Quantum partnership

The University of Chicago will partner with global quantum company IonQ on a groundbreaking initiative to advance research and discovery in quantum science and engineering, helping develop technologies—such as quantum computers, communication networks, applications, and sensors—with the potential to improve lives. The initiative will support faculty, postdoctoral, and student researchers in fundamental quantum science at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and create a sponsored research program between UChicago and IonQ. The partnership further establishes Illinois and Chicago as a global quantum hub.

Presidency extended

The University of Chicago Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to extend Paul Alivisatos’s (AB’81) University presidency through June 2030. In an email to the University community, board chair David M. Rubenstein, JD’73, and vice chairs Barry E. Fields, JD’91, and Kenneth M. Jacobs, AB’80, celebrated the president’s principled leadership and his accomplishments since stepping into the role in September 2021. These include the launch of new graduate and professional programs, undergraduate majors, and interdisciplinary programs, such as the Quantum Information Science and Engineering initiative and the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth; the further development of a distinctive approach to computation, statistics, and artificial intelligence; and the formation of a unified Division of the Arts & Humanities.

New trustee

Stephanie Field Harris has been elected to the University of Chicago Board of Trustees. Her five-year term began in May. A civic and philanthropic leader, Harris has served as a trustee of the University of Chicago Medical Center since 2009, as well as on the boards of multiple Chicago-area organizations, including the Field Foundation of Illinois, the Woman’s Board of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Lake Forest Open Lands Association. A Harvard alumna, Harris is also a member of the advisory board of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.

Standing ovation

In September Court Theatre received nine Jeff Awards, the most of any theater company in the 2024–25 season. Court received four awards for Berlin, two for An Iliad, two for Falsettos (a coproduction with TimeLine Theatre Company), and one for East Texas Hot Links. Charles Newell took home awards for best direction of a large play (Berlin) and a short-run play (An Iliad). And Mickle Maher, who adapted Berlin from the graphic novel of the same title by Jason Lutes, received the Libby Adler Mages Award for a new work. The Jeff Awards, established in 1968, recognize outstanding Chicago-area theater artists.

Mastering chemistry

The Department of Chemistry is introducing a new master of science degree to prepare students for careers in the sciences and to strengthen their applications for PhD, law, or medical programs. The degree is designed to meet the growing demand for chemists who are at the forefront of solving global challenges such as developing pharmaceuticals and engineering new materials. The research-focused program will offer five specialized tracks—physical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical biology—and is scheduled to launch in Autumn Quarter 2026.

Rhodes to Oxford

College fourth-year Tori Harris was selected as a 2026 Rhodes Scholar in November. Harris, who studies anthropology and creative writing in the College, is the 56th UChicago student to receive this honor. Raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she got her first archaeological experience excavating landmarks from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Harris has focused on using archaeology to recover African American culture and history. She will attend the University of Oxford next fall to pursue a master of science degree in African studies and archaeology.

New IOP director

John F. Kirby, a retired rear admiral in the US Navy and former senior spokesman for the Pentagon, State Department, and White House, became director of the Institute of Politics on November 15. In addition to his nearly three decades of military service, Kirby has deep experience in Washington, DC, that spanned six presidential administrations representing both parties. He most recently served as White House national security communications adviser on foreign and defense policy issues from 2022 to 2025. Kirby succeeds former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who directed the institute from 2023 to 2025.

Franklin Medal

The Franklin Institute announced November 11 that it is awarding the 2026 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics to Wendy L. Freedman, the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics and the College. The Benjamin Franklin Medal is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honors in science, engineering, and business leadership. A pioneering cosmologist, Freedman has made landmark measurements of the rate at which the universe is expanding, known as the Hubble constant.

British recognition

Josephine McDonagh was elected to the British Academy in July. An expert in 19th-century British literature, particularly in its intersection with Britain’s global and imperial relations, McDonagh is the Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Chair of the Development of the Novel in English, Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of English, and director of the Nicholson Center for British Studies. Most recently her work has examined the role of literature in settler colonization, migration, and emigration.