Suburban Illini Virtual Holiday Party
Tuesday, Jan 19 from 6:00 to 8:00
Join us for our biggest annual event.
We'll have guest speaker Gene E. Robinson - LAS Interim Dean and Swanlund Chair in Entomology. Gene obtained his PhD from Cornell University and joined the U of I faculty in 1989. He holds a University Swanlund Chair and Center for Advanced Study Professorship, is director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the Bee Research Facility, and is former director of the Neuroscience Program.
Robinson pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior and led the effort to sequence the honeybee genome. He has authored or co-authored almost 325 publications, and has trained 35 postdoctoral associates and 25 doctoral students.
There will be a Virtual Tour of the Krannert Center and introduction by Mike Ross. Mike became the sixth director of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in 1997. He came to the Center from the Miller Theatre at Columbia University in New York City where he received his doctorate with distinction in music composition and where, under his direction, the Miller Theatre was recognized by The New Yorker as “the city’s hottest hotbed of innovative programming.” Deeply committed to embracing the art of the past as well as the art of our time across disciplines, aesthetic sensibilities, and cultural legacies, Mike views Krannert Center as a potent blending of classroom, laboratory, and public square. He attributes his experience as a professional classical, jazz, and rock musician and his interest in the visual and environmental arts, broader cultural history, and explorations into the nature of creativity writ large as major influences on his collaborative approach to arts administration. He has served as board chair for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and as board president of Arts Alliance Illinois and is a founding member of 40 North, the Champaign County Arts Council. He is a recipient of the North American Performing Arts Agent and Managers Association’s Award for Excellence in Presenting the Arts and was selected by National Arts Strategies to participate alongside 100 national and international cultural leaders in its inaugural Chief Executive Leadership Initiative. Mike is an associate dean in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, has served on numerous campus committees, and chaired the cross-campus Seedbed Initiative for Transdomain Creativity, which led to the establishment of the eDREAM Institute (Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media), for which he now serves as an advisor. Mike is a passionate advocate for the micro-urban Champaign-Urbana community and has served as co-chair of the 2013 Champaign County United Way Campaign.
Special performance by the Gunns!
There will be a special performance by Nathan and Julie Gunn. Nathan is the Swanlund Professor of Voice and Co-director of the Lyric Theatre. Julie is Professor of Accompanying and Co-director of the Lyric Theatre. You won't want to miss the Gunns!
This is a FREE event. Reserve your ticket today!
This event will be hosted in LexGo, an Illini-created technology. LexGo provides an interactive virtual venue that empowers you to move around and explore, rather than stay stuck in a video meeting. LexGo enables richer, more spontaneous interactions: You connect better with your camera on because that’s how you would engage people in person, face to face. With LexGo, you’re no longer a passive viewer, but an actively engaged participant who can meet others in a seamless way.
