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The University of Iowa has partnered with the Iowa Children's Museum on "Playing is Learning," an initiative to reintroduce children, and their parents, to the concept of play. The kickoff event is May 14 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the children's museum in Coralville.

Two University of Iowa alumnae have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research internationally in 2013-14. This year's UI recipients are Margaret Ross and Rebecca McCray.

Death notices for current and retired UI employees. Links to online obituaries provided when available.

A friendship between public health graduate students Mandy Schey and Shawn Zierke helped spark the development of a new fitness program for patients receiving weight loss surgery at the UI.

Researchers at the University of Iowa and colleagues at Cornell University have received a five-year, $10.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue their work investigating the biological links between high blood pressure and obesity.

A new lightning protection system was recently installed in the state champion walnut tree on the University of Iowa Pentacrest.

This April, 10 Greek houses at the University of Iowa unplugged electronics and turned off lights as part of the Greek Energy Challenge, the first competition of its kind on the UI campus.

The University of Iowa has produced a multimedia package chronicling a day in the life of Jerry Jackson, a 66-year-old Burlington man whose family suffers from a rare, inherited eye disease called ADNIV. Specialists at the UI's ophthalmology department have been studying the disease for more than two decades and now believe they've found the first genetic cause for it.

UI alumna Meg Bessman-Quintero is the only bilingual, master's-level mental health therapist practicing in the Sioux City area who counsels primarily Spanish-speaking immigrants and their families, filling a critical mental health niche in western Iowa.

Buddy Guy will bring the blues to Iowa City as part of a new Summer of the Arts Festival. The University of Iowa's Hancher is presenting the concert during the Iowa Soul Festival Sept. 13.

Now that spring has sprung and summer seems like a sure thing after all, the urge to hit the road for a day trip grows stronger. Iowa Now invites its readers to share some of their favorite spots for one-day getaways.