Jen Percy, a graduate of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will read from her debut, "Demon Camp: A Soldier's Exorcism," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City.

Tonya Peeples, UI professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, was appointed in 2013 as the College of Engineering's first associate dean for diversity and outreach. In that role, she is organizing the college's efforts to attract more women and minorities to engineering.

The State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa receives high marks for its newborn screening program, in which tests are completed quickly and efficiently, in some cases with life-saving results for babies.

In support of President Obama's call to make college more available to low-income students, the University of Iowa has announced a new program targeting first generation students, and with good reason: about one-third of Iowa's students are the first in their families to go to college.

The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History will begin its spring “Movies@MNH” series at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, with a free public screening of "Cold Warriors: Wolves and Buffalo" in Macbride Auditorium.

Johna Leddy, associate professor of chemistry, explored improving electrochemical systems such as batteries and fuels to make them more efficient energy sources as a Fall 2013 Obermann Fellow-in-Residence.

Cedar Rapids is expecting a significant expansion in the number of specialty food stores in the next year, which UI marketing professor John Murry notes, "reflects the changing demand...customers want an increase in products that are tailored to specific needs.”

More than 100 eighth-graders spent a day at the UI hosted by the College of Education with support from 20 other departments, the culmination of a seven-week long UI program designed to introduce careers in the health sciences to rural Iowa students.

Every spring, the UI Women's Resource and Action Center offers an intensive, five-day institute that educates college women about the political process and teaches them effective leadership skills. Students of all majors are encouraged to apply; the deadline is Feb. 20.

This year’s UI Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration of Human Rights includes a Day of Service focused on hunger and homelessness, a unity walk and tribute on the Pentacrest, and a lecture by journalist, documentarian, and TV news producer Soledad O’Brien.

The governor’s optimistic State of the State speech may well boost the stocks of Iowa-based companies and lead to an increase in capital investments within the state, according to a new study co-authored by Art Durnev, UI associate professor of finance.

The University of Iowa opens a series of events in Des Moines Tuesday, Jan. 28, with a talk by P. Barry Butler, UI executive vice president and provost, on wind energy, which has emerged as a vital part of Iowa’s energy economy.