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Illinois State alumni magazine cover winter 2015 showing 1950s illustration of a house wife with a vacuum, sofa cahir, coffee maker, and muffin rack
Yesteryear: The home ec program of the 1950s no longer exists

Volume 15 • Number 3 • Winter 2015

Food, nutrition and dietetics majors working in Turner Hall

Extreme makeover: Department shifts from home ec to high-tech

The professional and academic focus in Family and Consumer Sciences has shifted gradually, coinciding with the transition of women to the workplace and keeping pace with technology.

Signing students walk in Florida

Alumna empowers blind, deaf to soar at Florida school

Personalized and intense teaching leads to equally inspiring growth for other students at the 130-year-old St. Augustine campus, where 600 children are encouraged to be themselves.

MOOCs graphic

Illinois State eyes future as online courses reshape higher ed

The educational format known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) allows students from India to Indiana to take free courses from professors at the world’s most prestigious universities.

Jim and Carole Mounier

A drive to give back: Alumni couple makes record-setting gift

Illinois State alumni Jim and Carole (Czerniak) Mounier have always been part of the Redbird family, but for 30 years they were more like long-lost relatives.

Ron Williams on Florida beach

Age no obstacle for globetrotting alum Ron Williams

Cycling across America would be the ultimate accomplishment for most, but not Dr. Ron Williams. The 76-year-old Illinois State alumnus has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Rainier alongside his family.

Nathan Carpenter inside SMACC

Illinois State launches Social Media Analytics Command Center

The buzzword that really matters in social media is analytics. That’s one of the reasons the School of Communication just opened the doors on its new Social Media Analytics Command Center in Fell Hall.

Judy Smithson

Where are they now: Judy Smithson

Judy Smithson’s long recovery made her more aware of a peer using crutches and another needing a wheelchair, instilling a passion to help people with disabilities.

Fred Walk digs

Mail to the Editor: February 2015

Mail to the Illinois State magazine editor for February 2015.

Runner prepares to run

ISU to host Valley’s outdoor track and field championship

The 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Championship for outdoor track and field will be held on the Illinois State campus May 15–17.

Hancock Stadium in snow

Athletics facilities named for two Redbirds

Former quarterback Danny Barnett and his family have been honored with the Barnett Family Locker Room in the Kaufman football building.

Reggie with thank you card

Redbirds make 1,150+ gifts on Giving Tuesday

Alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends came together for Illinois State University on Giving Tuesday. Supporters made 1,152 gifts totaling $331,402 to support scholarships and University programs.

Steve Rice onstage at Laugh Factory

Iraq War vet turns tragedy into comedy

In December 2003, a roadside bomb in Iraq turned U.S. Army 1st Lt. Stephen Rice’s left foot into hamburger. Nine years later, Rice ’02 was onstage at the Laugh Factory in L.A. joking about it.

Kim Crouse and Joe Scrima

How we met: Kim Crouse and Joe Scrima

When WZND student director Kim Crouse selected Joe Scrima as part of the promotions team based on his qualifications, she had no idea he would also be all she was looking for in her future husband.

Obery family members

Redbird legacy: Following her sister to Illinois State

Lisa (Finch) Obery ’84 followed her older sister Sandra (Finch) Linn ’81 to Illinois State University, not knowing the decision would start a legacy that has created a special family bond.

Jim and Deb Riggs pose

From humble roots, Riggs family creates scholarship

The Riggs family is paying it forward for the next generation of ISU students by endowing a new College of Business scholarship. An additional seven-figure estate commitment is one of the largest in the college’s history.