CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been named as university endowed chairs, an honor awarded to highly distinguished scholars for their excellence and prominence in research, teaching and service.
“An endowed chair represents one of the university’s highest and most distinguished faculty honors,” said Provost John Coleman. “These scholars exemplify excellence at the highest level, earning international recognition as leaders and innovators in their fields. We are proud of their contributions to our university’s excellence and to the lasting societal impact of their research, teaching and service worldwide.”
Carla Cáceres, the director of the School of Integrative Biology and a professor of evolution, ecology and behavior, has been named an Ikenberry Endowed Chair. Established in honor Stanley Ikenberry’s tenure as the 14th president of the university, the Ikenberry Chair honors a distinguished faculty member at the U. of I.
Cáceres studies the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape natural communities, with a focus on freshwater ecosystems and infectious disease dynamics. Through field-based, experimental and collaborative research, she has helped establish new connections among community ecology, limnology and disease ecology. Her pioneering research accomplishments have been honored through her election as a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Cáceres has also displayed unwavering leadership at the helm of the School of Integrative Biology since 2013. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University. She holds additional affiliations at Illinois with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Prairie Research Institute and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment.
Learn more about the named chairs across the university and the faculty who hold those positions. Belmont and Cáceres will be honored in an investiture ceremony, hosted by the Office of the Provost, during the spring semester.
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For more information, contact Stephanie Henry, director of communications for Office of the Provost, 217-244-1183, slhenry@illinois.edu.