To raise money for cancer charities, University of Iowa alumnus Steve Cannon ran 40 marathons in 40 consecutive days around Lake Michigan.

Patrick Fischer of Lone Tree, Iowa, a double major in physics and astronomy in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has won a scholarship that may help him to achieve his goal of one day studying processes on planets and moons that hold the potential for life.

David D. Permutter and David Dowling, director and assistant director, respectively, for the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication, write how the demand for in-depth stories can promote a return to the humanitarian origins of journalism.

On Nov. 9, NASA renamed a recently launched mission to study Earth's Van Allen radiation belts as the Van Allen Probes mission in honor of the late James A. Van Allen, U.S. space pioneer and longtime distinguished professor of physics in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

A University of Iowa team of more than 30 researchers from five different colleges has been named a finalist and awarded $5,000 in a competition that challenged international research teams to provide the best interpretation and communication of DNA sequencing results for three children with rare, undiagnosed genetic diseases.

Samuel Becker, namesake of the UI's Samuel L. Becker Communication Studies Building, died today, Thursday, Nov. 8. He was 89.

UI political science professor Tim Hagle says he believes gay marriage is safe for the foreseeable future after Iowa voters decided to retain a state Supreme Court justice who participated in the landmark 2009 ruling that made Iowa the first Midwestern state to allow gay marriage.

University of Iowa political science professor Cary Covington says third-party victories in Maine and Vermont may have been idiosyncratic, having more to do with the personal popularity of the candidates.

A special, customized UI Alumni Association tour led by a University of Iowa professor offers UI alumni and friends the rare opportunity to explore Cuba, meet its people, and discover shared passions for art, literature, dance, and music.

The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History will continue its Explorers Seminar Series on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. with “In and Out of Africa—The Horned Giants that Ate Our Ancestors,” a lecture by Chris Brochu, UI associate professor of geoscience.

Pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nicholas Canellakis, both of New York, will perform in the atrium of the John Colloton Pavilion at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at noon Monday, Nov. 19. The performance is free and open to the public.

The University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts will hold open auditions Nov. 10-15 for more than 75 roles in 10 spring productions. General auditions will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, and from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11. Callbacks will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Nov. 12-15.