Stories & News: Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University Chicago

The pursuit of purpose

How did Loyola University Chicago raise $100 million for first-generation college students—all while also getting millions more from the federal government to restore the Great Lakes ecosystem (Great Lakes Restoration Initiative), support minority business owners (U.S. Small Business Administration), and stimulate collaboration among some of the largest medical and academic institutions in Chicago (National Institutes of Health)?

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College of Arts and Sciences

Bridging ethics and technology: Loyola's pioneering approach to humanizing AI and VR education

Joseph Vukov, an associate professor of philosophy, and Michael Burns, an associate professor of biology, built the course “Philosophy and Biology for the Future” to explore these ever-evolving issues with the goal of creating a more just world. They designed the course to help students understand and envision the future through the intersecting lenses of the biological sciences, ethics, and faith.

School of Environmental Sustainability

Loyola leads the way in fighting hunger and food waste in Chicago

Nineteen million tons of waste goes to landfills in Illinois every year, and 20% of that landfill waste consists of food waste. At the same time, over 1.5 million people in Illinois were food insecure in 2022, according to Feeding America. Loyola’s School of Environmental Sustainability (SES), the first school of environmental sustainability at any Jesuit university, is the home of several initiatives to combat these statistics on many fronts, from science to social justice.

Stritch School of Medicine

The art and science of cells: Loyola's innovative approach to understanding cellular behavior and health

Until Loyola professor of cell and molecular physiology Patrick Oakes collaborated with physics colleagues from the University of Chicago a few years ago, there was no known systematic strategy that could infer the large-scale physical properties of a cell from its molecular components. Through their innovative interdisciplinary approach combining biology, physics, and AI, the team developed a suite of data-driven approaches for biophysical modeling of cellular forces that can shed light on cancer, immune response, and tissue regeneration.

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School of Environmental Sustainability

Loyola Students and Faculty Team Up to Assess Air Quality Disparities

Chicago has some of the nation’s most polluted air, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 State of the Air report, but the toxins aren’t spread evenly throughout the city. Instead, the worst air quality is in neighborhoods where people of color live. This disparity has real world affects. A report from the Chicago Department of Public Health found the air quality inequity contributes to Chicago’s nine-year life expectancy gap between Black and white residents and reduces life expectancy in the Latinx community.

Quinlan School of Business

"Ethics in the Wild:" Teaching Students to Remain Responsible in the Business World

Imagine this scenario: You operate a company that gives away free tampons and pads to increase health equity. You fund the company by selling advertising on the packaging itself. One day, a pornography company with unethical labor practices and a PR problem offers to invest a large dollar amount in your business in exchange for some positive co-branding on your packaging. Which is more ethical—to expand the ability to get free feminine hygiene products to those in need, or to deny a bad actor the chance to launder its reputation? According to what principles or standards might one make this decision?

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Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health

A Collaborative Approach to Improving Human Health

Less than 6 months before a global pandemic descended, Loyola University Chicago launched its Parkinson School for Health Sciences and Public Health. Turns out, Parkinson’s innovative transdisciplinary approach – combining both traditional public health and clinical health professional training within the same school – was immediately relevant.

School of Environmental Sustainability

Training the Next Generation of Scientists in the Wetlands

For Brian Ohsowski, an assistant professor at Loyola’s School of Environmental Sustainability (SES), there are few better moments than watching a student don waders for the first time, walk into a wetland and immediately realize something was missing from their life. "I’m focused on training our students to become good scientists,” he said. “It’s motivating and enriching to see our students understand nature through scientific discovery and curiosity."

Quinlan School of Business

From Chicago to Southeast Asia

For Clifford Shultz, professor and Kellstadt Chair of Marketing at Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business, marketing is about more than identifying customers and determining how to reach them. He considers it a way to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health

Long-term study on African diaspora continues to challenge public health beliefs

Growing up in Arkansas during the Jim Crow era, Richard Cooper, professor emeritus at Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, witnessed the high cost of racism first-hand. Seeing the injustice drove him to put racial inequity at the center of his work as a medical researcher.