July 31, 2025 Thanks to a $2.5M gift from Richard and Leslie Frank in 2024—who endowed the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media in 2020 and enabled the renovation of Richmond Studio—exciting upgrades in the lower level of Gregory Hall began in Spring 2025. This will result in the creation of […]
April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood It’s no surprise that renowned media studies scholar and two-time University of Illinois alum Denise Bielby (BS ’71, MA ’72, ACES), Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was interested in fellow alum Roger Ebert’s work and helping preserve his legacy. Bielby, whose research […]
March 14, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood From her standing desk at her home office in Northern California, Marilynn Preston (BS ’67, journalism)—journalist, healthy lifestyle expert, and Emmy-winning TV producer—spoke with zeal about the role health and wellness has played in her life and why she’s inspired to share her passion with students in the College […]
September 17, 2024 With their latest $2.5 million donation, Richard and Leslie Frank increased their historic gift to the College of Media to upgrade classrooms on the lower level of Gregory Hall. The new funding will enable a substantial renovation of the lower level of Gregory Hall, with the creation of a new hybrid, flexible, […]
March 29, 2024 | Kelly Youngblood (Photos by Charles “Stretch” Ledford.) A group of journalism students heard harrowing stories from the local women they interviewed while filming a documentary about period poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, over spring break. “Girls talked of being bullied at school when they got their period. Mothers talked about […]
March 27, 2024 | Kelly Youngblood A group of College of Media students participated in a spring break media tour in Chicago, meeting Illinois alumni and visiting various industry sites including advertising agencies, news organizations, and a film studio. Led by faculty members Victor Font, lecturer in media and cinema studies, and Margaret Ng, assistant […]
The Murray Kalis Award for Creativity in Advertising, established in 2020 by College of Media alumnus Murray Kalis, is given to a few select advertising students who demonstrate exceptional creative work in the classroom. The criteria for these awards includes: smart positioning, outstanding creative concept, strong execution, and a “wow” factor. The inaugural winners are: The students created […]