News: Faculty

2022

AIP Oral History: Interview of Walter Massey by David Zierler

March 24, 2022

Walter E. Massey

In this AIP Oral History, Walter Massey, chairman of the board of the Giant Magellan Telescope, former UChicago professor and now advisor and trustee emeritus, describes his childhood in segregated Mississippi, his drive towards championing scientific discovery, and contributions across civil rights, science policy, and higher education. 


Prof. Scott Snyder, Dept. of Chemistry, receives 2022 Cottrell STAR Award from the Research Corporation

March 22, 2022

Scott Sndyer

Prof. Scott Snyder, Department of Chemistry, has been selected for the 2022 Cottrell STAR Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, cited as “an accomplished organic chemist and pedagogical innovator committed to the education of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students beyond his own lab and classroom.”


DSI part of $4.6M Mastercard grant to data.org Capacity Accelerator Network

March 22, 2022

A woman is demonstrating cellular technology to a circle of older women in India

The Data Science Institute at UChicago is part of a grant of $4.6M in funding delivered by the Mastercard Impact Fund for data.org’s Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) that will support the creation of a consortium of diverse higher education partners to amplify social impact through data science.


James W. Truran, pioneer in nuclear astrophysics and beloved colleague, 1940-2022

March 22, 2022

Prof. Emeritus James W. Truran, who helped lay the foundations for our understanding of how virtually all elements of the universe were created in stars and stellar explosions, died March 5. He was 81.


With the arrival of spring temps, ice coverage on Lake Michigan is likely to end up just below average this season

March 21, 2022

Person walking in melting ice at Lake Michigan shoreline to show arrival of spring temps

Great Lakes scientists, including some from the University of Chicago, recently took part in the first coordinated sampling effort of the lakes in winter to understand what disappearing ice might mean for one of the largest freshwater systems on the planet.


Bringing personal finance to the classroom for Generation Z

March 21, 2022

An illustration of a man placing a coin into his baseball cap, to suggest learning about saving money

Rebecca Maxcy, director of The Financial Education Initiative at UChicago, comments on access and quality in personal finance instruction in high schools. Her group’s tool kit for evaluation of instructional materials and classroom advocacy is recommended.


New York Times memorializes Prof. Eugene Parker

March 18, 2022

Eugene Parker

Prof. Emeritus Michael S. Turner memorializes Prof. Eugene Parker in the @nytimes: "He was Mr. Magnetism...He was the expert on magnetism in the universe and understood it better than anyone else."


Prof. Young-Kee Kim elected as foreign member of the KAST

March 17, 2022

Young-Kee Kim

Young-Kee Kim, Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, has been elected as a foreign member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.


Prof. Elisabeth Moyer discusses oil independence on NewsNation

March 17, 2022

Liz Moyer in a lavender top outside

Geophysical scientist Elisabeth Moyer joined NewsNation to discuss the 'key' to oil independence.


Prof. Sidney Nagel takes part in Gray Center collaborative exhibition

March 17, 2022

Image of droplets breaking apart

Physicist Sidney Nagel is part of a new exhibition that brings together faculty and artists to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Gray Center's Mellon Collaborative Fellowship in Arts Practice and Scholarship.


New Data & Democracy Research Initiative launched at University of Chicago

March 17, 2022

illustration of someone submitting to a ballot box that is coming out of a computer

A new research initiative at the University of Chicago called the Data & Democracy Initiative aims to ignite interdisciplinary research on the digital challenges facing democracies around the world.


Eugene Parker, ‘legendary figure’ in solar science and namesake of Parker Solar Probe, 1927-2022

March 16, 2022

Eugene Parker, University of Chicago Prof. Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Prof. Emeritus Eugene N. Parker, a pioneering astrophysicist whose contributions to solar physics were so enormous that NASA named its Parker Solar Probe mission after him, died March 15. He was 94.


Prof. Scott Snyder authors new edition of prominent organic chemistry text from Wiley

March 14, 2022

Scott Sndyer

The Organic Chemistry textbook from Wiley first came out in 1976 and is used by undergraduates throughout the world. Professor Scott Snyder joined the author team for the 11th edition over a decade ago and has since contributed to both the 12th edition and the 13th edition that was published this month.


New assistant professor Rana Hanocka combines AI, 3D, and computer graphics

March 14, 2022

Rana Hanocka

Faculty profile of Rana Hanocka, a new assistant professor who joined UChicago CS in the summer of 2021, aims to democratize this technology, building AI capabilities for 3D data that transform aspiration into reality.


196 lasers help scientists recreate the conditions inside gigantic galaxy clusters

March 11, 2022

A technician works at the National Ignition Facility.

Astrophysicist Prof. Emeritus Don Lamb is co-author on a new paper that may solve a decades-long mystery—why is gas in galaxy clusters still hot even after billions of years? Focusing 196 lasers on a target the size of a dime, scientists simulated conditions in a galaxy cluster and found solid evidence that hot and cold spots come from the impact of magnetic fields on the cooling of the hot gas.