New Trustees

The Board of Trustees has elected four new members: Rebecca Jarvis, AB’03; Yong-Mee “Michele” Kang, AB’83; Thomas “Tom” Ricketts, AB’88, MBA’93; and Steven “Steve” Wymer, MBA’89. They began their five-year terms in May 2024. Jarvis is the chief business, technology, and economics correspondent at ABC News. Kang is the founder and CEO of the first global multi-club women’s professional football group, which owns controlling interests in three teams. Ricketts is the executive chairman of the Chicago Cubs. Ricketts is also the founder and chairman of Incapital LLC, which merged with a fintech startup to create InspereX, where Ricketts serves as the chairman and largest owner. Wymer is a portfolio manager in Fidelity Investments’ equity and high-income division.

Gold(water) stars

College fourth-years Sarah Kress, Eva McCord, and Joshua Pixley have been awarded 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarships, which support students who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. The three are among the 437 US college students selected for the prestigious scholarship out of a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. Kress is majoring in chemistry, McCord in neuroscience, and Pixley in molecular engineering, biochemistry, and chemistry.

Community leader

Arsima Araya, a fourth-year in the College, received the inaugural Timuel D. Black Community Solidarity Scholarship. The scholarship is administered by the University’s Civic Knowledge Project and awarded to a student who is committed to strengthening the University’s connection to the South Side community, advocating for civil rights, and furthering the project’s educational programming. Araya, who is majoring in Law, Letters, and Society, is active in the Organization of Black Students and helped develop the idea of the University of Chicago Black Council and UChicago Black Conference. The scholarship is named in honor of Black, AM’54, a historian, civil rights activist, and teacher who died in 2021 at the age of 102.

South side partners

UChicago and Chicago State University (CSU) have signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement aims to strengthen mutually beneficial collaborations between the two institutions in the physical, social, biological, and data sciences with an emphasis on education, research, employment pathway programs, and civic engagement. The memorandum builds on existing partnerships, such as a program that places UChicago data science postdocs in teaching roles at CSU and a National Science Foundation–funded quantum research collaboration.

Cancer fighter

Olufunmilayo Olopade was awarded the 2024 Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her achievements in cancer genetics and genomics. The medal recognizes American immigrants and their descendants who have made significant contributions to society. Olopade, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, is internationally renowned for her expertise in breast cancer and for research that has advanced prevention, early detection, and treatment for people at high risk for the disease.

Fresh ventures

FreshX, a start-up developing supply chain software to help food companies and freight brokers with cold chain transportation and storage, won first place in the Edward L. Kaplan, MBA’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC). FreshX was awarded $1 million in investment—the largest single investment in NVC history—including the $185,000 Rattan L. Khosa, MBA’79, First-Place Prize. Meanwhile, mock-interview platform the Dev Difference took first place in the 2024 John Edwardson, MBA’72, Social New Venture Challenge. Party-planning tool Lynkr won the College New Venture Challenge; artificial intelligence–hiring company UpTrials, the Alumni New Venture Challenge; and robo-advising app Investable, the Global New Venture Challenge.

Smart science

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $20 million grant to a UChicago research team to create first-of-their-kind large language models intended to help predict and strategically direct funding to scientific discoveries and technological advancements. The team is led by James Evans, Max Palevsky Professor in the Department of Sociology, and includes Ufuk Akcigit, Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics; Ian Foster, Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Computer Science; and UChicago and Argonne National Lab researcher Ben Blaiszik. Together they hope to broaden science funding by identifying previously overlooked research areas with high potential to confront major challenges.

Boosting the microbiome

The Duchossois Family Institute (DFI) has opened a new facility equipped to manufacture clinical-grade microbiome therapeutics, creating new opportunities for researchers to better understand the microbiome and its role in human health. The first of its kind at an academic institution, the facility allows researchers to grow, freeze-dry, and encapsulate live bacteria so that it can be administered safely to patients in clinical trials. For instance, a recently approved trial led by researchers at UChicago Medicine and the DFI will use the new facility to manufacture capsules containing different combinations of 17 bacteria strains to restore the microbiomes of patients with liver disease.