Illinois Alumni

Could the fuel of the future be growing in our fields? 🌱✈️

Professor D.K. Lee is helping answer that question through research on switchgrass and other bioenergy crops that could one day power aircraft, improve soil health, and create renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products.

From healthier farmland to more sustainable transportation, today's research is planting the seeds for tomorrow's solutions.

📖 Sustainable Substitutes: https://uiaa.org/2026/07/21/ingenious-sustainable-substitutes/

University of Illinois College of ACES

Ingenious: Sustainable Substitutes Professor D.K. Lee still remembers the Korean proverb his grandmother taught him: “Crops grow to the music of the farmer’s footsteps.” “She was trying to say that you need to go into your fields ev…

Back-to-school season isn't just for students. 🍂

Whether you're heading into the office, traveling for work, or tackling a busy schedule, now's the perfect time to refresh your connection to Illinois.

Join the Alumni Association, or give the gift of membership, and receive an Illini Fresh Start Bundle featuring an Illinois Alumni branded padfolio and power bank.

Membership provides access to alumni events, professional resources, partner discounts, and a lifelong connection to the community.

Wherever your next chapter takes you, Illinois is with you.

🔗 https://uiaa.org/membership/

🏃 This is your sign to start training for the Illinois Homecoming Fun Run.

Registration is now open for the 10th Annual Illinois Homecoming Run!

Join us on September 27 to run, jog, walk, or roll three miles, then celebrate the start of Homecoming Week with food, drinks, the Marching Illini, and more.

👕 Register by September 2 to guarantee your race shirt ➡: https://runsignup.com/Race/IL/Urbana/IllinoisHomecoming5KRace

🏅 Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee knows what it takes to help people reach their full potential.

Now she's bringing that same passion home to East St. Louis. 💙🌱

Through the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Food, Agriculture, Nutrition Innovation Center, she's partnering with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and other community leaders to expand access to healthy food, inspire the next generation of scientists and agricultural innovators, and create new opportunities for local youth to thrive.

From gardens and greenhouses to science labs and STEM careers, this partnership is planting the seeds for a stronger future: https://uiaa.org/2026/07/29/planting-the-seeds-of-success/

Some of the best parts of the Illinois experience are the people you meet along the way. 💙🧡

On International Day of Friendship, we're celebrating the friendships that begin on campus and continue long after graduation.

Today's challenge: Make one new Illinois connection. Whether it's a future mentor, a fellow alum, or someone who simply shares your Illinois story.

IlliniLink is a great place to start: https://illinilink.illinois.edu/

🏆 Congratulations to the 2026 University of Illinois Alumni Awards recipients!

Each year, the UIAA recognizes alumni and friends whose accomplishments, leadership, and service embody the spirit of Illinois.

Please join us in celebrating this year's honorees.

✨ Alumni Achievement Award
• Deb (Ridgeway) Neubek, 82 FAA
• Michael Hopkins, 92 ENG

✨ Distinguished Service Award
• Julia K. Whittington, 93 LAS, DVM '97 VETMED

✨ Honorary Alumni Award
• Dan Hartleb
• Gina Hartleb

✨ Diversity and Inclusion Award
• Fleda Mask Jackson, MS 77 ACES, PhD 91 ED

✨ Young Alumni Award
• Kathryn Polkoff, 15 ACES, MS '17 ACES

✨ Lou Liay Spirit Award
• Loren Tate, 53 MEDIA

✨ Illini Comeback Award
• Kate Des Enfants McMahon, 91 LAS
• Christopher Carpenter, 87 LAS


Fighting Illini Baseball Education at Illinois Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois

🎓 Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes of undergraduate admissions?

Join our free UIAA Speaker Series webinar, A Closer Look at Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment at Illinois, as Sara MacKenzie reflects on her first two years leading undergraduate admissions at Illinois and shares insights into today's admissions and enrollment trends.

📅 Tuesday, Aug. 25 | 🕕 6 p.m. CT

Register to receive the Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kM6oL-tzQLGYIXKDzyUiYg #/registration

Investing in our alumni means investing in continuous learning.

Our team was proud to represent marketing, membership, and business development at the 2026 CAMMP Conference. Thank you to the Nebraska Alumni Association for hosting and to the Council of Alumni Marketing and Membership Professionals for yet another incredibly valuable week of learning, collaboration, and connection.

We're excited to put these new ideas into action as we continue serving our alumni and strengthening the Illini community.

Some of the best college memories aren't made during the school year. ☀️💙

For the Illini who stayed on campus during the summer, Champaign-Urbana became a place to slow down and explore. Alumni remember outdoor concerts, farmers markets, evenings on the Quad, afternoons at Sholem Pool, favorite neighborhood restaurants, and local traditions that turned a quiet campus into something unforgettable.

Read this Memory Lane story and relive a summer worth remembering.

🧡 Summertime, and the livin’ is easy: https://uiaa.org/2026/07/10/memory-lane-summertime-and-the-livin-is-easy/