prize, the Warwick Prize for Writing, worth £50,000. It is defined as "an international cross-disciplinary award which will be given biennially for an excellent and substantial piece of writing in the English language, in any genre or form, on a theme that will change with every award". The inaugural winner of the award was Naomi Klein for her critically acclaimed book Shock Doctrine(SONY VGP-BPL9 battery).

Rankings

Warwick is ranked highly but inconsistently by major global university rankings providers. While it is ranked 50th overall in the 2011 QS World University Rankings,[56] it is ranked 151–200th by Academic Ranking of World Universities,[57] and 157th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In the ARWU Warwick is ranked 49th worldwide in the field of social sciences(SONY VGP-BPS10 battery). Warwick has claimed that this inconsistency is due to its relative youth, having been founded in 1965.[58] Warwick has been placed third in the QS World University Rankings ‘Top 50 Under 50’ category.[59]

Warwick is consistently ranked amongst the top ten in British university rankings. In latest national rankings by The Guardian for 2013 it is ranked 5th overall.[60] In 2008 the Sunday Times released averages of its rankings for the period 1998 to 2007, in which Warwick ranked 7th overall(SONY VGP-BPL10 battery).

According to the survey by Times Higher Education, Warwick is ranked 6th amongst UK universities for graduate starting salaries.[62] According to a 2011 High Fliers Research survey, Warwick is the "second most targeted university in the UK by top employers." (SONY VGP-BPS11 battery)

Economics and Business Studies

The Economics Department Ranking by IDEAS/RePEc places the University of Warwick on 21nd worldwide (2th in the UK, 5th in Europe) (July 2012 data).[63] In the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2008, the Department of Economics are ranked 3th nationally in the field of Economics and Econometrics.[64] The Complete University Guide has ranked Warwick 4th nationally in the subject of Economics constantly for years. (SONY VGP-BPL11 battery) The Academic Ranking of World Universities, ARWU released in 2011, placed the University of Warwick 36th worldwide for the subject of economics/business, and 41st worldwide in the field of mathematics. According to the Financial Times, Warwick's Master in Finance is ranked 5th in the world.[66] Warwick is ranked 3rd in the UK for business and management studies in the 2012 Guardian Guide. (SONY VGP-BPL12 battery)

In MBA rankings published by The Economist, Warwick Business School ranked 34th in the world.[66] In the Financial Times, Warwick ranked 27th in the world for its Full-time MBA and 35th for its Executive MBA. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Which MBA? Guide, published annually, ranked Warwick's Full-Time MBA program 22nd in the world and top 10 in Europe. (SONY VGP-BPS12 battery) However, it is ranked 2nd in the UK by SSRN and the French ranking SMBG-Eduniversal ranked Warwick Business School 4th in the UK, 18th in the world and described it as a "universal business school with major international influence".[70] It is ranked 25th by the CNN-Expansion ranking(SONY VGP-BPS13 battery).

Rootes Social Building

Undergraduate student life at Warwick can be broadly divided into two phases. In the first year, student life revolves around campus and, in particular, the Students' Union (with its sports clubs, societies and entertainment facilities). In subsequent years students typically live off-campus, with many based in Leamington Spa, Kenilworth or either Earlsdon or Canley in Coventry(SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery).

Students' Union

Main article: University of Warwick Students' Union

The students' union building – SU South

The University of Warwick Students' Union is one of the largest students' unions in the UK, and currently has over 260 societies and 76 sports clubs. Sports clubs include everything from basketball to rowing. There are new societies every year, including Jailbreak and more recently the HOMMOUS Society. (SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery) It has an annual turnover of approximately £6 million, the profit from which is used to provide services to students and to employ its staff and Sabbatical officers. The Union is divided into two buildings: Union North (mainly societies and administration) and Union South (entertainment facilities). Union South contains four club venues, seven bars and a cafe over four floors(SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery), with some "full Union (building)" events such as Top Banana and Skool Dayz.

The union has a enviable tradition of hosting cult and up-and-coming bands; recently it has seen bands such as Ash, Sugababes, Amerie, The Kooks, Reel Big Fish, The Departure, The Subways, Idlewild, The Rory McKenna Variety Show, Hell is for Heroes, The Automatic, The Dave Wright Experience, Boy Kill Boy, Amy Winehouse(SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery), The Killers, The Streets, Feeder and Scouting for Girls. The Union South building underwent an £11 million refurbishment in Spring 2008, which was completed in January 2010. The new facilities included a club and gig venue, a pub, a bar, various food outlets, spaces for societies and a pool room.

The union is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS) and National Postgraduate Committee (NPC) (SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery).

Student events

Warwick hosts many major student-run events including One World Week,[73] Warwick Economics Summit,[74] People & Planet's Go Green Week, Warwick International Development Summit, Tedx Warwick, Warwick Model United Nations, RAG Week and Warwick Student Arts Festival(SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery).

The Warwick Economics Summit is a yearly international forum. It gathers selected students from universities in the UK (for example the LSE, Oxford and Cambridge) and internationally (for example Princeton, MIT, Bocconi and Kazan State University), to listen world-class renowned speakers. (SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery)

Warwick is also home to the largest student-run Real Ale Festival in Great Britain[citation needed], which takes place annually, always in the eighth week of second academic term. The festival is organised and staffed by the Warwick University Real Ale Society. A charity skydiving weekend, The Great Warwick Jump, was set up by the Skydiving Club in 2008 and is now the largest charity event at the University, (SONY VGP-BPS21B battery) raising £20,274.00 for charities worldwide in its first year. The second year saw a new British record for the most tandem jumps in 24 hours with 137 and a total of £57,374 raised for various charities.

Student media

Student media at Warwick includes:

Radio Warwick, also known as RaW, a student radio station;

The Boar, an award-winning newspaper distributed free across campus every second Tuesday; (SONY VGP-BPS21 battery)

SIBE, a student run broadcasting organisation established at the University of Warwick in October 2011. SIBE broadcasts weekly TV shows and produces documentaries aimed at facilitating discussion on student-relevant issues and on encouraging constructive action www.sibe.co.uk

Warwick Student Cinema, a student cinema which shows films on two 35 mm projectors, and a 2K Digital Cinema projector most nights of the week(SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery); and

Warwick TV, a student television station.

University Challenge

A team from Warwick won BBC television's University Challenge competition for the first time in 2007, beating the title-holders University of Manchester in the final.[78]

Student housing

Main article: University of Warwick Halls of Residence

The Warwick campus currently has around 6,300 student bedrooms across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate residences. All of the residences are self-catered, and each has residential tutors and a warden(SONY VGP-BPS13AS battery).

Commercial activities

Under the leadership of its first Vice-Chancellor, Lord Butterworth, Warwick was one of the first UK universities to adopt a business approach to higher education, develop close links with the business community and exploit the commercial value of its research.

Research

Margaret Thatcher opening the University of Warwick Science Park in 1984(SONY VGP-BPS13S battery).

Warwick has established a number of stand-alone units to manage and extract commercial value from its research activities. The four most prominent examples of these units are:

University of Warwick Science Park;

Warwick HRI;

Warwick Ventures (the technology transfer arm of the University); and

WMG.

As a result of these activities, Warwick is the only university in the UK which generates more of its income through commercial activities than it receives in Government grants(SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery), which has allowed it to invest generously in facilities and undergo rapid growth. Research is the greatest source of income for the university, followed by overseas students and Warwick Accommodation.

Warwick Accommodation

Warwick Accommodation provides on-campus accommodation for first-year undergraduates, final-year undergraduates (depending on availability) and postgraduate students. Off-campus accommodation is also provided and consists of privately owned houses which are University managed upon a commission charge(SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery). The location of such houses is usually within the catchment area of Coventry and Leamington Spa for student convenience.

Many of the 5,700 on-campus rooms are used by conference guests outside of term-time. En suite rooms which include Arthur Vick, Jack Martin, Benefactors and the new Bluebell residences, as well as the standard single Rootes residence, are usually the primary allocation blocks for conference delegates(SONY VGP-BPS14 battery).

Warwick Conferences

Scarman House

Warwick Conferences offers three dedicated, year-round conference centres: Scarman House, Radcliffe and Arden. Every year, on average 65,000 conference delegates are catered for, with services ranging from banqueting to access to sport facilities. Warwick Conferences has won several awards, including 4 Gold M&IT, Godiva, MIMA and CCE Chefs challenge awards(SONY VGP-BPL14 battery).

Warwick Retail

Warwick Retail is a commercial retail and publishing operation owned by the university. Its operations include:

Warwick founded and owns the temporary employment agency Unitemps[82] which currently has numerous branches at institutions around the UK (Birmingham City University, City University London, Nottingham University and Roehampton University). Unitemps is a service that helps students find temporary work while they are at University and also help fulfill university staffing requirements(SONY VGP-BPS14/B battery). The head office is based at the Warwick Student's Union.

jobs.ac.uk

Warwick owns the higher education recruitment website www.jobs.ac.uk.[83]

Criticism

Warwick has at times received criticism for being too commercially focused, at the expense of academic creativity and diversity. The most famous proponent of this critique was the noted historian E.P. Thompson, who wrote Warwick University Ltd in 1971. (SONY VGP-BPS14/S battery)

Nevertheless, with the appointment of Sir Nicholas Scheele as Chancellor in 2002, the university signalled that it intended to continue and expand its commercial activities. In an interview for the BBC, Scheele said: "I think in the future, education and industry need to become even more closely linked than they have been historically(SONY VGP-BPS14B battery). As government funding changes, the replacement could well come through private funding from companies, individuals and grant-giving agencies."

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (U of I, University of Illinois, UIUC, or simply Illinois) is a public research-intensive university in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system. The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is the second oldest public university in the state(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery), second to Illinois State University, and is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference. It is considered a Public Ivy and is a member of the Association of American Universities. The university is designated as a RU/VH Research University (very high research activities). The campus library system possesses the second-largest university library in the United States and the fifth-largest in the country overall(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery).

The university comprises 17 colleges that offer more than 150 programs of study. Additionally, the university operates an extension that serves 2.7 million registrants per year around the state of Illinois and beyond. The campus holds 286 buildings on 1,468 acres (594 ha) in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana; its annual operating budget in 2011 was over $1.7 billion. (SONY VGP-BPS18 battery)

History

See also: List of University of Illinois Presidents

The Morrill Act of 1862 granted each state in the United States a portion of land on which to establish a major public state university, one which could teach agriculture, mechanic arts, and military training, "without excluding other scientific and classical studies."[16] This phrase would engender controversy over the University's initial academic philosophies, polarizing the relationship between the people of Illinois and the University's first president(SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery), John Milton Gregory.

Hallene Gateway. The inscription reads, "Learning & Labor," the University motto.

John Milton Gregory

After a fierce bidding war between a number of Illinois cities, Urbana was selected in 1867 as the site for the new school. From the beginning, Gregory's desire to establish an institution firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition was at odds with many State residents and lawmakers who wanted the university to offer classes based solely around "industrial education"(SONY VGP-BPS22A battery) The University finally opened for classes on March 2, 1868, with only two faculty members and a small group of students. The debate between the liberal arts curriculum and industrial education continued in the University's inaugural address, as Dr. Newton Bateman outlined the various interpretations of the Morrill Act in his speech. Gregory's thirteen year tenure would be marred by this debate(SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/W battery). Clashes between Gregory and legislators and lawmakers forced his resignation from his post as president in 1880, saying "[I am] staggering under too heavy a load of cares, and irritated by what has sometimes seemed as needless opposition."[17] Today, Gregory is largely credited with establishing the University and forming it into the major interdisciplinary university it is today(SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/R battery). Gregory's grave is still located on the Urbana campus, situated between Altgeld Hall and the Henry Administration Building. His marker (mimicking the epitaph of British architect Christopher Wren) reads, "If you seek his monument, look about you."

Following World War II, under president David Henry, the university experienced rapid growth—doubling its enrollment and significantly improving its academic standing.[20] This period was also marked by large growth in the Graduate College and increased federal support of scientific and technological research(SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/P battery). The state of Illinois supplied roughly two-thirds of the university's budget while the federal government funded 90% of research.[21] In recent years, state support has declined from 4.5% of the state's tax appropriations in 1980 to 2.28% in 2011, a nearly 50% decline.[22] As a result, the university's budget has strongly shifted away from relying on state support with nearly 84% of the budget now coming from other sources. (SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/L battery)

Evolution of name

The original name in 1867 was "Illinois Industrial University." In 1885, the Illinois Industrial University officially changed its name to the University of Illinois, reflecting its holistic agricultural, mechanical, and liberal arts curricula.[18] This remained the official name for nearly 100 years, until it was changed to The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1982(SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E battery), ostensibly to establish a separate identity for the campus within the University of Illinois system. However, after a century's use, UIUC continues to be known and referred to as "The University of Illinois", or just "Illinois"; this is true in both the media, and on many of UIUC's web pages. Starting in 2008, the university began strongly rebranding itself as "Illinois" rather than UIUC, changing the website URL from uiuc.edu to Illinois.edu as well as all email addresses(SONY Vaio VGN-CR120 battery).

Campus

See also: UIUC Main Campus

The campus is known for its landscape and architecture, as well as distinctive landmarks.[29] It was identified as one of 50 college or university 'works of art' by T.A. Gaines in his book The Campus as a Work of Art.[30]

Foellinger Auditorium

The main research and academic facilities are divided almost exactly between the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign(SONY Vaio VGN-CR11H/B battery). The College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences' research fields stretch south from Urbana and Champaign into Savoy and Champaign County. The university maintains formal gardens and a conference center in nearby Monticello at Allerton Park.

U of I is one of the few educational institutions to own an airport.[31] Willard Airport, named for former University of Illinois president Arthur Cutts Willard(SONY Vaio VGN-CR116E battery), is located in Savoy. It was completed in 1945 and began service in 1954. Willard Airport is home to University research projects and the University's Institute of Aviation, along with flights from American Airlines.

The campus is based on the quadrangle design popular at many universities. Four main quads compose the center of the university and are arranged from north to south. The Beckman Quadrangle and the John Bardeen Quadrangle occupy the center of the Engineering Campus(SONY Vaio VGN-CR116 battery). Boneyard Creek flows through the John Bardeen Quadrangle, paralleling Green Street. The Beckman Quadrangle is primarily composed of research units and laboratories, and features a large solar calendar consisting of an obelisk and several copper fountains. The Main Quadrangle and South Quadrangle follow immediately after the John Bardeen Quad(SONY Vaio VGN-CR115E battery). The former makes up a large part of the Liberal Arts and Sciences portion of the campus, while the latter comprises many of the buildings of the College of ACES spread across the campus map.[32]

Sustainability

In October, 2010, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the campus a grade of B for sustainability in its 2011 College Sustainability Report Card. Strengths noted in the report included the campus's adoption of LEED gold standards for all new construction and major renovations and its public accessibility to endowment investment information(SONY Vaio VGN-CR115 battery). The university makes a list of endowment holdings and its shareholder voting record available to the public. The weaknesses are areas such as student involvement and investment priorities. The student sustainability committee is empowered to allocate funding from a clean energy technology fee and a sustainable campus environment fee, while the university aims to optimize investment return but(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S battery) has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds. However the biggest weakness of the university's sustainability is its shareholder engagement, as the university has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15T battery)

In his remarks on the creation of the Office of Sustainability in September 2008, Chancellor Richard Herman stated, "I want this institution to be the leader in sustainability."[34] In February 2008, he signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, committing the University of Illinois to take steps "in pursuit of climate neutrality(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15G battery)."

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is often regarded as a world-leading magnet for engineering and sciences (both applied and basic).[citation needed] Having been classified into the category comprehensive doctoral with medical/veterinary and very high research activity,[35] by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Illinois offers a wide range of disciplines in undergraduate and postgraduate programs(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ4000 battery). It is also listed as one of the Top 25 American Research Universities by The Center for Measuring University Performance.[36] Beside annual influx of grants and sponsored projects, the university manages an extensive modern research infrastructure.[37] The university has been a leader in computer based education and hosted the PLATO project, which was a precursor to the internet and resulted in the development of the plasma display(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ460E battery).

The university hosts the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which created Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, the foundation upon which Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer are based, the Apache HTTP server, and NCSA Telnet. The Parallel@Illinois program hosts several programs in parallel computing, including the Universal Parallel Computing Research Center(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ440N battery). The university is currently collaborating with IBM and the National Science Foundation to build the world's fastest supercomputer.[38] This supercomputer, named "Blue Waters," aims to be capable of performing one quadrillion calculations per second. If completed, this would make Blue Waters three times faster than today's fastest supercomputer. The university whimsically celebrated January 12, 1997 as the "birthday" of HAL 9000(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ440E battery), the fictional supercomputer from the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey; in both works, HAL credits "Urbana, Illinois" as his place of operational origin.

In 1952, the university built the ILLIAC (Illinois Automatic Computer), the first computer built and owned entirely by an educational institution. U of I is also the site of the Department of Energy's Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets, an institute which has employed graduate and faculty researchers in the physical sciences and mathematics(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ430E battery). It performs materials science and condensed matter physics research, and is home to Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory as well as the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. Two complexes for research and teaching recently opened, Siebel Center for Computer Science in 2004 and the Institute for Genomic Biology in 2006. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ280E battery), however, is still the largest interdisciplinary facility on campus with 313,000 square feet (29,100 m2). The university also conducts agricultural and horticultural research.

The Prairie Research Institute is located on campus and is the home of the Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, and Illinois Sustainable Technology Center which have been located on the campus throughout their histories(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ190 battery), but were Illinois state government agencies until the formation of the Institute within the University in 2008. Since 1957 the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP) has conducted archaeological and historical compliance work for the Illinois Department of Transportation. In 2010, ITARP became the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and joined the Prairie Research Institute(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ150E battery). Researchers at the Prairie Research Institute are engaged in basic and applied research in agriculture and forestry, biodiversity and ecosystem health, atmospheric resources, climate and associated natural hazards, cultural resources and history of human settlements, disease and public health, emerging pests, fisheries and wildlife, energy and industrial technology(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ160 battery), mineral resources, pollution prevention and mitigation, and water resources. The Institute is a repository of specimens which serve as research collections on the Illinois environment. The Illinois Natural History Survey biological collections include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, annelids, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals, algae, bryophytes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ260E battery), fungi, and vascular plants; the insect collection is among the largest in North America and digitization collections is currently underway with funding from the National Science Foundation. The Illinois State Geological Survey houses the legislatively mandated Illinois Geological Samples Library, a repository for drill-hole samples in Illinois, including cores drilled for mineral exploration and geologic investigations, as well as paleontological collections(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ140E battery). ISAS serves as a repository for a large collection of Illinois archaeological artifacts now numbering over 17,000 boxes. One of the major collections is from the Cahokia Mounds,[39] for which ISAS has over 550 boxes. An on-line database will soon be mounted for the Cahokia collection, funded by a 2008–2010 National Endowment for the Humanities grant(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L battery).

In the February 24, 2004 talk as part of his Five Campus Tour (Harvard, MIT, Cornell, Carnegie-Mellon and Illinois),[40] titled "Software Breakthroughs: Solving the Toughest Problems in Computer Science," Bill Gates has mentioned that Microsoft hires more graduates from the University of Illinois than from any other university in the world.[41] Alumnus William M. Holt(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z battery), a Senior Vice-President of Intel, also mentioned in a campus talk in September 27, 2007 entitled "R&D to Deliver Practical Results: Extending Moore's Law"[42] that Intel hires more PhD graduates from the University of Illinois than from any other university in the country.

In 2007, the university-hosted research Institute for Condensed Matter Theory (ICMT) was launched, with the director Paul Goldbart and the chief scientist Anthony Leggett. ICMT is currently located at the Engineering Science Building on campus(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M battery).

Competition

According to the statistics of the 2008 admitted freshmen, 77% of incoming students had ACT score of 27 or higher, 31% had an SAT combined Math & Critical Reading score above 1,400 (excludes Writing), and 59% of the incoming students were top 10% of their high school class.[44] Some of the university's colleges admit students at an even more competitive level(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18M battery). For incoming freshmen in 2008, the College of Engineering reported an ACT score interquartile range of 30–33, the College of Business reported an ACT score IQR of 28–32, and the College of Media, in 2008, the first year it accepted freshmen, reported an ACT IQR of 27–32, higher than the overall campus median (though still lower than that of the College of Engineering). Of graduates, Illinois ended up as one of the top 12 (percentage) and top 6 (numerical) feeder state colleges to elite professional schools(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18 battery).

Residences

University Residence Halls and University Private-Certified Housing are administered by the University's housing division.[46] University housing for undergraduates is provided through twenty-two residence halls in both Urbana and Champaign. All incoming freshman are required to live in certified student housing their first year on campus(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ210CE battery).

All undergraduates within the University housing system are required to purchase some level of meal plan, although they are free to eat elsewhere if they choose. Graduate housing is usually offered through two graduate dormitories, restricted to those over twenty years of age, and through two university-owned apartment complexes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31S battery). However, the recent record-sized freshman class has forced the housing division to convert one of the graduate dormitories into undergraduate housing. Students with disabilities are provided special housing options to accommodate their needs. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is well known for being one of the first universities to provide accommodations for students with disabilities(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z battery).

There are a number of private dormitories around campus, as well as a few houses that are outside of the Greek system and offer a more communal living experience. The private dorms tend to be more expensive to live in compared to other housing options. Private, certified residences maintain reciprocity agreements with the University, allowing students to move between the public and private housing systems if they are dissatisfied with their living conditions(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E battery).

Most undergraduates choose to move into apartments or the Greek houses after their first or second year. The University Tenant Union offers advice on choosing apartments and the process of signing a lease.

Registered student organizations

The University boasts over 1,000 active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs),[47] showcased at the start of each academic year during Illinois's "Quad Day." Registration and support is provided by the Student Programs & Activities Office(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J battery), an administrative arm established in pursuit of the larger social, intellectual, and educative goals of the Illini Student Union. The Office's mission is to "enhance ... classroom education," "meet the needs and desires of the campus community," and "prepare students to be contributing and humane citizens." (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M battery)

Greek life

Main article: List of Fraternities and Sororities at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The university has the largest Greek system in the world by membership. There are currently sixty-eight fraternities and thirty-six sororities on the campus. Of the approximately 31,180 undergraduates,[51] about 3,330 are members of sororities(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31B battery)and about 3,370 are members of fraternities. The Greek system at the University of Illinois has a system of self-government. While there are staff advisors and directors in charge of managing certain aspects of the Greek community, most of the day to day operations of the Greek community are governed by the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council.[53] Many of the fraternity and sorority houses on campus are on the National Register of Historic Places(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ32 battery).

Student government

U of I has an extensive history of past student governments. A mere two years after the university opened in 1868, John Milton Gregory and a group of students created a constitution for a student government. Their governance expanded to the entire university in 1873, having a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. For a period of time, this government had the ability to discipline students(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ410 battery). In 1883, however, due to a combination of events from Gregory's resignation to student-faculty infighting, the government formally dissolved itself via plebiscite. [54]

It wasn't until 1934, when the Student Senate, the next university-wide student government, was created. A year before, future U of I Dean of Students, Fred H. Turner and the university's Senate Committee on Student Affairs gave increased power to the Student Council, an organization primarily known for organizing dances(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21 battery). A year after, the Student Council created a constitution and became the Student Senate, under the oversight of the Committee on Student Affairs. The Student Senate would become the longest lasting student government in UIUC history, lasting for 35 years.

The Student Senate changed its purpose and name in 1969, when it became the Undergraduate Student Association (UGSA) (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S battery). It no longer was a representational government, instead becoming an collective bargaining agency. It often worked with the Graduate Student Association to work on various projects

In 1967, Bruce A. Morrison and other U of I graduates founded the Graduate Student Association (GSA). GSA would last until 1978, when it merged with the UGSA to form the Champaign-Urbana Student Association (CUSA) (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M battery).

CUSA lasted for only 2 years when it was replaced by the Student Government Association (SGA) in 1980. SGA lasted for 15 years until it became the Illinois Student Government (ISG) in 1995. ISG lasted until 2004.[58]

The current university student government, created in 2004, is the Illinois Student Senate, a combined undergraduate and graduate student senate with 54 voting members(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M battery). The student senators are elected by college and represent the students in the Urbana-Champaign Senate (which comprises both faculty and students), as well as on a variety of faculty and administrative committees, and are led by an internally elected executive board consisting of a President, External Vice-President, Internal Vice-President, and a treasurer. As of 2012, the executive board is supported by an executive staff consisting of a Chief of Staff, Clerk of the Senate(Sony VAIO VGN-SZ battery), Parliamentarian, Director of Communications, Intern Coordinator, and the Historian of the Senate.

Libraries

The campus library system is one of the largest public academic collections in the world.[60] Among universities in North America, only the collections of Harvard are larger.[61] Currently, the University of Illinois' 20+ departmental libraries and divisions hold more than 24 million items, including more than 12 million print volumes.[60] As of 2012(Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery), it had also the largest "browsable" university library in the United States, with 5 million volumes directly accessible in stacks in a single location.[62] University of Illinois also has the largest public engineering library (Grainger Engineering Library) in the country.[63]

The online catalog is used by over one million people monthly [60] and each day more than 50,000 articles are downloaded from electronic journals licensed by the University of Illinois Library. In addition to the main library building, which houses nearly 10 subject-oriented libraries, (Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery) the Isaac Funk Family Library on the South Quad serves the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center serves the College of Engineering on the John Bardeen Quad.

The University of Illinois Residence Hall Library System is one of three in the nation. The Residence Hall Libraries were created in 1948 to serve the educational(Sony VGN-NR260E/S Battery), recreational, and cultural information needs of first and second year undergraduate students residing in the residence halls, and the living-learning communities within the residence halls. The collection also serves University Housing staff as well as the larger campus community, including undergraduate and graduate students, and university faculty and staff.

All together there are more than 20 departmental or school libraries on campus(Sony VGN-NR260E/T Battery).

Recreation

Recently, the two main recreation facilities, CRCE and the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC, formerly known as IMPE), were renovated.

Transportation

The bus system that operates throughout the campus and community is operated by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. The MTD receives a student-approved transportation fee from the university, which provides unlimited access for university students(Sony VGN-NR260E/W Battery). In addition, the university pays for universal access for all its faculty and staff. As part of this arrangement, the MTD also runs a bus line between Willard Airport and Illinois Terminal, a multi-modal transportation facility which includes Amtrak and Greyhound – making it the focal point of Champaign-Urbana's public transportation systems.

The university maintains an extensive system of off-street bike paths and on-street bike lanes on campus(Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery). All students are expected to register their bicycles with the campus public safety department.

Athletics and sports

Main article: Illinois Fighting Illini

U of I's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics fields teams for ten men's and eleven women's varsity sports. The university participates in the NCAA's Division I. The university's athletic teams are known as the Fighting Illini. The university operates a number of athletic facilities, including Memorial Stadium for football, the Assembly Hall for men's and women's basketball(Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery), and the Atkins Tennis Center for men's and women's tennis. The men's NCAA basketball team had a dream run in the 2005 season, with Bruce Weber's Fighting Illini tying the record for most victories in a season. Their run ended 37–2 with a loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the national championship game.

Illinois is a member of the Big Ten Conference.

On October 15, 1910, the Illinois football team defeated the University of Chicago Maroons with a score of 3–0 in a game that Illinois claims was the first homecoming game(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E battery), though several other schools claim to have held the first homecoming as well.

On November 10, 2007, the unranked Illinois football team defeated the No. 1 ranked Ohio State football team in Ohio Stadium, the first time that the Illini beat a No. 1 ranked team on the road.

The University of Illinois Ice Arena is home to the university's club college ice hockey team competing at the ACHA Division I level and is also available for recreational use through the Division of Campus Recreation(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery). It was built in 1931 and designed by Chicago architecture firm Holabird and Root, the same firm that designed the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium and Chicago's Soldier Field. It is located on Armory Drive across from the Armory. The structure features 4 rows of bleacher seating in an elevated balcony that runs the length of the ice rink on either side(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J battery). These bleachers provide seating for roughly 1,200 fans, with standing room and bench seating available underneath. Because of this set-up the team benches are actually directly underneath the stands.

Chief Illiniwek, or 'The Chief', was the university's official athletic symbol from 1926 until February 21, 2007. Use of the Chief garnered criticism for the university starting in the mid-1970s from Native Americans and others as a misappropriation and inaccurate portrayal of indigenous culture(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11 battery)

. The university officials announced the end of the Chief Illiniwek era on February 16, 2007.

Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement and convocation, and athletic games are: Illinois Loyalty, the school song, Oskee Wow Wow, the fight song, and Hail to the Orange, the alma mater(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M battery).

Academic awards and recognition

University honors

University Honors is an academic distinction awarded to high achieving students at UIUC. It is comparable to the Latin honors of summa cum laude. Graduating students awarded University Honors must have a cumulative grade point average of a 3.5/4.0 within the academic year of their graduation and rank within the top 3% of their graduating class(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S battery).

James Scholars

"James Scholars" are undergraduate students invited to pursue a specialized course of study for no less than two years of their undergraduate course work. Each student must have a minimum grade point average of 3.3/4.0 (3.5 for ECE majors) to become a James Scholar. James Scholars who graduate with "University Honors" are also awarded the Latin honors of In cursu honorum(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E battery).

Chancellor's Scholars

"Chancellor's Scholars" are undergraduate students in the Campus Honors Program, a campus-wide scholarship program which focuses on both academic excellence and leadership. Unlike James Scholars, only about 125 members may be admitted in a given year with a cap around 500 students at any given time. Chancellor's Scholars must have a grade point average of 3.3/4.0(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J battery), successfully complete a total of five CHP sponsored courses, and participate in a specified number of CHP co-curricular events and activities.[74]

Senior 100 Honorary

"Senior 100 Honorary" is an award from the Student Alumni Ambassadors and the University of Illinois Alumni Association that recognizes outstanding seniors. Recipients of this award are honored for their outstanding achievements in leadership, academics and campus involvement throughout their undergraduate education(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L battery).

Notable faculty and alumni

Main article: List of University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign people

Alma Mater

As of 2007, 21 alumni and faculty members are Nobel laureates and 20 have won a Pulitzer Prize. In particular, John Bardeen is the only person to have won two Nobel prizes in physics, having done so in 1956 and 1972 while on faculty at the University of Illinois. In 2003, two faculty members won Nobel prizes in different disciplines: Paul C. Lauterbur for physiology or medicine(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M battery), and Anthony Leggett for physics. Most recently, in 2007, Don Wuebbles, Atul Jain, John Walsh and Michael Schlesinger, professors in the Department of Atmospheric Science, were awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize for their contributions and collaboration with the IPCC.[76]

Stanley Hart White, Professor of Landscape Architecture 1922–1959. Inventor of the Vertical Garden. E.B White's Brother(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H battery)

Fazlur Rahman Khan, considered to be the Einstein of structural engineering and the Greatest Structural Engineer of the of the 20th century

Alumni have created companies and products such as Netscape Communications, AMD, PayPal, Playboy, National Football League, Siebel Systems, Mortal Kombat, CDW, YouTube, THX, Oracle, Lotus, Mosaic, Safari, Firefox, W. W. Grainger, Delta Air Lines, BET, and Tesla Motors(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M battery).

Alumni and faculty have invented the LED, JavaScript, the integrated circuit, the quantum well laser, the transistor, MRI, and the plasma screen, and are responsible for the structural design of such buildings as the Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center, and the Burj Khalifa.

Alumni founded the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Project Gutenberg, and have served in a wide variety of government and public interest roles(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z battery). Rafael Correa, re-elected President of The Republic of Ecuador in April 2009 secured his M.S. and PhD degrees from the University's Economics Department in 1999 and 2001 respectively.[79] Nathan C. Ricker attended U of I and in 1873 was the first person to graduate in the United States with a degree in Architecture. Mary L. Page, the first woman to obtain a degree in architecture, also graduated from U of I. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW32J battery) Gerald R. Ferris, the Francis Eppes Professor of Management and professor of psychology at Florida State University, earned his PhD at UI-UC.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy is playing an increasingly significant role in supporting the Land Grant mission of the University of Illinois. The portion of the university's annual $1.5 billion budget which is state funds has diminished drastically over the past two decades(Sony VAIO VGN-FW17W battery). Currently the university receives only 16.4% of its budget from state tax dollars compared to 20 years ago when it received 44.5% of its budget from state tax dollars.[23] Gifts, grants, and contracts to the university comprise 19% of the annual budget.

Philanthropic giving to the university comes in the form of annual giving, major gifts, and estate planning. Annual giving is generally unrestricted by the donor and can be spent by the campus to meet immediate needs to maintain basic operations(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E battery). Major gifts are typically put into an endowment at the donor's wishes, where the principal of the gift is invested while the interest is distributed to the campus department in which the donor designated their gift to be used. This practice of investing the principal in an endowment and only spending the interest, is done to secure the gift in perpetuity(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E battery). In some cases, major gifts are used immediately for building campaigns such as the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, The Beckman Institute, or The Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science. Estate planning is another type of giving whereby a donor makes provisions in their will or estate documents which identifies the University of Illinois as a beneficiary(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H battery).

Alumni play the largest role in philanthropic giving to the university. The most notable donors are Thomas M. Siebel and his wife Stacey who recently gave a $100 million estate gift to the university after they had given $36 million to build the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science, $10 million to endow the Siebel Scholars program(Sony VAIO VGN-FW465J battery), $2 million to endow the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in Computer Science and $2 million to endow the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in the History of Science. Other notable donors include Sohaib Abbasi and his wife, Sara, who established the Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Professorship to enable the CS department to maintain its stature as one of the nation's premiere departments and give students the opportunity to learn from a world-renowned computer scientist and educator(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M battery). They have also endowed the Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Fellowship to allow up to 5 graduate students each year, the opportunity to study computer science at one of the nation's top ranked computer science departments.

Stanley O. and Judith L. Ikenberry were the 14th President and First Lady of the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois from 1979–1995. The Ikenberrys established the Stanley O. and Judith L. Ikenberry Endowment for Krannert Center for the Performing Arts(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J battery). This gift supports the presentation of guest artists at the Center as part of the Marquee Endowment.

Rankings

In its 2012 listings, U.S. News & World Report ranked the undergraduate program 45th among nationally accredited universities and 13th among nationally accredited public universities.[89] The graduate program had 60 disciplines ranked within the top 30 nationwide, including 23 within the top five. U.S. News (Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery)& World Report ranked the undergraduate and graduate Accounting programs 2nd and 4th respectively in the United States in their 2011 rankings; both programs had been ranked 1st at the same time in previous years. The College of Business as a whole was ranked 12th nationally. The College of Engineering was ranked 5th at the graduate level, with 14 disciplines ranked within the top ten(Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery). Chemistry and Physics were also ranked within the top ten at the graduate level. The College of Education had six programs ranked within the top ten. The Graduate School of Library and Information Science was ranked 1st, with five programs ranked within the top ten. Many arts programs were ranked within the first quartile, such as Architecture and Fine Arts. The Computer Science(Sony VGN-NR11S Battery), Material Science, Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Accounting, Finance, and Psychology are the university's most visibly distinguished departments. The School of Labor and Employment Relations is ranked consistently within the top two in the nation, behind only Cornell University(Sony VGN-NR110E Battery).

The University of Illinois is considered a "Public Ivy" and is measured comprehensively as one of the top 20 major research universities in the United States by a Graham-Diamond Report.[90]

International rankings by The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University suggest that Illinois is the 19th best university in North America, and 25th best university in the world(Sony VGN-NR110E/T Battery). The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Broad Subject Fields from the same research center in 2008 positions Illinois in 3rd for Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences in the world. It is ranked 19th for Life and Agriculture Sciences, 20th for Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and 51st for Social Sciences.

In 2011, Illinois was ranked 61st in the world by QS World University Rankings, (Sony VGN-NR110E/S Battery) increasing its position from the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (in 2010, Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings). However, Illinois had been ranked within the top 40 in the past. The THE-QS rankings have been criticized due to their volatility: it stressed international popularity and ranks fluctuated tens of places from one year to the next. (Sony VGN-NR110E/W Battery) The WSJ ranking of business schools also has this inherited anomaly, attributable to its survey method.

The Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations has been recognized consistently as one of the top three programs for Human Resources and Labor Relations studies in the United States.

In the 2008 release of Webometrics Ranking of World Universities by Cybermetrics Lab, which is a research unit of the National Research Council of Spain, the University was ranked 9th.[96] In 2006, G-Factor, another academic list trying to measure social network efficacy of universities(Sony VGN-CR11SR Battery), has ranked Illinois within the top eight. A human competitiveness index and analysis by the Human Resources & Labor Review, and published in Chasecareer Network, ranked the university 25th internationally in 2010.[98] As of 2007, Washington Monthly ranks Illinois as the 11th best university in the nation, and 9th among public universities. The methodology of the ranking includes "how well it performs as an engine of social mobility(Sony VGN-CR11Z Battery)," "how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research," and "how well it promotes an ethic of service to country."[99]

Newsweek International listed Illinois as one of Top 100 Global Universities,[100] which "takes into account openness and diversity, as well as distinction in research." Kiplinger's Personal Finance also listed Illinois in its 100 Best Values in Public Colleges,[101] which "measures academic quality, cost and financial aid(Sony VGN-CR11S Battery)."

The Princeton Review has elected Illinois one of the 366 best colleges out of nearly 5,000 degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States.[102] Nonetheless, the university has come under criticism for its use of graduate teaching assistants in teaching undergraduate courses, including upper-level undergraduate courses. For two consecutive years, the Urbana–Champaign campus topped this review's(Sony VGN-CR11M Battery) category of "teaching assistants teach too many upper level courses." However, the Princeton Review's ranking has been scrutinized for its lack of accountability as the Review's ranking categorical data rely mainly upon student random sampling.

Controversies

2005–2009 admissions scandal

Main article: University of Illinois clout scandal

A series of investigative reports by the Chicago Tribune noted that between 2005 and 2009 university trustees, president, chancellor(Sony VGN-CR11E Battery), and other administrators pressured admissions officials into admitting under-qualified but politically well-connected applicants into the university. Although University officials initially denied,[106] then downplayed the existence of a "clout list",[107] the university later announced it would form a panel of internal and external representatives to review the past admissions process and determine possible changes. (Sony VGN-CR21E Battery) The Chicago Tribune took the University to court for summary judgment, which was granted in March 2011. The University appealed, and a number of organizations, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, filed "friend of the court" briefs on behalf of both parties.

Howell firing

In July 2010 The News-Gazette reported[109] that Dr. Kenneth Howell, an adjunct professor teaching Introduction to Catholic Thought, was fired for teaching the Roman Catholic positions on homosexuality(Sony VGN-CR21S Battery). The Alliance Defense Fund has taken up Dr. Howell's case, stating that his dismissal is a violation of academic freedom and the First Amendment. The University's position, as stated by Ann Mester, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, is that Dr. Howell's comments "violate university standards of inclusivity, which would then entitle us to have him discontinue his teaching arrangement with us(Sony VGN-CR21Z Battery)."

Dr. Howell was reinstated by the University of Illinois as an adjunct instructor for the fall 2010 term to teach "Introduction to Catholicism", resolving the situation for the time being.[110] The university announced on July 28 that it would follow the recommendation of the Academic Senate's General University Policy Committee to begin paying the salary of instructors teaching Catholic studies courses. St. John's Catholic Newman Center previously paid instructor salaries(Sony VGN-CR31S Battery). The matter is currently under review by the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure.