Fred Skiff, professor and chair in Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been appointed to the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee in the U.S Department of Energy's Office of Science. Skiff will advise the DOE in laser and optical plasma diagnostics, and nonlinear dynamics of plasmas.

University of Iowa biologists have traced the evolutionary origin of genes associated with a key enzyme involved in regulating metabolism in eukaryotes, which include all living organisms other than bacteria. The findings were published earlier this month in the journal PLOS One.

The University of Iowa School of Social Work has added a master class as a follow-up to the popular Creative Writing Seminar for Social Workers, which has provided writing courses for 29 years.

Dana Thomann, lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric, collaborated with Academic Support and Retention to start a pilot program that embeds peer tutors in rhetoric classrooms. The goal is to use peer support to improve student learning, and the results so far are promising.

Kevin Kregel, University of Iowa executive vice provost and senior associate provost for faculty and professor of human physiology, recently was named vice president-elect for science policy at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

Thanks in part to a new residency program to train students in the intricacies of creating public art, boarded-up windows, concrete walls, and fertilizer bins will become canvases for large-scale art projects in 10 Iowa communities. One city also will welcome a large-scale, solar-powered sculpture to its downtown plaza.

Grants and other funding that support University of Iowa research and scholarship reached an all-time high in FY19, bolstered in part by increased support from the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. Total external funding to the UI increased 6%, or $34.8 million, to an unprecedented $588.8 million.

Steve Duck, Daniel and Amy Starch Distinguished Research Chair and department chair in rhetoric, has been awarded the Mark L. Knapp Award in Interpersonal Communication by the National Communication Association.

A select group of first-year students from rural Iowa communities is learning about research as Rural Scholars. The program was created five years ago by Scott Shaw, associate professor of chemistry, who wasn’t exposed to research as an undergraduate.

University of Iowa Associate Professor Nick Yablon's recent book, Remembrance of Things Present, traces the birth of the time capsule to the Gilded Age, when growing urban volatility prompted doubts about how the period would be remembered—or if it would be remembered at all.

Physics and astronomy professor Craig Kletzing has been named the inaugural holder of the Donald A. and Marie B. Gurnett Chair. The five-year appointment will begin July 1.

The University of Iowa’s Aging and Longevity Studies Program’s (ALSP) certificate program, housed in the School of Social Work, has earned the Program of Merit designation from the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), a national membership organization of colleges and universities that offers education, training, and research programs in the field of aging.