Dafna Lemish, a leading scholar on children and the media, will present a lecture Friday, March 15, at 3 p.m. titled, “Communicating with Children: Principles and Practices to Nurture, Inspire, Excite, Educate, and Heal.” The talk is free and open to the public.

The University of Iowa has named 35 Presidential Scholars for 2013, offering them the most prestigious honor for first-year students planning to attend the university.

A review of the annual report tops the agenda for the bi-monthly meeting of the Partnership for Alcohol Safety, to be held at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, in Room 203 of the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building, 855 South Dubuque St., Iowa City.

The University of Iowa and Iowa State University have teamed up to change licensing terms for companies to engage with research at the universities. The goal is to accelerate the process by which university-borne research is turned into products and services that benefit Iowans and others in the private sector.

With more Chinese students showing up on University of Iowa class rolls than ever before, the Henry B. Tippie College of Business last month invited its faculty and staff to a workshop to learn how to pronounce the students' names.

UI alumna Lisa Johnson is infusing an art residency program into the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory after participating in the UI Obermann Graduate Institute on Engagement and the Academy.

Chris Klitgaard, president and CEO of Coralville-based MediRevv, will speak as part of the MidwestOne Lecture Series at the University of Iowa’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center on Tuesday, March 26.

James Bleakley, who designs and builds bicycles, will present the University of Iowa Museum of Art’s annual Jeanne and Richard Levitt Lectureship: American Crafts in Context on Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 240 of Art Building West. The event is free and open to the public.

Nick Benson, coordinator of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), is making new connections between the University of Iowa and Iowa communities. Benson is working to expand the IISC into a campus-wide initiative. The IISC recently formalized agreements with four Iowa communities for the 2013-2014 academic year: Muscatine, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Washington.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires public utilities to monitor the water supply for specific contaminants that may pose a risk to human health. The State Hygienic Laboratory at the UI is the only state environmental public health laboratory approved to test for all 28 chemicals on the EPA's new list of contaminants.

When musician Ralph Covert performs before an audience, belting out tunes such as "I'm Not Tired" and "Puddle of Mud," the throngs of adoring fans tend to be those under 10. The Grammy-nominated UI graduate has recorded 10 albums in the genre of children's music with his band Ralph's World, and now he is delving into children's television.

A new scholarship available to first-year University of Iowa students starting this year aims to help students complete their undergraduate degrees in four years.