News, Publications, and Events

The Todd Fink Memorial Award was established at the request of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Fink, on behalf of the family following the death of Todd Fink in July 1995. At the time of his death at age 36, Todd Fink was a Natural Heritage Biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He had earned his M.S. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and considered himself a vertebrate zoologist with a specialty in ornithology. He was widely regarded as an expert on birds and his opinions in all matters biological were valued by his colleagues and friends.

Requirements: To qualify, students must be enrolled in a graduate program in Plant Biology, Plant and Soil Sciences, Forestry, Zoology, or Biological Sciences. *Please note that 2024 will serve as a pilot year to also include students enrolled in a graduate program in Geology, Geography, and/or Chemistry. Students must be engaged in graduate research that will directly or indirectly benefit state threatened or endangered species of plants or animals. Application deadline: May 13, 2024.

Every one of the 40 recent graduates of the PA program passed the national board exam on their first try. Read more about the Physician Assistant program’s extensive track record of success.

The university is continuing its longstanding commitment to sustainability and planning a variety of special events in recognition of October as Campus Sustainability Month.

The International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) announced their 2023 prizes. Syed Irfan Ashraf (PhD, 2018) a Mass Communication and Media Arts graduate, is being honored in the Social Sciences category for the book he developed from his dissertation.

The College of Arts and Media is proud to announce that 3 of their recent graduates Tim Spurchise (MFA 2020), Chuchen Song (MFA 2021), and Eriko Kobayashi (MFA 2022), are selected for UrbanGlass's biennial exhibition, Cruising Glass: Recent MFA Works. The exhibition invited only 5 artists, and 3 of the exhibiting artists are SIUC graduates. UrbanGlass is a prominent nonprofit glass institution based in New York City that publishes the Glass Quarterly magazine and provides education in its glass studio, exhibitions, and various creative activities. The exhibition opened June 28, 2023. Currently, Tim Spurchsie works as a staff member at the School of Art, Bowling Green State University; Chuchen Song works for the Toledo Museum of Art; and Eriko Kobayashi recently completed her residency at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass.

On May 19-21, several SIUC students presented at the 2nd International Social Sciences Conference, organized by the Center for Social Research, held in Antalya, Turkey (a hybrid conference held on site and by Zoom). Congratulations to the students who participated: Emine Türkmen (PhD student, Historical Studies), Sadia Afrin (M.A. student, History); Co-op Historical Studies PhD students Emily Eckles, John Keck, and Mario Love; along with Steve Wininger, a doctoral student from Anthropology. SIUC Professor Hale Yilmaz served as moderator for the students’ session.

The OnlineU team has ranked SIU Carbondale as the #1 online master’s program in Architecture. Congratulations to the School of Architecture faculty and staff!