Only days after "Avengers: Infinity War" debuted with the biggest box office opening weekend in cinematic history, Joe Russo—who co-directed the Marvel blockbuster with his brother, Anthony—returned to the University of Iowa campus, where his passionate pursuit of storytelling first took flight.

For the seventh consecutive year, black and gold bows and signs stating “Phil Was Here” were tagged on buildings that have benefited from donations. UI faculty, staff, and students also signed thank-you postcards for donors and wore “I am Phil” stickers to symbolize their connection to this cause.

UI College of Education professors and students are partnering with Kirkwood Elementary School in Coralville as part of a new college prep program called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). The program, which encourages children to attend college, will expand to other schools in the fall.

More than 4,300 University of Iowa students will receive their degrees at spring 2018 commencement ceremonies, which begin Thursday, May 10, with the College of Pharmacy and end on Friday, May 25, with the College of Dentistry. All other ceremonies will take place May 11–13.

Calvin Phillips, associate vice president of student affairs (senior student affairs officer) at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, is the fourth finalist for the next UI associate vice president and dean of students. He will give a public presentation from 1 to 1:50 p.m. Thursday, May 3.

Michèle Crider, one of the world’s preeminent sopranos, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa during the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 12.

Edith Parker, professor and chair of the University of Iowa Department of Community and Behavioral Health, has been named dean of the UI College of Public Health. She will begin on June 1.

As part of their senior design course, four UI biomedical engineering students created the GAMA bra, a compression garment that can be worn by breast cancer patients after a unilateral mastectomy. The garment could help thousands of patients avoid painful swelling associated with lymphedema.

The University of Utah has named Dan Reed, former University of Iowa vice president for research and economic development, as senior vice president for academic affairs effective July 1, 2018.

Eric Norman, vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students at Purdue University Fort Wayne, is the third finalist for the next associate vice president and dean of students. He will give a public presentation from 1 to 1:50 p.m. Tuesday, May 1.

Michael Simon is making the most of his second go-round as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa. The veteran and geoscience major from Guttenberg, Iowa, invented a mechanism to clear river debris, sparked by an idea he had during a geology class.

Carolyn Copps Hartley, a Spring 2018 Obermann Fellow-in-Residence and associate professor in the School of Social Work, is studying how the sexual misconduct adjudication process works at the UI in order to identify key research questions to examine the effectiveness of the UI process.