Pulitzer Prize winner and Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty member Marilynne Robinson was named a finalist Wednesday for the National Book Award. Robinson was cited for Lila, the third of an Iowa-based trilogy that began with her Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead.

Bernice Chauly, a diverse artist who has taught creative writing for three years in the American Degree Program at Taylor’s University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, encouraged three of her students to travel to Iowa City to pursue their undergraduate degrees in creative writing at the UI. Now she's joined them on the UI campus, participating in the International Writing Program.

Two South African women used their University of Iowa education to help rebuild their country after apartheid.

The University of Iowa’s Dance Gala 2014 will feature the best in dance and choreography – powerful energy, graceful flight, and electrifying performances – including those led by internationally acclaimed Department of Dance faculty choreographers Charlotte Adams, Armando Duarte, Jennifer Kayle, and Nichoals Leichter, along with special guest choreographer Esther Baker-Tarpaga.

The University of Iowa invites UI faculty and staff to provide candid feedback on what it’s like to work at the university. Working at Iowa, a quick and confidential survey, will be offered to all UI faculty and staff beginning Tuesday, Oct. 14 through Friday, Oct. 24.

Free public events from the University of Iowa Alumni Association bring the expertise of UI faculty to Iowa communities.

University of Iowa alumnus and climate scientist James Hansen, a native of Denison, Iowa, is widely considered a climate science pioneer. Hansen is returning to the UI campus to deliver a lecture on lessons from Iowa and global climate policies Thursday, Oct. 16.

Nick Yablon, associate professor of American studies at the UI, gave a brief history of the time capsule as a tradition, calling it a fairly recent development that set off a "craze for sending things across time."

A century-old time capsule, filled mostly with documents by long-gone Wall Street businessmen celebrating New York as a commercial hub, was unsealed on Wednesday. UI American studies faculty member Nick Yablon had the honor of retrieving items from their container.

"Iowa Now Minute" is a 60-second roundup highlighting recent UI activities, research, public engagement, and campus life. Look for a new video every Thursday in Iowa Now.

The contributions of almost 30 University of Iowa faculty and staff were recognized and celebrated at the annual UI Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet Tuesday, Oct. 7, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources.

In recognition of its ongoing commitment to educational exchange between the U.S. and China, the University of Iowa was recently chosen as one of eight signature partners of the 100,000 Strong Foundation for 2014-15.