Jaume Amengual Terrasa (Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition) Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were: Creatures, Places, and People Michael F Page and Robert Ingpen When I was a kid, I had a vivid imagination, but I found it hard to concentrate on a book. This fantasy book was the first one my mom got me in her effort to spark my interest in reading.
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Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk (Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology) Pandit Vishnu Sharma’s Panchatantra (Classic Tales From India) Shubha Vilas These tales of moral values by Pandit Vishnu Sharma in Sanskrit were written almost 2500 years ago. Growing up, listening to these stories from Patti (grandma) made one aware of several vulnerabilities, including, jealousy, and deceit. The simplicity in narration with various animals as characters on ethical conduct still captivates children and adult alike!
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Mary Arends-Kuenning (Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics) The Analysis of Household Surveys Angus Deaton This book was published just after I finished my Ph.D., and it accompanied me when I first arrived at Illinois. I drew from it when putting together my first course in household economics. Angus Deaton subsequently won the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 2015 for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.
Sara Bartumeus Ferre (School of Architecture) The Abstraction of the Territory Rosa Barba Casanovas The Abstraction of the Territory by Rosa Barba Casanovas, one of my mentors, is more than a scholarly work; it embodies her pioneering spirit and her vision of landscape as a tool for environmental and social justice, as well as a field of critical inquiry. Recognizing the limits of traditional planning, Prof. Rosa Barba took a radically innovative, transdisciplinary approach to landscape. Her activism and work laid the groundwork for Catalonia’s landscape preservation policies and the first landscape degree program in Spain. This book reflects her quest to decode complex spatial patterns that conventional methods overlooked—an enduring influence on how I teach and research urban landscapes. Rosa’s legacy taught me—and generations of women—that we can be practitioners, scholars, leaders, and mothers. Her influence remains a guiding force in my life and work.
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Mardia Bishop (Department of Communications) Did That Just Happen?!: Beyond “Diversity”-Creating Sustainable and Inclusive Organizations My promotion work included developing inclusion training for Pennsylvania libraries. The PA Humanities Council and PA State Librarian Susan Banks gifted this book to my workshop participants. The book provides a practical approach to addressing microaggressions and reminds me of the commitment Banks and the Humanities Council have to inclusion—something all organizations should have.
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Martin Bohn (Department of Crop Sciences) One Touch at a Time Aladar Kogler Dr. Kogler, a US Fencing Hall of Fame member, shares groundbreaking insights in “One Touch at a Time,” the only book that teaches you to win bouts with your mind as much as your blade. His teachings have enhanced my fencing and coaching while also sparked my creativity, perseverance, and resilience as a scientist.
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Maria Bonn (School of Information Sciences) The Voice That Is Great Within Us: American Poetry of the Twentieth Century Hayden Carruth The book that introduced me to the power and possibility of language; a possibility that I’ve spent my life and career trying to realize.
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Mark Borgschulte (Department of Economics) Myth and Measurement David Card and Alan Krueger This book exemplifies the best of modern empirical economics. Using careful research designs focused on estimating causal effects, this research launched several key agendas in labor economics, including the rebirth of interest in Joan Robinson’s ideas about monopsony. Plus, talking to David Card has been one of the great joys in my life!
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Jessica Brinkworth (Department of Anthropology) Cells at Work! Akane Shimizu I chose Cells at Work! because 1) it communicates immunological information with joy 2) neutrophils, my favourite cells, are featured 3) bodies live because cells collaborate. The spirits of cooperation and love of life permeate this series, even when things go sideways, which was comforting for my kids and I in the dark of 2020/2021.
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Eric Calderwood (Department of Comparative and World Literature) Al-Motamid, n. 31. Verso y Prosa Trina Mercader et al. Al-Motamid was a bilingual (Spanish-Arabic) literary journal published in Morocco in the 1950s. The issue that I’ve requested contains an early poem by the Moroccan writer Amina Loh, about whom I’m writing a book.
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Phil Cardoso (Department of Animal Sciences) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey This book helped me Explain and gather expectations for myself and others. It stresses balancing personal, professional, and social aspects of life, ensuring that success doesn’t come at the expense of one’s well-being or relationships. This holistic view appealed to me since it relates to seeking fulfillment, not just career success.
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Geoffrey Challen (Department of Computer Science) The Overstory Richard Powers One of our greatest current challenges is situating ourselves and our rapidly-evolving technological creations within the natural world. Powers’ environmental novel transcends human exceptionalism to reveal the beauty and mystery that surrounds us. “If your mind were only a slightly greener thing, we’d drown you in meaning.”
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Leonardo Chamorro Chavez (Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering) Turbulent Flows Stephen B. Pope This book is a pivotal reference for advancing the understanding of turbulence phenomena. Its rigorous treatment of both theoretical and practical aspects provides a robust foundation for analyzing and addressing turbulent flows. Its comprehensive approach allows for connecting scientific principles and their real-world implications.
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Huck Beng Chew (Department of Aerospace Engineering) The Trapp Family Singers Marie Trapp The movie “The Sound of Music” is my all time favorite show and I grew up watching it, learning about love, and the triumph of good over evil. Reading the book which the movie was based on gave me an insight into the American Dream, and ultimately led to my own pursuit of this dream!
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David Cooper (Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures) Traditional Oral Epic: The Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Serbo-Croatian Return Stone John Miles Foley This is one of the best books ever written on oral literary traditions and provided me with an essential grounding for my own work in the area.
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Martha Delaney (Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine) Comparative Histology: An Introduction to the Microscopic Structure of Animals Lucy D Leake This book was a must-have during my anatomic pathology residency at the Zoological Pathology Program. Our varied diagnostic case load includes all creatures from invertebrates (millipedes and mollusks) up to megafauna (rhinoceros and whales), and everything in between. This book covers microscopic anatomical features across taxa with highly detailed drawings and photomicrographs.
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Chunyuan Diao (Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science) Quantitative Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces Shunlin Liang This book is an inspiration to dive into quantitative remote sensing of Earth’s land surface environment. It is fascinating to get to known how remote sensing systems work for modeling various aspects of land surface.
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Adam Dolezal (Department of Entomology) Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaires I have been enjoying my whole life – first by myself and now reading to my children. While it may seem an odd choice for a biologist, I think the stories and illustrations spark the imagination and encourage us to imagine and test explanations about how the world works.
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Mohammed El-Kebir (Department of Computer Science) Integer Programming Laurence A. Wolsey This book offers an excellent introduction to Integer Programming, a powerful technique for designing practical, exact algorithms in computational biology.
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Christine Escobar-Sawicki (School of Social Work) Hope for the Flowers Trina Paulus My stepfather gifted me this book, and he has lived his life accordingly. I aspire to do the same. You don’t need to compete for the top and disillusionment can spark transformation. Most importantly, connection to others is where you find strength and support.
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Elizabeth Forsythe (School of Labor and Employment Relations) Empire of Cotton: A Global History Sven Beckert I teach from Empire of Cotton in my course on the future of work. It presents a long view of technological change and globalization that helps us envision what may lie ahead. Economists do not often write books, so books by economic historians provide a wonderful complement to our research.
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Ryan Fries (Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine) Heart Physiology: From Cell to Circulation Lionel H. Opie A fantastic book that is the foundation for anyone interested in becoming a cardiologist.
Rosas Gilberto (Department of Anthropology) Blindness Jose Saramago
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David Godsell (Department of Accountancy) The Lexus and the Olive Tree Thomas L. Friedman This book opened my teenage eyes to and sparked an enduring interest in globalization themes central to my research program 25 year later.
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Yvonne Gonzales Redman (School of Music) Kinesthetic Voice Pedagogy 2: Motivating Acoustic Efficiency Kenneth W. Bozeman As a young voice instructor, I was concerned about how I could be an effective educator to my students when we had different vocal experiences. Kenneth W. Bozeman’s resources and generous mentoring helped me find security in my educational practices. I consider him the best teacher I have ever known. |
Kaiyu Guan (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences) Zero to One : Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future Peter Thiel Conducting research with long lasting impact is like building a skyscraper—laying a deep foundation, building big teamwork, and sometimes building the hardest things that sometimes go unnoticed.
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Devon Hague (Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine) Kitchen Table Wisdom Rachel Naomi Remen “Facts bring us to knowledge, but stories lead to wisdom.” Rachel Remen The Healers’ Art course, created by Dr. Remen, is taught at hundreds of medical training programs around the world. This book focuses on the art and humanity of practicing medicine and provided inspiration to me when establishing this course for our veterinary students.
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Jon Hale (Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership) The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935 James D. Anderson Professor Anderson helped found a field of critical research in the fields of education and history. This book pushed academics, policymakers and school systems to be more accountable to students and liberation movements. Dr. Anderson and his legendary book has profoundly impacted my research, service and commitments to the public good.
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Christie Hayne (Department of Accountancy) Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods Robert Yin This method text helped facilitate my entry into the world of qualitative research in accounting. Early on, it was a source of inspiration for me, and, more recently, it has come to be widely considered the go-to guide for conducting qualitative accounting research. I hope many scholars will find similar inspiration from Yin’s expert guidance!
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Marc Hertzman (Department of History) Negro e Cultura no Brasil: Pequena Enciclopédia da Cultura Brasileira Helena Theodor Lopes, José Jorge Siqueira, and Maria Beatriz Nascimento Co-author Maria Beatriz Nascimento was a pioneering and boundary-breaking intellectual–a radical voice for change in a world that silenced (and still does) Black women. May her work live on in new settings and continue to inspire.
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Elizabeth Hoiem (School of Information Sciences) Spinning Silver Naomi Novik Listening to this by the winter fireplace brought me peace. I read all Novik’s novels while writing my book. Others that kept me going: Malinda Lo, Rebecca Kuang, Leigh Bardugo, Ursula Le Guin, N. K. Jemisin, Joe Abercrombie, Holly Black, Gavriel Savit, Lev Grossman, and Sarah Rees Brennan’s In Other Lands, Iain Pears, Susanna Clarke.
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Jian Huang (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) Elon Musk Walter Isaacson My professional career is inspired by many giants in high-tech domains. Their stories serve as the source of my belief that determination, persistence, resilience, and vision are the cornerstones of success.
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Carla Hunter (Department of Psychology) Girl, Woman, Other Bernadine Evaristo The storytelling in this book and Bernadine Evaristo’s depictions of Black women’s experiences of intersecting marginalized identities, trauma, historical trauma, mental health, and survival are communicated to readers without the boundaries of academic scholarly writing. Read my research publications and importantly, read this book!
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Heidi Imker (University Library) Collecting Experiments : Making Big Data Biology Bruno J Strasser The idea that data sharing can transform science and society is taken as a given by many, and successes that enabled entirely new fields of research, such as genomics, are offered as proof of this potential. However, too many have forgotten (or never knew) that it literally took the Life Sciences decade after decade to make the gains that enabled large-scale sharing of specific classes of biological data–and that achieving wide-spread consensus was the most recalcitrant factor. Contention that began in the 1960s about who benefits from data, who’s exploited, whose labor is valued, and whose is not are still unresolved issues to this day. This book provides a fantastic look at the slow and iterative evolution that enabled “Big Data” in biology and how often it depended on small communities, and even single individuals, to champion and persevere.
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Kirstin Johnson (University Library) American Music Librarianship: A Biographical and Historical Survey Carol June Bradley Carol June Bradley describes here the history of music library collections in the U.S., outlining the issues inherent in their formats and resulting management concerns. Her publications were an inspiration to me as I developed my own research agenda, culminating in my book, Music Collection Development and Management in the Digital Age, published in 2023.
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Jamie Jones (Department of English) A Few Lines in the Manifest Joan Naviyuk Kane The final work in Inupiaq poet Joan Naviyuk Kane’s collection, “Citations in the Wake of Melville,” reorganized my brain as I wrote a book chapter about Moby-Dick. Poetry was the first literary form I loved, thanks to my grandfather who read poems to me when I was a child.
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Hyunil Kim (School of Social Work) After the Cradle Falls : What Child Abuse Is, How We Respond To It, and What You Can Do About It Melissa Jonson-Reid and Brett Drake After the Cradle Falls addresses the widespread misunderstanding of child abuse and neglect by blending folklore, media, and research. It engages readers in exploring the causes and effects of maltreatment and encourages them to become part of the solution. The book is essential reading for students, child advocacy professionals, and policymakers.
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Joohyung Kim (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker George Lucas I first watched the Star Wars movie and later read the books in Korean and English. The series has greatly inspired my life and research in robotics. The first book is especially meaningful to me, and the fact that it was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster is truly fascinating.
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Emily Knox (School of Information Sciences) A Kids Book about Banned Books National Coalition Against Censorship This book is a reminder that everyone has the right to freedom of expression.
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Fan Lam (Department of Bioengineering) High-Dimensional Data Analysis with Low-Dimensional Models: Principles, Computation, and Applications John Wright and Yi Ma This is an inspiring book that provides a theoretically sound and philosophically interesting review on why and how low-dimensional models play an essential role in analyzing high-dimensional data, a problem we face on a daily basis in modern science and engineering. The book was written by one UIUC alumni and one former UIUC faculty member.
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H Lane (Department of Educational Psychology) Mind Bugs: The Origins of Procedural Misconceptions Kurt VanLehn Have you ever wondered about those systematic (sometimes flawed) beliefs we form when acquiring some procedural skill? Using a mountain of human data, VanLehn (my thesis advisor) develops a generative theory for subtraction. His impasse-repair theory changed how I thought about teaching and learning and laid the foundation for my work on preventing misconceptions.
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Cecilia Leal (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa I am grateful for the UIUC Grainger College of Engineering and the Materials Science & Engineering Department, where discovery can pursue with purpose, not urgency. Quoting Pessoa, a Portuguese (like me!) poet: “I’m not in a hurry. In a hurry for what? The sun and the moon aren’t in a hurry, they’re right.”
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JiHyung Lee (Department of Economics) Quantile Regression Roger Koenker This book sparked my interest in quantile regression, which has been a major research topic throughout my career. The author, Roger Koenker, a former professor in the Economics Department at UIUC, was the reason I joined the department.
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Denise Lewin Loyd (Department of Business Administration) Lovely One Ketanji Brown Jackson Justice Jackson’s memoir is not only an engrossing and inspiring story but also provides a tremendous opportunity for learning about US history and the law through the lens of the African American experience. My friend’s trials and successes navigating parenthood, marriage, and her career as an ambitious Black woman resonate deeply with me.
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Robb Lindgren (Department of Educational Psychology) Cognition in the Wild Edwin Hutchins One of the most impactful books I studied in graduate school–opened up entirely new ways of understanding thinking and human behavior. I still draw from the book’s examples of aircraft navigation to argue for a more distributed and embodied view of cognition.
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Derek Long (Department of Media and Cinema Studies) The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960 David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson I knew I would be a film historian after reading this monumental book my first year of graduate school. David Bordwell, who sadly passed away in 2024, epitomized what it means to be a great scholar, teacher, friend, and cinephile. I was lucky to have known him.
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Jorge Lucero (School of Art and Design) The Stridentist Movement in Mexico : The Avant-garde and Cultural Change in the 1920s Elissa J. Rashkin This book is about a movement of creatives in Mexico, who also served as government officials and diplomats. Many of their contributions to civic life in 1920s Mexico are still seen today. Their influence is invisible but courses through the politics of Mexican muralism, which ended up being a big influence in American modernism.
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Elizabeth Luckman (Department of Business Administration) Transforming Leader Paradigms: Evolve from Blanket Solutions to Problem Solving for Complexity James E. Luckman & Olga Flory My career path has been strongly influenced by the values of curiosity, problem-solving, and growth, instilled in me by my father. This book that he wrote captures how he inspired me, and is valuable to those trying to do better and more ethical work.
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Angela Lyons (Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics) De Gruyter Handbook of Personal Finance Edited by John E. Grable and Swarn Chatterjee De Gruyter Handbook of Personal Finance provides comprehensive insights into various aspects of personal finance, including behavioral finance, financial literacy, and economic decision-making, which align with my expertise and research focus in financial behavior and education for diverse and vulnerable populations.
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Gregory MacDougall (Department of Physics) A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking As a middle child of a blue-collar family with no STEM connection, this book was the first I encountered which drew the connection between scientific discovery, the advancement of human knowledge and our understanding of the universe. It instilled in me a lifelong love of science and directly led to my current career.
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Shannon Mejia (Department of Health and Kinesiology) The Meanings of Age: Selected Papers by Bernice L. Neugarten Bernice L. Neugarten Bernice Neugarten’s work transformed my understanding of age and how it structures our lives and society. In this collection, she explains how ideas about age that are easily taken as truisms are actually in themselves socially constructed and shifting in response to larger social forces.
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Clarion Mendes (Department of Speech and Hearing Science) Motor Speech Disorders Joseph R. Duffy SHS 514: Motor Speech Disorders, was the first course I taught at the University of Illinois, when I was an adjunct instructor. This text was a catalyst to my entire academic career. |
Paola Mera (Department of Microbiology) The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient William B. Irvine The Stoic wisdom presented in this book equipped me with tools to stop the snowball of negative thoughts when dealing with setbacks (especially during the Covid-19 pandemic). Using Stoic philosophy, I learned to recalibrate how I see things allowing me to appreciate and really enjoy my academic journey.
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Jason Merret (Department of Aerospace Engineering) Band of Brothers Stephen E. Ambrose The leadership of Easy Company is a wonderful lesson and model of how to develop and lead a team that is strong and capable beyond most. I model much of my class leadership and teaching style on the strengths of H. Sobel and more so R. Winters.
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Ian Mertes (Department of Speech and Hearing Science) Otoacoustic Emissions: Clinical Applications Edited by Martin S. Robinette, and Theodore J. Glattke This book was an important influence on my pathway to researching the inner ear and the sounds it can create. The chapters were written by pioneers in hearing science who used otoacoustic emissions as a tool to better understand the mechanisms of the auditory system and to improve the diagnosis of hearing loss.
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Brant Murray (Department of Theatre) Color & Light: Navigating Color Mixing in the Midst of an LED Revolution, a Handbook for Lighting Designers Clifton Taylor COLOR & LIGHT is written by my mentor, colleague, and friend: Clifton Taylor. As a fellow lighting designer and educator, I am thrilled to introduce this timely book into our library collection so that current students and those to come may embrace color in light!
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Gautham Narayan (Department of Astronomy) The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe Steven Weinberg This was the first book that took me away from my staple middle school diet of science fiction and space opera, and made me consider a career as a scientist. It connects the stars and galaxies we can see with our telescopes to deeper concepts, painting a Universe that is even stranger than fiction.
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Yee Man Margaret Ng (Department of Journalism) Trial and Error: U. S. Newspapers’ Digital Struggles toward Inferiority Iris Chyi This book examines why, after two decades of digital investment, traditional newspapers still struggle financially. Introducing the Ramen Noodles Theory, it explains why digital news is often seen as inferior and hard to monetize. I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Dr. Iris Chyi, for providing a haven and intellectual guidance throughout my graduate studies.
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Mimi Nguyen (Department of Gender and Women’s Studies) Atlas of Palestine, 1917-1966 Abu-Sitta, Salman H. From one imperial war to another, from one refugee to another — Palestine will be free.
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Idalia Nunez Cortez (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) In my Family/ En mi familia Carmen Lomas Garza This children’s book beautifully captures the cultural practices found in Mexican American communities like the one I grew up in. This book is a reminder of the powerful ancestral knowledge that exists in my family and the many diverse Latine/x communities, which I continue to learn from through my research.
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Joy O’Keefe (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences) Bat Ecology Thomas H. Kunz and M. Brock Fenton Tom Kunz, co-editor of this foundational book, has been my role model since I began studying bats. I admire his passion for solving problems in bat conservation and his generosity in mentoring younger bat biologists with kindness, humor, and grace. A well-loved copy of Bat Ecology graces the shelf in my office.
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Anke Pinkert (Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures) Left-Wing Melancholia Enzo Traverso This excellent book was written in the aftermath of the seismic historical shift marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. It is essential for anyone interested in the histories of loss and utopia associated with progressive movements. Leftist Melancholia inspired me to return to 1989.
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Kent Rausch (Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering) Technology of Corn Wet Milling and Associated Processes Paul H. Blanchard This book describes corn wet milling very clearly using a high level of detail which inspires me as a process engineering researcher. Blanchard’s text has been unduplicated even though this process is used worldwide to produce pure starch and its many products.
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Amber Ray (Department of Special Education) The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux John Beevers (Translator) Saint Thérèse of Lisieux profoundly stated, “My vocation is love.” I aim to imitate this approach as love is the fundamental meaning of my vocation as a professor, wife, and mother. Her example of love in small, everyday acts of kindness resonates deeply with me.
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Kimberly Rice (School of Social Work) The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackey A beautiful book about the courage to ask for help and to offer kindness to both ourselves and others. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse offers touching lessons for readers young and old.
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Caroline Riedl (Department of Physics) A Cultural History of Physics Károly Simonyi Probably my most important book – the history of physics up to modern particle physics, my current profession. As a 15-year old, I received it from my father, also a physicist. I devoured it to bridge the time until I could attend University and have never ceased reading its pages.
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Noel Saenz (Department of Philosophy) Les Misérables Victor Hugo I first read this book as a junior in high school and it more than spoke to me. Hugo’s insight on the human condition, goodness, evil, forgiveness, sacrifice, and love is not only right and true, but moving, full of purpose, and fulfilling.
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Sam Sander (Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine) The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients Lucy H. Spelman Full of true stories written by colleagues and friends, this served as inspiration as I pursued a career as a zoo veterinarian and now reminds me how unique a “regular day at the office” is. It also captivates my daughters and conveys the message of a future constrained only by the limits of their imagination.
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Mary Schlembach (University Library) Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI Yuval Noah Harari I have had the honor of collaborating with a large group of preeminent engineers and scientists in my faculty career. This book describes the remarkable advances in information discovery technologies, many of which I have had the privilege to be a part of.
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Amy Schnelle (Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine) The Other End of the Leash Patricia B McConnell I read “The Other End of the Leash” when I was an undergraduate student, and it was an eye opening comparison of primate and canine behavior. It helped me to understand my canine companions (and later, patients) much better and translated to significant improvement in my handling and training abilities.
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Nehemiah Scott (Department of Business Administration) Operations and Supply Chain Management F. Robert Jacobs and Richard B. Chase This book provides a great introduction to supply chain and operations management for all students. This book holds a special place in my academic career. I taught from this book in the first course I ever taught as a professor in Gies College of Business. Today, almost 10 years later, it still informs my teaching.
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Sonali Shah (Department of Business Administration) The Little Engine That Could Retold by Watty Piper This was my first favorite book: as a young girl, I admired the pictures of happy toys and shiny fruits––and marveled at the kindness of the Little Blue Engine and the poor character of the other engines. The moral: be kind, ask for help, give help, and you can achieve so much if you try.
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Yang Shao (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility Clayton R. Paul, Robert C. Scully, and Mark A. Steffka This book is an essential resource for anyone working with today’s advancements in both digital and analog devices, communications systems, as well as power/energy generation and distribution. It is the “golden standard” for any electrical engineer, signal/power integrity engineer, EMC engineering, and system engineer.
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Gisela Sin (Department of Political Science) Blades of Freedom (Hazardous Tales #10): A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase Nathan Hale This book represents just one of the many I read with my children, Sophia and Tobias, during my post tenure years. The fact that they share my love for history made reading time so special. I also learned a lot and will always cherish those memories.
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Charles Sing (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics Herbert B. Callen Callen’s text on thermodynamics is a classic, and its insightful and unique approach has had a profound impact on my understanding of this topic. I learn something new every time I open this book.
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Krystal Smalls (Department of Anthropology) Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” Zora Neale Hurston Before I knew that Hurston had made a place for me in anthropology, she invited me into a full Black feminine humanness with her stories. For me, Barracoon – biography and ethnography – is one of her most staggering tellings of fugitive Black life.
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Bobby Smith II (Department of African American Studies) I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle Charles M. Payne My book, “Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement,” was born out of this text. While writing it, I met Charles Payne and told him about it, and asked him to autograph my copy of his book. His inscription reads: “Bobby, thanks for telling the next part of the story.”
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Pengfei Song (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound Richard S. C. Cobbold Richard Cobbold’s ultrasound book is considered the “Bible” of biomedical ultrasound imaging due to its comprehensive coverage of fundamental principles, advanced techniques, and real-world applications, making it an essential reference for both researchers and clinicians seeking a deep understanding of ultrasound technology in medical diagnostics.
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Myoung-Sun Song (Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures) The Melodrama of Mobility: Women, Talk, and Class in Contemporary South Korea Nancy Abelmann I chose this book to honor and remember the groundbreaking work of Professor Nancy Abelmann and the long-lasting impact that her legacy holds for the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the field of Korean Studies.
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Nanka Sturgis (Department of Theatre) The Art Spirit Robert Henri This book is about the place of art and the artist. When I first read it, I was acting in a cross-country tour. Having just become a new mom, my infant son traveled with me. Not easy. The inspiration and perspective here kept me tethered to the power of creation and the beauty of art.
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Xiao Su (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume 1 Edward Gibbon This book sparked my interest in classical history during school. It also encourages us to reflect on how many societal and political trends are timeless.
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Ramanath Subramanyam (Department of Business Administration) Cosmos Carl Sagan When I was a child, reading this book, it felt like Carl Sagan was exploring incredibly complex scientific ideas in a very accessible way. It had a profound impact on me. Even now, I constantly remind myself of what my role should be as an academic, regardless of the specific area I am specializing in.
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Bridget Sweet (School of Music) What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body Melissa Malde, Mary Jean Allen, and Kurt-Alexander Zeller As I have worked from Associate to Full Professor, this book has shaped so much of this part of my career. It has influenced what I teach and what I advocate in the music education profession: increased understanding of anatomy and physiology of the voice and of the greater human body.
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Sameh Tawfick (Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering) On Growth and Form D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson Full of gems! How did D’Arcy write a book that engineers, biologists, physicists, and applied mathematicians will equally be inspired by and learn from for 100+ years?
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Andrea Taylor (Department of Crop Sciences) Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder Richard Louv This is one of my favorite books because of its impact. When Richard Louv interviewed me as he wrote the book, I did not foresee the impact it would have, launching a national movement to increase the quality and quantity of nature experiences and ensure that ALL children have access.
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Tom Teper (University Library) Honor Bound: How a Cultural Ideal Has Shaped the American Psyche Ryan P. Brown In early 2021, my half-brother died by suicide, a death of despair. We could have not been raised more differently. This book explained how those different circumstances impacted each of us and reminded me of my own great fortune. Thank you to my wife and sons for all the light they bring.
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Hanghang Tong (Department of Computer Science) The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment Eckhart Tolle A great book to help have a peaceful mind especially during the time of uncertainty, by focusing on what we have and what we can do at the moment not worrying about the future or the past.
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Emily Van Duyn (Department of Communication) The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker Katherine J. Cramer This book taught me what research could look like if you engaged with humanity, not ran away from it. Kathy’s book is rigorous, compassionate, and accessible. It shows why the small parts of democratic life matter for the larger picture of democracy, and it remains an important model for my own work.
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Lucas Wagner (Department of Physics) Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms David J.C. MacKay This book opened my eyes to how to mathematically express inference and uncertainty, and was so very formative of how I think about science.
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Bo Wang (Department of Comparative Biosciences) Biochemistry of Lipids, Lipoproteins and Membranes Neale Ridgway and Roger McLeod This is a comprehensive, general reference book for scientists and students studying lipids, lipoproteins and membranes.
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Shelley Weinberg (Department of Philosophy) HERETICS! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler This will be a fun read for anyone interested in seeing what set the stage for modern philosophy in the west.
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Tiffany White (Department of Business Administration) The Lorax Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax was published the year I was born. Its message about environmentalism and the perils of greed and indifference is as timely today as when I read this book as a child.
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Catherine Wiesener (School of Art and Design) Handmade Houses, A Guide to the Woodbutchers Art Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro I studied every detail of this book as a child, over and over for many years. I believe it shaped my interest in sculpture as each page seemed like an habitable sculpture to me. I adored the determination, self-reliance and creativity necessary to lead a life where you could dream it and then build it.
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Steven Witt (University Library) An Amiable Adventure Amy Heminway Jones This book recounts the author’s round the world journey at a time when the interwar order was disintegrating. Jones promoted – somewhat anonymously – the study of international relations and culture to promote peace through libraries and universities. Yet her presence remains ubiquitous in archives and library collections around the world.
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Jinhui Yan (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) The Finite Element Method: Linear Static and Dynamic Finite Element Analysis Thomas JR Hughes This book is one of the most important texts in the finite element method.
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Fiona Kun Yao (Department of Business Administration) A New Year’s Reunion Yu Li-Qiong I dedicate this book to my mother, who, despite distance and time, nurtured me with unwavering love and strength. Her sacrifices, her protection, and her care shaped who I am today. In memory of my mother, whose love remains in my heart. |
