The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences publishes The Quadrangle magazine to tell stories about and impacting the college's alumni, students, faculty, and staff.
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News & research from LAS
Click on the images to read recent news and research from faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Never saying no to science
To chemistry professor Joaquín Rodríguez-López, science begins with opportunity.
Books from LAS
Indigenous poetry, natural disasters, political philosophy, and racism in Russia were just some of the subjects of books published recently by LAS faculty members.
Juan E. Velàsquez (PhD, ’11, chemistry) serves as the director of biocatalysis and protein engineering at Merck, where he has led efforts in enzyme discovery and engineering for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals targeting cancer, HIV, and cardiovascular diseases.
The profound quest of LaKisha David
Anthropology professor has navigated a long path to research questions of ancestry and identity.
The lessons of COVID-19
LAS builds on meaningful changes that started with the outbreak of the pandemic.
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Spike squad sensation
LAS alumna Laura DeBruler Santos is named to Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame.
The life of a volunteer
Kenn Allen receives an alumni award for more than 60 years of service.
Deep thinking in an age of artificial thought
The Department of Philosophy leads an important endeavor: how to deal with the AI revolution.
LAS Experts: Shaowen Wang
Shaowen Wang, professor of geography and geographic information science and associate dean for life and physical sciences in the College of LAS, discusses the dramatic advancement of his work and field.
The creation of the Department of Latina/Latino Studies grew out of the spring 1992 student protests for Latina/o rights on campus. The Latina/Latino Studies Program was created in 1996, and the unit became a department in 2010. In 2026, it will celebrate 30 years on campus. Photos courtesy of La Casa Cultural Latina and the University of Illinois Archives.
The degrees of pride
The Student Academic Affairs Office works hard to resolve many varieties of circumstances, as evidenced by the recent story of Bonnie Kim, who returned to U of I after 45 years to earn her bachelor’s degree.
LAS@Work
For Ljubica Basica (BA,’18, history and political science; MBA,’23), a project manager at Google with Mandiant Cybersecurity Consulting, the critical thinking and analytical skills she gained in LAS are essential for tackling complex cybersecurity projects.