MACOMB, IL – Two Western Illinois University students from the Geographic Information System (GIS) Center will be honored in October with the Illinois GIS Association (ILGISA) Outstanding Student Award. Senior GIS majors Zach Healy, of Dixon, IL, and Clint Quigley, of Glasford, IL, will be given two of five outstanding student awards presented statewide. The awards will be given during the ILGISA’s virtual annual conference Oct. 5-6. GIS Center Director Chad Sperry, the current ILGISA president, also serves on the Next Gen 911 Committee, which will receive a service award at the same conference. Sperry... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – – Emilee Rains, a 2020 Western Illinois University teacher education alumna and second grade teacher at George O. Barr Elementary in Silvis, IL, is the first student to graduate after participating in the Great River Teacher Corps (GRTC) program. Western’s GRTC program is meeting the need for more rural teachers by offering teacher education scholarships to students who will in turn work in west central Illinois schools. Rains initially chose Western because it was an affordable university near her hometown with a long history of successful teacher preparation.... Read More

MOLINE, IL – – Western Illinois University is one of five Illinois colleges and universities, and the only four-year public university, to receive $1.3 million in grant funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) to strengthen and diversify the early childhood workforce. Western received $225,516 for the coming year, which will be used to address the shortage and grow the qualified pool of early childhood educators for the rural McDonough County region. Boh Young Lee, project director and WIU associate professor, was able to recruit 14 participants who will begin courses... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – For the eighth consecutive year, Western Illinois University has been listed among the best of the best, and one of the best colleges for student voting by the Washington Monthly. This year, WIU, ranked at number 12, is listed in the top 25 of “Best Bang for the Buck” Midwestern schools, according to the 2020 Washington Monthly College Guide, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, WIU is also the highest ranked Illinois public master’s institution out of 614 nationwide in the Washington Monthly’s Top Master’s... Read More

MACOMB, IL – Western Illinois University will celebrate U.S. Constitution Day Thursday, Sept. 17 both virtually and through channel 3. This year’s theme is “The U.S. Constitution: Applying the Enduring Document to Our Lives.” Constitution Day celebrates the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787. “This year’s Constitution Day celebration features a Zoom event with Dr. Heriberto Urby, and a panel discussion on WIU channel 3 with Dr. Keith Boeckelman and Dr. Rick Hardy, and Lt. Colonel Joan Sommers will serve as moderator,” said Honors College... Read More

MACOMB, IL — Western Illinois University alumna and Macomb school teacher Adrienne Graham grew up playing school in Maywood, IL, and telling stories with her sister. Now, she’s a first-grade teacher in Macomb who recently published her own book, “The Color of Friendship,” focusing on children learning about diversity. Graham, who graduated from Western in 2014, with a teacher education degree, and in 2018, with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, is in her seventh year of teaching for the Macomb School District. This past year, she decided it was time... Read More

MACOMB, IL – Just 12 months after Western Illinois University Agriculture Professor Win Phippen announced the award of a $10 million federal grant to investigate the use of Pennycress as a commercial cash crop, a second grant has been awarded that dovetails into the initial grant and helps ensure a consistent version of the alternative crop is produced. WIU will receive just under $1 million of a $13 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant aimed at genetically strengthening pennycress plants for use in sustainable energy work. For WIU’s portion of the grant, the University Farm will... Read More

MACOMB, IL – – Western Illinois University is one of five Illinois colleges and universities, and the only four-year public university, to recieve $1.3 million in grant funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) to strengthen and diversify the early childhood workforce. Western recieved $225,516 for the coming year, which will be used to address the shortage and grow the qualified pool of early childhood educators for the rural McDonough County region. Boh Young Lee, project director and WIU associate professor, was able to recruit 14 participants who will begin courses... Read More

The 34th annual Mary Olive Woods lecture at Western Illinois University has been postponed for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Michael Rea, the John A. O’Brien professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Philosophy and Religion at Notre Dame has been rescheduled to deliver the lecture, “The Hiddenness of God,” in September 2021. Rea has taught at the University of Notre Dame since 2001. His research focuses primarily on topics in metaphysics, philosophy of religion and analytic theology. He has written or edited more than 10 books and 40 articles, and... Read More

MACOMB, IL — In a typical summer, Western Illinois University’s (WIU) Office of Study Abroad and Outreach (SAO) hosts an average 10 summer camps, programs in which youth in grades 4 and up spend a week on campus. During their week on campus, University faculty and staff give students a snapshot of what their degree programs and departments have to offer. This summer, along with many other things across campus, our camps looked quite different. Instead of campers getting to come to campus, they met via Zoom, and WIU faculty and staff worked hard to make it an engaging experience, despite... Read More