Month: September 2026

Huff Hall time capsule carries Illinois’ hopes to 2126

Sept. 30, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

A time capsule to be opened in 2126 was placed inside Huff Hall

Dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell and Athletic Director Josh Whitman during the Huff Hall time capsule ceremony at Huff Hall. (Photo By Ashley Ray/Fighting Illini)

The people who open Huff Hall’s new time capsule in 2126 may inhabit a world that today’s University of Illinois community members would scarcely recognize. But the people sending messages forward hope some things will feel familiar: teamwork, curiosity and a commitment to helping others. 

Those hopes framed the dedication of a new time capsule at Huff Hall, where university leaders looked a century ahead while reflecting on the values they want future generations to inherit. 

Kent Brown, Illinois’ retired  associate athletics director for media relations who is now serving as the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics’ historian, acted as the emcee of the event. Faculty, staff, alumni and donors from the College of Applied Health Sciences; Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman; and students from Brown’s sports public relations class attended.Joe Murphy, George Huff’s great-grandson, also was in attendance and provided an important family connection to the history invoked during the ceremony. 

For Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, the capsule offered an opportunity to speak directly to current and future students whose lives and circumstances remain beyond prediction. 

“As we seal this time capsule, we are doing something both simple and remarkable: sending a message to students we will never meet, in a world we can only imagine,” she said. 

When this capsule is opened, I hope inclusion and accessibility are no longer aspirations, but ordinary features of life.

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell

Dean, College of Applied Health Sciences

The time capsule box is a 10”x13” container that will be filled with argon gas to preserve the items placed into it, including magazines, newspapers, photos of this and other Huff-related events and people. The box will also contain current high-tech pieces such as a hearing aid and wearable surface electromyography sensor (from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science) and a physical activity monitor from the Department of Health and Kinesiology. 

Hanley-Maxwell’s message paired an account of life in 2026 with hopes for a more accessible future. Powerful computers fit into pockets, and communication crosses continents instantly, she noted. Yet health inequities, inadequate support for people with disabilities, loneliness, and barriers to education persist. 

The contrast gave the capsule a purpose beyond preserving a record of campus life. Hanley-Maxwell asked its future audience to consider whether the opportunities available to people had expanded along with technological capabilities. 

“When this capsule is opened, I hope inclusion and accessibility are no longer aspirations, but ordinary features of life,” she said. 

She described a vision of health that extends beyond freedom from illness to encompass dignity, connection, movement and opportunity. Disability, she said, should be fully recognized as part of human diversity. 

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell examines the contents of the time capsule during the event. (Photo By Ashley Ray/Fighting Illini)

That vision also shapes the college’s work today. The students in Applied Health Sciences study subjects ranging from movement and communication to recreation, sport, tourism and disability, as they prepare for careers as clinicians, researchers, educators and advocates, among other roles. 

Hanley-Maxwell challenged all to consider learning, “to ask not only, ‘What can we discover?’ but also, ‘Whom can we help?’” 

Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman approached the century ahead through another question: What role will the university play in helping society solve its problems? 

He cautioned against assuming that the challenges of the present are unprecedented. People a century ago faced difficulties of their own, he said, and those opening the capsule will almost certainly confront different ones. 

His hope was that the university would continue helping find solutions and that higher education would strengthen its relationship with the public. 

“I hope that 100 years from now, we have reclaimed our place and regained the trust of the society that we represent,” Whitman said. 

Closer to home, he hoped Huff Hall would still stand and serve its community. Predicting the future of college athletics was another matter. Whitman drew laughter as he suggested it would probably look different, observing how much it had changed in just 10 years. 

The qualities cultivated inside the building, however, were ones he wanted preserved: teamwork, self-discipline, hard work, excellence and competition. 

“Those are things that have been a part of this building since it was first built,” he said. “And I hope those are in the bricks.” 

With Murphy, George Huff’s great-grandson, in the audience, Whitman’s reflections on the legacy of Huff and his family had a living connection. He also recognized the people and programs that have occupied the building and contributed to the university’s story. 

Hanley-Maxwell’s remarks further captured the uncertainty of the present, from lessons still emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic to artificial intelligence’s influence on classrooms, research and healthcare. Students, she said, are navigating questions about ethics, sustainability, belonging and responsible technology use. 

Alongside those changes, she offered scenes that students in another century might recognize: studying late together, cheering at athletic events, forming friendships and searching for purpose. 

Whitman also turned his attention to the students at the ceremony, hoping they would leave with a memory worth keeping and an appreciation for what the occasion might mean long after their time on campus. 

In dedicating a commemorative plaque, Hanley-Maxwell linked preservation of the college’s story with its hopes for the future. Together, the messages offered future readers a sense of what university leaders valued and what they hoped would improve. 

The capsule’s opening is intended to be a century away, leaving its senders to imagine who will receive it. Hanley-Maxwell addressed those future students as part of an ongoing community of learners and teachers entrusted with carrying the university’s story forward. 

“Whatever has changed, I hope the spirit of this university endures: curiosity with humility, innovation with compassion, and knowledge in service to humanity,” she said. 

Editor’s note:

You can read the full text of Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell’s remarks here.

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

Share on social

Tags: , , , , -Ma

Related news

Downstate audiology conference connects Illinois research with patient needs 

Sept. 30, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The event provided a vital forum for researchers and clinical audiologists to learn from each other

Audiologists, researchers, students and alumni gathered to share knowledge and identify needs in hearing care (Photo provided)

For someone wearing hearing aids, following a conversation in a noisy room can remain a daily struggle. For an audiologist, deciding which technology will best help that person can raise questions that research has yet to fully answer. 

Those questions helped drive the Illinois Academy of Audiology’s downstate conference at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where practicing audiologists, researchers, students and alumni gathered to share knowledge and identify needs in hearing care. 

Hosted by ILAA and coordinated by Sadie Braun, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science and vice president of education at ILAA, the conference gave the department an opportunity to connect its research and teaching with the experiences of clinicians and their patients. 

“At its core, this event provided a vital forum for researchers and clinical audiologists from across the state to come together, collaborate and learn directly from one another,” Braun said. 

The goals ran in both directions. Clinicians could leave with practical strategies informed by research. Researchers could gain a clearer understanding of the problems clinicians encounter, helping guide studies toward questions that matter in everyday care. 

The ultimate goal as hearing healthcare professionals is to be able to connect our patients again with their friends, family and loved ones and allow access to hearing healthcare for all.

Sadie Braun

Clinical Assistant Professor, SHS

For the department, that exchange linked several parts of its work: preparing students, supporting practicing professionals and pursuing research with potential to improve patients’ lives. 

Holding the conference downstate also made continuing education more accessible to central Illinois audiologists who otherwise might travel to Chicago for such opportunities, Braun said. 

The academy held its inaugural downstate conference in 2018. The event was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed at Illinois State University in Bloomington last year before Illinois took its turn as host in Urbana-Champaign. Braun hopes the downstate option will remain a tradition and will continue to grow. 

The program covered approaches to assessing balance function, accessibility for children and adolescents, ways to better serve and test bilingual patients and much more. Together, those topics reflected the range of needs audiologists encounter beyond selecting and fitting hearing aids. 

A roundtable discussion session led by Dan Fogerty and Ian Mertes, associate professors in SHS, brought the relationship between research and practice into focus. 

Participants identified a shortage of testing and treatment materials for patients whose first language is not English. They also discussed the need for research-supported guidance on choosing hearing aid technology for individual patients, including which patients might benefit most from premium features. 

Difficulty understanding speech in noise and complex environments emerged as another recurring concern, along with challenges connecting hearing aids to phones and other devices. 

Braun said the department already has research underway addressing some of those concerns. The discussions could help researchers identify additional priorities and develop guidance clinicians can use. 

Faculty presentations also introduced work in areas where patients’ needs outpace established treatment options. 

SHS Professor Fatima Husain shared research on hyperacusis, or reduced tolerance for everyday sounds, and misophonia, in which particular sounds can provoke intense reactions. Braun said sharing that work was especially valuable because research in those areas is relatively new and treatment options are not well established. 

Students had their own opportunity to connect research with professional practice. 

Participants from Illinois and four other in-state universities presented 12 posters. Illinois presenters included undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, giving researchers at different stages of their education experience explaining their work to practicing audiologists and faculty. 

Faculty mentors helped Illinois students conduct their research and prepare their posters. Presenting allowed students to take ownership of their contributions while benefiting from that guidance, Braun said. 

Several AHS faculty members took part in the conference and helped students prepare their posters. (Photo provided)

The exchanges offered feedback students could use to reflect on their research, along with practice speaking confidently to a professional audience. Student poster presenters received free registration, allowing them to experience the broader conference without that expense. 

Hosting on campus also reduced the travel time and costs that can accompany presenting research elsewhere. 

For alumni, the conference offered a return to the department and a chance to renew relationships that support clinical education. 

Braun reconnected with Julie Wirth, who supervised her during her fourth-year externship at ECHO in Urbana. Wirth has continued supervising Illinois students, Braun said. Alumna Tina Gonzales Childress, who has also taught in the department, presented at the conference. 

Current and former external placement supervisors attended alongside graduates working in the region, underscoring how relationships formed through the department continue into professional practice. Those connections also give students access to the field’s working community. 

The conversations are expected to extend beyond campus. Braun said findings from the roundtable will be shared in the academy’s newsletter, giving members access to the needs and questions participants identified. 

Greater involvement in the statewide organization, she said, can strengthen the university’s connections and its role in advancing audiology across Illinois. 

For Braun, the purpose behind those connections comes back to patients: helping people participate in conversations, maintain relationships and gain access to hearing care. 

“The ultimate goal as hearing healthcare professionals is to be able to connect our patients again with their friends, family and loved ones and allow access to hearing healthcare for all,” she said. 

Editor’s note:

To reach Sadie Braun, email svojak@illinois.edu.
 

Share on social

Tags:

Related news

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell’s remarks for 2026 time capsule event

Good afternoon, everyone.

As we seal this time capsule, we are doing something both simple and remarkable: sending a message to students we will never meet, in a world we can only imagine.

To the students of 2126: greetings from the year 2026. I am Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Our world today is deeply connected, yet deeply divided. We carry powerful computers in our pockets and communicate instantly across continents. At the same time, we still face health inequities, inadequate support for people with disabilities, mental health struggles, loneliness, climate change, and barriers to education and opportunity.

In Applied Health Sciences, our work begins with a simple belief: every person deserves the opportunity to live a meaningful, healthy, and dignified life. Our students study movement and health, communication, recreation, sport, tourism, and disability. They become researchers, clinicians, educators, advocates, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Most importantly, they learn to ask not only, ‘What can we discover?’ but also, ‘Whom can we help?’

This is a time of tremendous change for universities. We are still learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped our understanding of health, science, public trust, and community. Artificial intelligence is transforming classrooms, health care, research, and daily life. Our students learn in person and online, collaborate across the globe, and wrestle with questions of ethics, sustainability, belonging, and the responsible use of technology.

And yet, some things remain timeless. Students still study together late into the night. They cheer at athletic events, form lifelong friendships, and search for purpose. Faculty devote themselves to discovery and mentorship. Universities remain places where people imagine—and begin to build—a better future.

When this capsule is opened, I hope inclusion and accessibility are no longer aspirations, but ordinary features of life. I hope disability is fully recognized as part of human diversity, and that health is understood not simply as the absence of illness, but as the presence of opportunity, connection, movement, dignity, and hope.

Perhaps you will have conquered diseases that challenge us today. Perhaps your technologies will enable forms of communication and mobility we can barely imagine. Whatever has changed, I hope the spirit of this university endures: curiosity with humility, innovation with compassion, and knowledge in service to humanity.

To the students of 2126: thank you for carrying the story forward. You are part of a long continuum of learners, dreamers, teachers, and builders who have passed through this university. We send this capsule—and our hopes for your future—with confidence in what your generation will make possible.

Thank you.

Remembering Dr. Sally Peterson Falzone, SHS alumna

Sept. 23, 2026 | Georgia Malandraki

Sally Peterson-Falzone during a mission to China in 2013
(Photo provided)

It is with great sadness that I share the passing of Dr. Sally Peterson Falzone, a distinguished SHS alumna, scholar, clinician, and leader whose contributions to the field of speech-language pathology, particularly in craniofacial disorders and cleft palate, have left an enduring impact on many children and families.

Dr. Falzone earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois before completing her PhD at the University of Iowa. She was widely respected for her expertise in craniofacial disorders, and her prominent leadership/involvement in several organizations. 

Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Falzone served as President of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and was deeply involved in the Society for Ear, Nose and Throat Advancements in Children (SENTAC) and numerous other professional organizations. Her influence extended far beyond her clinical and scholarly contributions. She was a dedicated mentor, a trusted colleague, and a passionate advocate whose work helped shape the field and inspired many clinicians.

As Judy Le Duc, who had the privilege of working alongside Sally for many years at the University of Illinois Medical Center, reflected, Sally was “a scholar, academician, and clinician” who devoted herself entirely to serving children with craniofacial conditions. Those who knew her personally speak not only of her professional accomplishments but also of her generosity, compassion, and commitment to others.

Dr. Falzone was also a longtime friend and supporter of our Department and the College of Applied Health Sciences. We are deeply grateful for her many contributions to our profession.

On behalf of the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, I extend our heartfelt condolences to Sally’s family, friends, former colleagues, and all those whose lives she touched.

Her legacy will continue to live on through the many clinicians she mentored, and the countless children and families who benefited from her care and advocacy.

With sympathy and gratitude,

Georgia Malandraki

Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences
Department Head
Department of Speech and Hearing Science

 

Share on social

Tags: , ,

Related news

Six new grants advance SHS research in health, hearing, language and literacy

Sept. 15, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The awards reflect a shared commitment to translating innovative research into meaningful clinical and developmental outcomes

Six SHS faculty members secured funding this summer. (Google Images)

Faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science are launching newly funded projects that address how children hear in complex environments, how clinicians deliver swallowing rehabilitation, how early language and literacy interventions can be tailored to families and classrooms, and how educators can put statewide literacy policy into practice. These awards continue the department’s exceptional momentum in research funding, adding to a vibrant portfolio of active externally sponsored projects that advance scientific discovery and improve lives. Together, the awards reflect a shared commitment to translating innovative research into meaningful clinical and developmental outcomes.

Associate Professor Justin Aronoff is a co-investigator on “Functional Spatial Hearing in Reverberation by Pediatrically Implanted Children and Young Adults,” a project led by principal investigator Ellen Peng at Boys Town National Research Hospital. The award totals $3,353,690, with a $202,974 subaward coming to the University of Illinois.

The project focuses on children with severe-to-profound hearing loss who use bilateral cochlear implants. Although the devices partially restore spatial hearing, everyday settings such as noisy, reverberant classrooms can still make it difficult to locate sounds and separate a speaker’s voice from competing noise. Researchers will examine how room reverberation and cochlear implant signal processing work together to shape functional spatial hearing.

Using psychophysical methods and realistic simulations of reverberant spaces, the team will study auditory image perception, spatial acuity and spatial unmasking. It will also consider developmental and hearing-related factors that may influence performance. The findings are expected to clarify gaps between pediatric cochlear implant users and peers with typical hearing and inform future work on personalized bilateral fitting strategies.

Assistant Professor Mariana Mendes Bahia, Julia Carpenter and Kelly Rogers received a $9,994 Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Catalyst Grant for “Practice Patterns in Dysphagia Rehabilitation: From Characterization to Practice Improvement.” Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, is common among people with neurological, oncological and other conditions, but research reports and clinical documentation often provide limited detail about what treatment is delivered and how it is implemented. Carpenter and Rogers are from the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, where Carpenter is a practice leader in SLP and Rogers is a swallowing clinician.

The team will use the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System, a framework for describing treatment targets, ingredients and mechanisms of action, to analyze dysphagia rehabilitation data. Researchers will characterize practice patterns across care settings and diagnoses, examine connections between rehabilitation practices and patient outcomes, and identify practical opportunities for quality improvement. By making treatment approaches more visible and comparable, the project aims to strengthen both clinical practice and future research.

A third project brings together Charles and Kay Stenberg Endowed Professor in Disability Research Pamela Hadley, the former SHS department head, Emily Harrington, assistant professor in Special Education and an SHS alumna, and Matt Lambert, professor and head of Special Education. Their two-year, $426,559 exploratory/developmental R21 award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders supports “Leveraging Extant Data to Characterize Language Growth and Optimize Caregiver-Implemented Interventions for Children with Late Language Emergence.” The award runs from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2028.

Led by principal investigator Harrington, the researchers will analyze existing data from a randomized controlled trial of Enhanced Milieu Teaching-Sentence Focused, a caregiver-implemented intervention. They will trace vocabulary growth from 30 to 39 months and sentence development from 36 to 45 months, while examining how intervention strategies, children’s uptake of those strategies and participant-level factors shaped individual trajectories.

Results will help identify which intervention components work best at different developmental points. That evidence can guide the design and evaluation of brief, targeted approaches capable of reaching more children with late language emergence and their families.

SHS Associate Professor Laura Mattie’s collaborative research proposal with Founder Professor of Computer Science and Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering James Rehg, “Using Developmental Machine Learning to Code Eye Gaze in Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome,” was selected for an 18-month, $29,987 grant from the Social & Behavioral Science Institute.

The project will determine AI’s ability to streamline behavioral coding of eye gaze in young children with Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome by leveraging the AnyGaze AI model. Recent advances in the development of AI models for quantifying nonverbal communication, led by Co-I Rehg, have enabled accurate coding of eye gaze in young neurotypical children and those with autism. However, the AnyGaze AI model has not yet been expanded to other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Additionally, the team will train the AnyGaze AI model to single, dual, and triadic gaze shifts, which are important for classifying early communication. With this foundation, the team aims to examine the potential clinical applications of the AnyGaze AI model by speech-language pathologists for assessment and treatment planning.

Assistant Professor Meaghan McKenna is principal investigator for “Writing for Reading: A Technology-Based Approach to Literacy Growth,” a $1,876,852 project funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs through its Stepping-Up Technology Implementation program. Hope Gerde of Texas A&M University is co-principal investigator; Jack Drobisz of the University of South Florida and Pasquale Bottalico are co-investigators. The award runs from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031. You can read more about McKenna’s grant here.

The team will add a kindergarten-first grade writing extension to the Electronic Data Management and Expert Decision Making System. Through iterative development, evaluation, scale-up and dissemination, the project will offer job-embedded professional development designed to help classroom teachers strengthen children’s writing and reading achievement.

McKenna also serves as co-principal investigator on “The Illinois Literacy Plan: Identifying the Supports Needed for Meaningful Policy Implementation and Revision,” led by principal investigator Rachel Schachter of the University of Illinois Chicago. The $15,000 grant from the University of Illinois System Institute of Government and Public Affairs runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

The project will assess how school administrators, teachers and specialists perceive the Illinois State Literacy Plan and what support they need to implement it effectively. Findings will guide policies that better support educators and strengthen partnerships across the state.

Each project also depends on collaboration across disciplines and institutions, extending the faculty’s expertise through partnerships that connect laboratory measures, clinical records, classroom practice, public policy and family-centered intervention data with the practical challenges experienced by patients, practitioners, educators, children and caregivers every day.

Across the six awards, faculty and collaborators are pairing rigorous methods with questions rooted in daily life: hearing in a classroom, documenting swallowing care, supporting a child’s first words and sentences, strengthening early writing and reading, and helping educators implement literacy policy. These new projects continue a period of remarkable research growth within the department, adding to SHS’ mission of advancing both scientific discovery and clinical practice.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

Share on social

Tags: , , , , ,

Related news

Laura Payne honored as 2026 King James McCristal Distinguished Scholar 

Sept. 15, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Leisure and recreation were ways of life for Payne and led to her passion and career

Laura Payne, right, was joined by brother Tom, left, and her cousin Mary Lynn O’Connor at the McCristal Lecture (Photo by Bridget Lee-Calfas)

For Laura Payne, the study of leisure is anything but idle work. It is a way to understand how people build identity, sustain relationships and protect their health across a lifetime, and how communities can make those benefits available to everyone. 

That career-long commitment was celebrated as Payne was honored as the 2026 King James McCristal Distinguished Scholar in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. The distinction recognizes outstanding scholarships and gives the college community an opportunity to learn from researchers whose work is shaping their fields and improving health and well-being. 

 Payne, whose scholarship explores how recreation affects quality of life, marked the honor with a lecture titled “Leisure, Health, and Well-Being: Expanding Research Impact Through Public Engagement.” 

 Her remarks traced the roots of her research from childhood experiences in suburban Chicago to questions about resilience, chronic disease and healthy aging. 

“I’m really delighted and greatly appreciate this honor,” Payne said. 

Growing up, she found that recreation helped shape her confidence and sense of self. Access to a park district opened a world of activities and eventually led to jobs at a swimming pool, first as a lifeguard and later as a pool manager. She did not realize recreation could become an academic field until she was well into an undergraduate communications degree. After several years at a Chicago management consulting firm, however, she knew she wanted to work with a mission that felt more personal. 

Leisure and recreation had mattered deeply to Payne and her family. Over time, that understanding developed into an interest in aging, a subject she describes as inherently personal. One of the most important influences was her older brother, Tom, who was diagnosed in early adulthood with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of inflammatory arthritis. Payne watched him navigate disruptive symptoms, evolving treatments and changing lifestyle demands while remaining committed to the activities he loved. 

She was struck by his resilience and by the grit of others who adapted cherished pursuits rather than surrendering them. “Tom, you were a big reason why I pursued this line of research,” she said during her remarks. Her mother’s concise philosophy offered another guide: “Healthy aging is about ‘adapt, adapt, adapt.’” 

Those experiences helped Payne frame leisure not as an optional luxury but as an essential part of a good life. To prepare for her talk, she said she asked 25 people about what made a good day. Every participant named two leisure activities. Her research also found that people with broader leisure repertoires reported substantially better physical and mental health than those with fewer activities. 

Laura Payne, right, accepts her plaque from Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell (Photo by Bridget Lee-Calfas)

The findings carry increasing urgency as the population ages. Payne noted that people 100 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the older population, with many living more independently. Yet longer lives also bring challenges, including rising risk of developing chronic disease, uneven access to recreation and broader social conditions that affect whether people can pursue and define good health. Personal circumstances matter, too. Understanding healthy aging, in her view, requires attention to all of those forces and to what older adults are already doing well. 

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, praised Payne as an accomplished scholar who has advanced understanding of leisure, health and well-being while ensuring that her research makes a difference beyond the university. 

“Her work reflects a deep commitment not only to generating knowledge, but also to ensuring that research reaches beyond the university and makes a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and communities,” Hanley-Maxwell said. 

That public-facing commitment is especially visible in Payne’s leadership of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources, which she took over in 2020. Payne refreshed the office’s mission: to collaborate on recreation, sport and tourism initiatives that build healthy communities. Under her leadership, the office responds to community and industry needs, issues and trends while giving undergraduate and graduate students hands-on experience through projects. 

Hanley-Maxwell said Payne’s approach demonstrates that research can have greater impact when scholars build relationships with communities, listen to the people their work is meant to serve and translate evidence into practices that are useful and accessible. That approach, the dean added, embodies the values of the McCristal honor. 

The King James McCristal Scholar Award was established in 1988 to honor King McCristal, dean of AHS from 1961-1973. 

“Dr. Payne’s research reminds us that leisure is far more than how we spend our free time,” Hanley-Maxwell said. “It can be an important contributor to health, quality of life, social connection and well-being, and a powerful avenue through which research can engage communities and create broader societal impact.” 

For Payne, the recognition brings a career built around that idea full circle: from a child finding confidence through local recreation, to a scholar asking how leisure can help people adapt, connect and thrive, to a public-engagement leader working alongside communities to put that knowledge into practice. 

Editor’s note:

To reach Laura Payne, email lpayne@illinois.edu.
 

Share on social

Tags: , , ,

Related news

The support behind the student at Chez Veterans Center

Sept. 08, 2026 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

A new Illinois scholarship recognizes that military service reshapes whole families—and that spouses and partners have ambitions of their own

Scholarship recipient Phoebe Mbuvi, flanked by Honey Jacobs Skinner, left, and Sam Skinner (Photo by Ethan Simmons)

Phoebe Mbuvi had already built a career when her husband, John Goeken, arrived at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to begin another one. Mbuvi had worked as a physician assistant for more than a decade. Goeken, a former U.S. Marine, enrolled in an electrical engineering program at the Grainger College of Engineering in his late 30s. His return to school prompted a question that soon became a plan: why shouldn’t she pursue a doctorate, too? 

She enrolled in the School of Information Sciences. Together, they balanced two demanding academic lives with work and two very young children. Then, before Goeken could begin his final year, he died in a motorcycle accident in May 2026. He was 39, six weeks shy of his 40th birthday, Mbuvi said. Their children were 2 and 3. 

The loss reordered everything. Mbuvi stepped away from employment to care for the family, but she did not want grief and financial pressure to close the door on the doctorate she and Goeken had imagined. The new Skinner Family Foundation Scholarship offers a way to keep that door open. 

A family mission 

Announced through the Chez Veterans Center, the scholarship is funded by Sam Skinner, a Chicago native who attended the University of Illinois before serving in the U.S. Army and going on to a distinguished career in public service as secretary of transportation and White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush. The scholarship supports spouses and domestic partners in military-connected families who are pursuing higher education or career training. Its focus is deliberate: the demands of military service rarely stop with the person in uniform. Careers are interrupted, moves complicate schooling and employment, and childcare can become a daily obstacle. 

For Mbuvi, that understanding was central to Goeken’s own life at Illinois. He had joined the Marines in 2004, served in Operation Iraqi Freedom over multiple tours, survived an improvised explosive device blast and received a Purple Heart. After leaving the military, he came to Illinois as a nontraditional student and found a community at Chez. 

“He loved the Chez Veterans Center. He spent all his time here,” Mbuvi said. Goeken served on committees and pushed others to see the web of needs surrounding a student Veteran: housing, children, childcare and a spouse’s own goals. “The Veteran can’t be the best student that they can be if they’re not being supported in other ways.” 

That conviction now echoes through a scholarship his family can use. The award does more than recognize Mbuvi as someone connected to a Veteran. It recognizes her as a scholar in her own right, one whose education strengthens the family Goeken left behind. 

Why spouses 

The 88-year-old Skinner arrived at the same idea from another direction. Skinner’s visit to Chez showed him an organization he believed could translate a gift into tangible help. 

“You associate yourself with quality people, they bring you up. The same is true with organizations,” Skinner said. At Chez, he saw a center that “got their act together” and was serving Veterans and their families in practical ways. 

His concern for military spouses has also been shaped by his involvement with America’s Warrior Partnership, which helps connect Veterans and families with employment and other services. Again and again, he said, spouses absorb the cost of military mobility: a transfer can mean losing a job, surrendering professional momentum or putting education on hold. 

He loved the Chez Veterans Center. He spent all his time here.”

Phoebe Mbuvi

Scholarship awardee, wife of John Goeken

“They gave up a lot. A lot of them gave up education to support their spouse,” Skinner said. When a family reaches a university prepared to support them, he added, it may be the right moment for a spouse or partner to begin again. “That’s the way you impact. Little did I know that there was no one more qualified than Phoebe,” he said. 

Skinner credited Andy Bender, Chez’ director of operations and services; and Jean Driscoll, the former assistant dean for advancement in the College of Applied Health Sciences, for cementing his agreement to endow the scholarship. 

“Jean kept pushing us to get it done right, and I know it took a long time, but we got to the right place,” Skinner said. 

The life behind the legacy 

Goeken’s path made that kind of second beginning visible. Mbuvi remembers a husband and father first, a Marine second and then an engineering student who was unbothered when classmates mistook him for a professor. His age did not diminish his sense that he belonged in a top program or that he could use what he learned in public service. 

He also understood how improbable the journey might have looked to people who knew his difficult early life. After his funeral, Mbuvi said, one of Goeken’s brothers told her that no one would have believed he would one day be married, raising two children and pursuing an engineering degree. 

“He leaves behind a big legacy,” she said. “Lots of people have been touched by John.” She wants their children to grow up knowing the shape of that legacy: his patriotism, his belief in democracy, his devotion to family and his refusal to let an unconventional route keep him from the classroom. 

Mbuvi is carrying part of that story forward each time she returns to her own studies. The scholarship cannot ease every burden military families carry, and it cannot restore the future her family expected. It can, however, protect one hard-won possibility: that her education continues. 

About the scholarship 

The Skinner Family Foundation Scholarship recognizes the critical role military spouses and partners play in supporting family well-being, academic persistence and the success of military-connected students. The scholarship is open to spouses of U.S. military Veterans and to spouses or domestic partners of active-duty, Reserve or National Guard service members. Applicants must have a current connection to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and be enrolled in or admitted to an accredited degree-granting, vocational or technical program. Full-time, part-time, online, hybrid and returning students are eligible. 

Funds may support education-related expenses, including certification and licensing fees, professional development and other qualifying costs. Recipients also join a small cohort with access to community events, leadership and professional development opportunities and ongoing support from the Chez Veterans Center. For information or to apply, visit the online application form. 

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

Share on social

Tags:

Related news

Through life’s challenges, RJ Fitzpatrick will keep pushing

Sept. 02, 2026 | Ethan Simmons

After the hardest year of his life, this wheelchair basketball star is entering his senior season with a new perspective

RJ Fitzpatrick, a senior in recreation, sport and tourism, at an Illinois wheelchair basketball skills camp this summer. (Photo by Ethan Simmons).

Against all odds, wheelchair basketball star RJ Fitzpatrick’s junior season at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was a banner year​ on the court and in the classroom.  

He helped bring the Fighting Illini to a third-place finish in the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament in April and won the 2025​​-​​26 NWBA Player of the Year, the highest honor for collegiate players. He even earned a 4.0​ GPA​ in the spring semester, studying recreation, sport and tourism.   

“It was really nice to achieve, and it’s also hard, too, because my dad would be so proud of me for that,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was really tough not having him there, not seeing him in the crowd, because that was like his number one thing. He loved watching wheelchair basketball.”  

RJ Fitzpatrick is heading into his senior year at Illinois without his chief supporter: his father, Peter, who died ​in March ​after a two-year battle with brain can​cer​. The quintessential “sports dad,” Peter Fitzpatrick was his son’s biggest fan in the stands, though never quite his biggest critic.  

“That’s RJ himself,” Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball coach Jacob Tyree said.​ “That loss was felt to a magnitude that can’t be put into words—Peter was just a really unique person to have been intertwined with my athletes’ lives.”  

A new year brings new lessons and a new level of maturity for Fitzpatrick, a fierce competitor on the court with a kind, fun-loving presence in his daily life. And this year, he knows for sure: he’s not going it alone.  

“The support from the whole wheelchair basketball program has just been huge​,​” he said​​. ​​“​​Knowing I always have them in my corner, that just has made the whole thing a little bit easier, you know?​​ ​​​

“​​It’s always going to be hard, but knowing I have them has been so special.” 

Beginnings 

Fitzpatrick’s brand of physical, polished play—bumping in his chair for rebounds, drilling threes and dumping off swift passes to the interior—might feel like a style he was born with.  

But his story with wheelchair athletics began when he was an eighth grader attending Camp No Limits, a summer camp for kids with limb differences or limb loss. Fitzpatrick was born without his right leg, but he grew up playing able-bodied sports with his friends.  

​​A camp mentor let Fitzpatrick try out his sports chair for a spin.

“I remember it was super hard, because I was so used to playing stand-up basketball,” Fitzpatrick said. “Trying to figure out how to push the chair and also dribble and shoot from two feet lower was crazy to me.”  

RJ Fitzpatrick (center) drives to the basket, flanked by teammates JM Davis (left) and Martrell Stevens. (Provided)

His high school hosted a wheelchair basketball exhibition game the following fall, and he gave it another shot.  

“That’s where the love for it all started,” Fitzpatrick said. “Once I got in it, I realized how much it leveled the playing field for me. I thought, ‘I could be pretty good at this.’”

He went on to play wheelchair basketball for New Britain High School, which had an adaptive sports program through the Ryan Martin Foundation, while swimming and running cross country for New Fairfield High School, using a prosthetic to run. His growing basketball talent drew attention, and he was offered a scholarship to play for the University of Illinois, 900 miles from his hometown of Sherman, Connecticut.  

He knew of the University of Illinois through one of his old Juniors Division teammates—recent RST graduate Martrell Stevens—who accepted an offer to play there. Its rich history of wheelchair athletics and accessibility through Disability Resources and Educational Services held broad appeal to Fitzpatrick.  

“There was always a feeling I had that I wanted to end up here,” Fitzpatrick said. “Even before I got recruited, right when I got to campus that first time, I kind of knew this was where I wanted to be.”  

Still, coming to the U. of I.’s 50,000-student campus from a town of 3,500 was a serious adjustment. Longtime teammates Grant Pierce and John Matthew “JM” Davis have formed his social bedrock while he’s been at the university. So much so, that they moved in together.       

“They’re brothers—they bicker, they fight—getting them to work together can be the hardest or easiest thing I do,” Tyree said. Many of the team’s funniest and fondest memories stem from those three, Tyree said, and their own brand of brotherly love. ​​Fitzpatrick​​ is usually the one stirring the pot.  

For the second year, the trio of big men will live in an Urbana house together for their senior season: “Those two, we’ve all just kind of stuck by each other’s side and been there for each other with anything that comes up,” Fitzpatrick said.  

A trying tournament  

After a two-year battle with glioblastoma, Peter Fitzpatrick—a longtime health and physical education teacher—passed away on March 9, 2026. His passing came just a week before the UTA College Classic in Arlington, Texas, a marquee wheelchair basketball tournament with seeding implications for nationals the next month.    

“We were even debating, ‘Do we not go?’” Tyree said. Both Illinois wheelchair basketball teams were thinking of diverting their travel to Peter’s funeral instead.

“Of course, me and my dad would want them to play,” Fitzpatrick said. Across the country, the team thought of how they could show support without physically being there for RJ and his family.  

Peter and RJ Fitzpatrick in 2018. (Provided)

Halfway to Arlington, the team made a pit stop at a Walmart in Arkansas. After chatting with fellow coaches and DRES staff, Tyree went inside and grabbed a couple packages of black ribbon. Before the tournament games, members of the Illini men’s and women’s teams tied the ribbon around their chairs and wrists to pay respects to Peter, their biggest fan.  

Through his grief, RJ felt how the experience transformed the team.  

“Seeing how tight we were, as a whole program being one, those were some huge days for us to grow together,” Fitzpatrick said.  

Peter’s impact on the team resonated beyond supporting his son. He was a constant presence in the stands, and a supporter for RJ’s future Illinois teammate Gavin Ford—a sophomore from North Reading, Massachusetts—helping to get him into adaptive sports in the first place.  

The last time Peter saw his son play in person was at the fall alumni tournament, where Illinois wheelchair basketball players from years past came to battle the current-day roster.  

“My whole family came, and it was a really special time,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m involved with the [St. John’s Catholic] Newman Center, and one of the priests came as well. It was special to see all these influential figures in my life.”  

It’s rare to find someone who excels in the classroom, as an athlete​​ and in how he treats other people—but that’s exactly who RJ is.

Sarah Agate

Teaching Associate Professor in Recreation, Sport and Tourism

After his playing days, Fitzpatrick dreams of working in a front office role for an NBA team or starting a wheelchair basketball program of his own closer to home in Connecticut. Recreation, Sport and Tourism has always made a sensible fit for his academic program at Illinois.  

Peter and RJ Fitzpatrick in 2025. (Provided)

He got a small taste of what it takes to run a sports event of any kind when he helped organize the U. of I.’s spring wheelchair basketball tournament for a class—a tournament he was scheduled to play in himself.  

The courses Event Management and Implementation in Recreation, Sport and Tourism ​​opened a “new world” of small, behind-the-scenes details, from what it takes to get coaches and players organized to the volunteer force that helps a tournament run.  

And the class instructor, RST Teaching Associate Professor Sarah Agate, was understanding and flexible while Fitzpatrick and his family dealt with his father’s worsening illness and later grieved his passing.  

“She was really there for me in a huge way, knowing I had the support from her, constantly going home to Connecticut,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’d always bring it up to my mom and my sister, just how kind and supportive she was. I really hope that’s a contact and connection I can continue to build with her for the future. “  

In class, Fitzpatrick is “hard-working and responsible,” Agate said. “It’s rare to find someone who excels in the classroom, as an athlete​​ and in how he treats other people—but that’s exactly who RJ is.”  

His team-first attitude and humility were present in class. Agate didn’t even learn about Fitzpatrick’s Player of the Year honors until one of his classmates mentioned it to her. 

“What makes his accomplishments even more meaningful is that he achieved all of this while carrying the weight of losing his father.” 

Pushing forward 

Two third-place finishes at the NIWBT stamped a successful season for Illinois wheelchair basketball, but Fitzpatrick thinks the team is built for more.  

“I’m super confident with this group of guys we can finish even higher,” he said.  

Underneath his placid demeanor is a competitive intensity that churns for the whole team.  

“I tell people all the time, the character of who you are shows up on the court,” Tyree said. “You can watch a game of basketball, or any sport, and through an athlete’s actions you’ll see their core values embodied. Your actions, not intentions, reflect who you are to the world. 

“He has a mentality—that when it’s honed and brought out in the right ways—we’re fighting back. I don’t care if we’re down 40 points, if we’re down 2 points, I don’t care if we’re up 10, we’re still fighting and we’re going to see it all the way through. 

University of Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball senior RJ Fitzpatrick speaks to a camper at the Illini Premier Camp for young wheelchair basketball players on June 30, 2026.

“That’s something that’s really hard to ingrain in a player, and that’s where his character really shines.”  

As he matures into his role as a team leader, ​​Fitzpatrick​​​​​ is beginning to see himself as an ambassador for his sport and for the larger disability community.   

“I’m trying to continue to grow my relationships with the people on campus,” Fitzpatrick said. “Being an amputee, I’m a little more ‘obvious,’ and that’s a great way for me to talk to somebody about wheelchair basketball, or adaptive sports, and open up that world for them.”  

All those feelings were made fresh while he coached in this summer’s skill development camps for wheelchair basketball​ ​​at the Activities and Recreation Center. Fitzpatrick turned in a few 12-hour days mentoring kids of all skill levels: some were new to the sport; others were vying for a collegiate roster spot.  

“It’s special to see these dads come with their sons or daughters to camp and walk around campus​;​​​ I remember doing that with my dad,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because those were some of the best years of my life, the excitement of finding a school—those moments really warmed my heart.”  

In his experience, the grief “never really goes away.” But tender moments and new life lessons keep Fitzpatrick moving forward, with his father’s memories still held close.   

“Trying to live a little bit more like him really inspires me to keep pushing.”  

University of Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball star RJ Fitzpatrick helped run this year’s Illini Premier Camp for young wheelchair basketball players in late June. He’s heading into his senior year after a year of great accomplishments on the court, and one of his hardest years off of it.

Editor’s note:

Want to learn more about wheelchair basketball? Join the 8-week course: RST 265 Principles of Coaching Wheelchair Basketball, instructed by RST Graduate Student Morgan McCammon, four-year women’s wheelchair basketball player for Illinois.

To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.  

Share on social

Tags: , , , , , ,

Related news

College of Applied Health Sciences
110 Huff Hall
1206 South 4th Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-2131