The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary during academic year 2020-21, as the public liberal arts university reflects on a bold legacy and looks forward to a bright future as an educational leader in central Illinois and beyond.

Billboards featuring UIS’ 50th anniversary logo and tagline “Bold Legacy. Bright Future.” are now up in Springfield. UIS also plans to celebrate the anniversary on its social media channels.

Ten years after her book about Mulan was published, UIS English Professor Lan Dong, Ph.D. is still sought out for her expertise on the subject. With Disney’s live-action film, Mulan, released to Disney Plus earlier this month, Dong again found herself in the national spotlight.

Vickie Cook, executive director of online, professional and engaged learning at the University of Illinois Springfield has been recognized by the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) as the 2020 Central Region Outstanding Leader.

University of Illinois Springfield Professor of Political Science Jason Pierceson’s “LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Voters, Candidates, and Officeholders” was recently featured on Choice’s top ten editors’ pick list for June 2020.

Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Donald Morris, a University of Illinois Springfield emeritus professor of accountancy, has written a new book, “Taxation in Utopia: Required Sacrifice and the General Welfare.”