Volume 107, Number 5
May–June/15

Features

Thirsty planet

Water is life, but ever scarcer. The most promising approaches to a mounting global problem may be molecular.

Crossed lines

A secret in her own family led Allyson Hobbs, AM’02, PhD’09, to uncover the hidden history of racial passing. Plus—Lost kin: An excerpt from A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life.

Immeasurable

The impact of geochemist Clair C. Patterson, PhD’51, who determined the age of the earth and fought lead pollution.

Second act

It’s hard to say which was more liberating for Anna Chlumsky, AB’02: the moment she left acting, or the moment she came back.

Editor’s Notes

Legacies

Research with far-reaching implications.

Letters

Readers sound off

Readers comment on the social impact of architecture in out of the way places; the recollections of Philip Glass, AB’56, about the College he knew; memories of the late Mike Nichols, EX’53; the circa-1970s ski team’s not-at-all slippery slope to victory; racial “block busting” in the 1950s; the distinction between a telegram and a telegraph; and more.

Marketplace of Ideas

Marching on

A Divinity School event commemorates the 50th anniversary of Selma and explores the state of civil rights today.

Alumni essays

Looking up

Chelsea Leu, AB’14, explores how UChicago carved out an aspirational place for itself in higher education.

Botching the wedding

Wayne Scott, AB’86, AM’89, reflects on the winding path he and his wife followed on their way down the aisle.

UChicago Journal

Proven approach

UChicago launches Urban Labs, an all-in, evidence-based effort to improve urban life.

Shared objectives

University of Chicago Police takes steps to enhance transparency and public access to information.

Mortgaged futures

Household debt was the primary cause of the 2008 financial crisis, a Chicago Booth economist finds.

Particulate matters

Economist Michael Greenstone studies the human cost of China’s pollution in the Huai River Valley.

Healing is prevention

An antiviolence program helps South Side youth navigate the trauma that surrounds them.

Fit to be successful

Three recent graduates build a business around keeping office workers healthy.

Harmony and peace

UChicago anesthesiologist Shakeela Hassan advocates for the healing force of interfaith music and human sound.

William Rainey Harper’s Index: Child care

Comer Children’s Hospital, by the numbers.

Original Source: Issues of interest

All but lost, Urdu journals offer a glimpse at one of India’s most sprawling, energetic cultures.

Fig. 1: Mammal diversity

The discovery of two species suggests greater variety of the earliest mammaliaforms.

Interview: Rx: Research

UChicago’s Health Lab uses social scientific methods to address the needs of urban patients.

For the record: University news

A search for the roots of knowledge, study abroad in Hong Kong, a survey of campus climate, a prestigious faculty (re)appointment, the University’s Board of Trustees names a new chair, and more.

Citations: Faculty research

Grapevines’ “microbial signature” may influence a wine’s taste and more, a blood pressure drug may help with multiple sclerosis, a UChicago bioethicist calls for more research into Muslims’ health behaviors, and a compound found in magnolia tree bark may prevent heart disease.

Peer review

Releases

The Magazine lists a selection of general interest books, films, and albums by alumni. For additional alumni releases, browse the Magazine’s Goodreads bookshelf.

Notes

Highlights from the latest alumni news columns.

Deaths

University obituaries

Recent faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni obituaries.

Lite of the Mind

Return to the fold

Recreate some of UChicago’s most iconic buildings in miniature using templates from the College admissions office.