From the President’s Desk As I write, spring is coming to Central Illinois in fits and starts. But regardless of the vagaries of the weather, it’s clear that a season of renewal and change is happening at Illinois Wesleyan. Everywhere we look across campus, new programs and opportunities for students are being developed. Many of these will enhance the position we already hold as the number one small college in Illinois for job placement of graduates. A study published in February by Georgetown University ranked more than 4,000 colleges and universities in America, in terms of return on investment. Ten years after graduation, Illinois Wesleyan alumni were in the top 10% nationwide. That ranking continued to rise for alumni further from their year of graduation. Planning for The Petrick Idea Center, a hub for campus innovation and entrepreneurship, continues to move forward aggressively. A site has been identified, and we are working with an architectural consultant to solidify plans. Other recent developments include fields of study that we know are significant in our current environment and that students feel are important. For example, our highly regarded School of Nursing will be adding more fields of study in health sciences, including a new major in public health. Data science has recently been approved as a major. The new major in entrepreneurship (with obvious connections to The Petrick Idea Center) has proven very attractive to students. This magazine includes an article about one of our extraordinarily entrepreneurial graduates, Babawande Afolabi ’10.
“Everywhere we look across campus, new programs and opportunities for students are being developed.”
— PRE SIDE NT S. GE ORGIA NUGE N T
Faculty members are also developing exciting new programs for the future. Two very different projects, for example, both seek to address issues of equity. A team of faculty from sociology, psychology and chemistry are developing a minor in criminology. This is a field of considerable interest among today’s students, and the IWU interdisciplinary offering will focus particularly on issues of equity in the policing and judicial systems. At the same time, the physics department is excited about developing a program in computational physics. This is a discipline not yet commonly taught at the undergraduate level, and our faculty believe it may attract a more diverse group of students into the emerging field. While the development of new programs is exciting, I should also mention existing strengths at Illinois Wesleyan that have garnered important recognition recently. A collaboration between the biology department and the education program has received a grant from the National Science Foundation of up to $600,000 toward training science teachers for underserved communities. In the School of Music, our chorus was recently honored to participate in concerts with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, featuring our own graduate, Kate Tombaugh ’07. Professor of English Joanne Diaz was the recipient of the Richard S. and Julia Louise Reynolds Poetry Fellowship. Byron S. Tucci Professor of Hispanic Studies Carolyn Nadeau was awarded a Biruté Ciplijauskaité Fellowship at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Finally, I would be remiss not to note that we are looking forward to a unique “trifecta” event this spring. The classes of 1970 and 1971, which were unable to hold their 50th reunion celebrations at Homecoming the past two years due to COVID, will join with the Class of 2022 for this year’s Commencement celebration. We look forward to three times the excitement!
S. Georgia Nugent Illinois Wesleyan University President 2 IWU MAGAZINE | S P R I N G 2 0 2 2