University of Illinois at Chicago
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The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a public, state-supported research university. It is the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois and is the largest university in the Chicago area comprised of 25,000 students, 15 colleges, and the nation’s largest medical school. Annual research expenditures exceed $290 million.
An estimated one in 10 Chicagoans with a college degree is a UIC alumnus. UIC’s student body is recognized as one of the nation’s most diverse; there is no racial or ethnic majority among UIC students. The undergraduate numbers in 2005 were: Total 15,448; Native American 34 0.2%; African American 1,377 8.9%; Asian American 3,849 24%.
One program is its Great Cities Commitment through which UIC faculty, staff and students engage in hundreds of programs with community, corporate, government and civic partners. The Great Cities Institute serves as the focal point of the Commitment and is devoted to interdisciplinary, high impact urban research. One of UIC's 15 colleges, the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, was formed in 1995 to support the Great Cities Commitment through innovative education and engaged research. Playing a critical role in Illinois healthcare, UIC operates the state’s major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois’ physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
- Approximately one in six Illinois doctors is a graduate of the UIC College of Medicine.
- One in three Illinois pharmacists is a graduate of the UIC College of Pharmacy.
- More than 40 percent of the state’s dentists are graduates of UIC’s College of Dentistry.
History
The beginnings of the medical school component of UIC can be traced back to the founding of the private Chicago Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1858 and the private Chicago College of Pharmacy in 1859. These units, along with the private College of Physicians and Surgeons, which opened in 1882, were absorbed by the University of Illinois in the 1890s.In 1946, the University of Illinois opened the Chicago Undergraduate Division at Navy Pier, as a two-year temporary campus. The G.I. Bill was the catalyst for creating undergraduate instruction in Chicago—the University of Illinois pledged to admit all qualified students and established the two-year branch campus at Navy Pier to handle the staggering number of students.
Chicago’s Mayor Richard J. Daley answered the call for a four-year campus in the city by leading the drive for creation of the University of Illinois Circle Campus (UICC) in 1965, a cause he had championed from his earliest days in the Illinois General Assembly in the 1930s. Italian Americans who lived nearby were not pleased that the large stretch of vacant land they hoped would become commercial became a campus. The campus for years was officially "The University of Illinois at Chicago Circle," and known simply as the "Circle campus." The Circle referred to the nearby intersection of three major expressways. The modern UIC was formed in 1982 by the consolidation of the two U. of I. campuses: the Medical Center campus and the Chicago Circle campus. The university has phased out the use of "Circle" as a result of consolidation and expansion. "UIC" is the preferred shortened name today.
Academics
UIC offers 74 bachelor’s, 77 master’s and 60 doctoral degree programs in its 15 colleges.- College of Applied Health Sciences
- College of Architecture and the Arts
- College of Business Administration
- College of Dentistry
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- Graduate College
- Honors College
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- College of Medicine
- College of Nursing
- College of Pharmacy
- School of Public Health
- Jane Addams College of Social Work
- College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
Awards
UIC’s faculty have been recognized with many prestigious awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Fulbright Distinguished Professorship, Guggenheim Foundation grant, National Science Foundation’s CAREER grant, Jonas Salk Lifetime Achievement Award, Society of Women Engineers’ Achievement Award, and the United States Capitol Historical Society’s Freedom Award. Two faculty members in the College of Architecture and the Arts have won MacArthur Fellowships, also known as “genius grants.”UIC students win major national competitive awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship, Gates Cambridge Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships, Fulbright Fellowships, Harry S. Truman Scholarships, among others.
Rankings
UIC's pharmacy, nursing, applied health sciences, public health, social work, and urban planning programs are consistently ranked among the top in the nation. The college of dentistry is one of only two such programs offered in the state of Illinois. UIC's finance program is making strides by placing itself within the top 20 programs in the nation at the graduate level, surpassing that of its sister college at Urbana-Champaign, through utilizing the advantage of being located in a major financial center.As a university, UIC tied for 56th place in the best academic universities in North America by an annual listing of the Top 500 World Universities, published the Institute of Higher Education in Shanghai, China.http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2004/Top%20100%20North%20&%20Latin%20American%20Universities.htm
The neighborhood
UIC's campus is located in the Little Italy/University Village neighborhood of Chicago, just west of the downtown financial district. The neighborhood is home to scores of shops, restaurants, bars, bookstores, cafe's and museums. It is currently in a stage of transition with several large-scale developments creating thousands of new residences. While the majority of UIC's 25,000 students commute from the city and surrounding suburbs, University Village is home to nearly 5,000 students, 3,100 of which live in UIC's 9 residence halls.
The Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line, part of the Chicago 'L', runs in the median of the Eisenhower Expressway along the north side of the campus. Four stations are close to the university and its medical campus: Medical Center, Polk, Racine, and UIC-Halsted.
The West Campus is the university's home for the health sciences. The Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry, Applied Health Sciences and Public Health, as well as the Library of the Health Sciences are all located on the West Campus. The West Campus is in the heart of the Illinois Medical District, where the University of Illinois Medical Center is located.
Sports and traditions
UIC’s sports teams are called the Flames and their colors are blue and red. The Flames participate in the NCAA’s Division I as part of the Horizon League. The team mascot is Sparky D. Dragon.The UIC Flames consist of 300 student athletes competing in 18 varsity sports. The men's basketball team competed in the NCAA tournament in 2004, 2002 and 1998, and appeared in the NIT tournament in 2003. UIC's women's tennis team has won the conference championship ten years in a row, and the women's softball team won the conference championship in six of seven years between 1999 and 2005. UIC field Men's Ice Hockey but the program folded in the early 1990's.
The Fury is the official student booster club of the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Athletics. Jenny McCarthy's two younger sisters played basketball for the UIC Flames. She was often seen cheering at their games.
Notable UIC people
Faculty
- Bill Ayers - professor of education. A 1960s-era political activist and former member of the Weather Underground. Ayers is the author of a number of books on the teaching profession, and is active in progressive campaigns for school reform.
- Daniel Bernstein - professor, department of math, statistics and computer science. Author of qmail, tinydns. A multiple NSF grant winner and Sloan Foundation fellow, Bernstein is also distinguished for his work in the fields of cryptography and computer security.
- John D'Emilio - professor, department of gender and women studies, department of history. A leading scholar of gay and lesbian history, D'Emilio's work was cited Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in his 2003 majority opinion when the court struck down a Texas law that criminalized sodomy.
- Aida Giachello - associate professor of social work, founded the Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. TIME magazine called the center "a national model for engaging community leaders, rather than outside 'experts' in collecting data, assessing medical needs and developing plans for combating health problems that disproportionately affect Latinos." Giachello was named to TIME magazine's list of the nation's 25 most influential Hispanics.
- Gerald Graff - professor, department of English. A respected literary critic, particularly on the subject of pedagogy.
- Paul J. Griffiths - Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Catholic Studies and Chair, department of classics and mediterranean studies. A leading scholar in the fields of religious and Catholic studies, with a specialization in Augustine, Buddhist thought, and religious diversity.
- Norman R. Farnsworth - professor, department of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy, and director, Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences. He received the annual Research Achievement Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy, which will be named "The Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award in Natural Products Research" in 2006. He is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine and received the E.K. Janaki Ammal Medal from the Lucknow, India-based Society of Ethnbotanists, in recognition of his long and distinguished service to Ethnobotany.
- Michael E. Johnson - professor, department of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy, and director, UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. He heads the UIC research team that has received a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to develop drugs to treat and stop the spread of anthrax. He has received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Paul Dawson Biotechnology Award, the highest award in biotechnology given in academic pharmacy.
- Ned Lukacher - professor, department of English. A notable scholar whose research synthesizes work from multiple disciplines -- literary theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis. Lukacher is most notable for his exposition and analysis of Jacques Derrida and William Shakespeare; his intellectual and pedagogical interests are largely devoted to reconfiguring Shakespeare's place within the histories of psychoanalysis and philosophy.
- Inigo Manglano-Ovalle - professor of studio arts, he received a MacArthur fellowship in 2001. He has received fellowships also from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, ArtPace Foundation, and Great Cities Institute. His work is in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. He exhibited in the Whitney Biennial in 2000 and has shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout the US and Europe. His work has been reviewed in Art in America and Artforum magazines and in dozens of newspapers.
- Kerry James Marshall - professor of studio arts best known for his paintings. He was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 1997 and was featured in the PBS series "Art: 21-Art in the 21st Century" as one of the country's most influential contemporary artists. He has exhibited his paintings in the Venice Biennale and in group and solo shows in Berlin, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, and numerous other cities. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Denver Museum of Art, and the Studio Museum of Harlem.
- Deirdre McCloskey - Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
- Walter Benn Michaels - professor and chair, department of English. A respected literary critic, particularly for his work on identity studies and American culture. He is also well known for the article Against Theory, which appeared in Critical Inquiry.
- S. Jay Olshansky - professor of epidemiology, UIC School of Public Health. He is a biodemographer known for his research on the upper limits to human aging and longevity and his efforts to inform the public about products that claim to reverse or stop the aging process. Olshansky is the lead author of "The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging," the recipient of two Independent Science Awards from the National Institute on Aging, and a Fulbright Senior Specialist.
- Dick Simpson - professor, department of political science. One of Chicago's most active politicians, he is responsible for over half a million dollars in grants, and the author of four widely acclaimed books on government. He is also known for campaigning against former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, as well as his son (and present Chicago Mayor), Richard M. Daley.
- John Regalbuto - professor, department of chemical engineering. A world leader in noble metal catalysis preparation; his group has developed new methods to make catalysts more efficient than ever by controlling the pH at their formation. In 2000, Regalbuto chaired a study for the University of Illinois system on the effectiveness of online teaching. Widely published, he is currently working on an engineering ethics textbook.
- Keith Thulborn, MD, PhD- professor of radiology, physiology and biophysics and director of the MR Research Program. He was instrumental in developing the 9.4 Tesla MRI system. The 9.4 Tesla, built by GE Healthcare, is the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine for human studies, capable of imaging not just the anatomy, but the metabolism within the brain. The magnet is more than 100,000 times stronger than the earth's magnetic field. It is housed at UIC in the Center for MR Research.
- Enrico Benedetti, MD-is the chief of transplant at UIC Medical Center and is the director of liver, bowel and kidney transplant. His main interest is living-donor bowel transplant, and he is the world leader having performed 20 out of 40 cases done worldwide.
- Asrar Malik, PhD- is distinguished professor and head of the department of pharmacology at UIC. His research interests include unlocking the mysteries of receptor interactions that regulate the function of the vessel wall lining endothelial cells and addressing the molecular basis of microvessel injury that underlies inflammatory diseases. The research takes advantage of strategies in genomics, proteomics, models of human diseases in genetically modified mice, and advanced imaging and analytical methods. The objectives of his work are to achieve a deeper understanding of the biology of blood vessels in health and disease and to develope novel therepetuic approaches against acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.
- R. John Solaro, PhD- is distinguished university professor and head of physiology and biophysics at UIC. He has edited three monographs on the following subjects: Cardiovascular System: The Heart, Protein Phosphorylation in Heart Muscle and Molecular Control Mechanisms in Striated Muscle Contraction. He has contributed more than 100 peer-reviewed publications to the field.
- Bennett Leventhal, MD- a child and adolescent psychiatrist and Director, Center for Child Mental Health and Developmental Neuroscience in the Institute for Juvenile Research at UIC, has distinguished national and international reputation for his work in the areas of autism, ADHD, pharmacology, genetics, juvenile justice and public policy. Leventhal came to UIC from the University of Chicago in 2005 where he is the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Emeritus.
- John Sweeney, PhD-is a professor of psychiatry, neurology and psychology as well as director of the Center for Cognitive Medicine and the Psychotic Disorders Program at UIC. He is a clinical investigator with interests in autism and schizophrenia. He is currently a standing member of the NIH study section that evaluates grant applications related to the neuroscience of mental disorders. His personal research program has been continuously funded by NIH since 1984.
Alumni
- Naeema Al-Gasseer - MS 1987, PHD 1990. Head, World Health Organization in Iraq.
- Anand Bhatt - 1997, MS 2001. Grammy voting member, new millennium rock personality and producer.
- Carol Moseley Braun - 1969. The first African-American woman elected to the US Senate.
- Gery Chico - 1979. Former president of the Chicago Board of Education.
- Dr. Daniel T. Cloud - 1965. Former president of the American Medical Association.
- Ellis Cose - 1972. Author, Columnist and Contributing Editor, Newsweek Magazine.
- Janina Gavankar - Actor, Recording Artist.
- Michael Gross - 1970. Movie and television actor best known for his role as Steven Keaton on the 1980's NBC sitcom Family Ties.
- Joseph Hartnett - 1978. President and CEO of US Robotics.
- Daniel Henney - model turned actor is best known for his break-through role in "My Name is Kim Sam Soon"
- Al Jourgensen - attended the Circle Campus circa 1979. [link]
- Mary Mahler - 1972. Assistant Regional Commissioner for Management and Operations and Support for the Social Security Administration.
- James J. McNulty - 1973. President and CEO of the Chicago Merchantile Exchange.
- Leonard Roberts - 1971. Executive Chairman, RadioShack Corporation.
- Bobby L. Rush - 1994. U.S. Congressman.
- Barbara A. Schaal - 1969. Evolutionary Biologist and current Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Andy Shaw - 1971. News reporter, ABC News-Chicago.
- Bernard Shaw - 1968. Leading news anchor for the CNN from 1980 to his retirement in 2001.
- Shel Silverstein - attended the University of Illinois at Navy Pier for a year
- Adrian D. Smith - 1969. Partner, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill whose claim to fame largely revolved around enormous Chicago renovation projects.
- James R. Thompson - former governor of Illinois and member of the 9/11 Commission.
- Michael G. Turnbull - 1973. Assistant Architect of the Capitol in Washington, DC, previously head of the Department of Design and Construction at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Note
- The University of Illinois at Chicago is sometimes confused with the University of Chicago, a private university.External links
- [Official website]
- [Official athletics website]
- [Campus maps]
- [UIC University Library], including the [Library of the Health Sciences]
- * Have a question? [Ask A Librarian] at UIC
- [University of Illinois Alumni Association]
- [Jane Addams Hull House]
- [University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry]
- [University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago]
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