Allyn Mark is recognized internationally for his research in brain control of the cardiovascular system and blood pressure, but his greatest passion is as a mentor to trainees and young faculty. Mark will be honored for his exceptional mentoring skills with the 2013 UI Carver College of Medicine’s Distinguished Mentor Award.

The JACK Quartet, current residents of the UI String Quartet Residency Program, spent much of this week with composition and string students in the School of Music. A week of mentoring and developing students' work will culminate with the JACK performing UI student compositions Friday, Oct. 11, in Riverside Recital Hall.

The University of Iowa School of Music will present a free performance by organist Christoph Keggenhoff at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. Keggenhoff will perform music of Bach, Buxtehude, Eben, and Merkel on the Taylor and Boody op. 13 organ, which is built in the style of organs known to Bach.

The University of Iowa Center for New Music will present a performance by guest composer Michael Harrison titled “Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Riverside Recital Hall on the UI campus. The performance is free and open to the public.

Ted Anton will talk about great science and nature writing jobs at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Glenn Schaeffer Library, adjacent to the Dey House.

The University of Iowa Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development will celebrate 470 outstanding fourth through 12th grade students and the teachers who inspired them at its annual recognition ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, in the Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge.

Peter Bagge, an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics Hate and Neat Stuff, will read from his new book, "Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story," at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City.

Author and investigative journalist Tracie McMillan will visit the University of Iowa on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to lead a discussion and read from her book "The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table."

The University of Iowa will host the 2013 World Food Prize Laureates for a public lecture at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the Old Capitol.

As the 50th anniversary of the civil rights "Freedom Summer" approaches, the University of Iowa Alumni Association pays tribute to Iowans who risked their lives to help end discrimination.

See the PERSON, NOT the disability" is the theme of the University of Iowa Disability Awareness T-shirt Campaign, one of several initiatives and activities planned as part of October, National Disability Awareness Month.

Rebalancing Health Care in the Heartland, the sixth in an ongoing series of forums designed to support Iowa policymakers in their efforts to improve health care for Iowans, takes place Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Des Moines and will focus on public-private sector strategies and the impact of the Affordable Care Act on business.