These pages contain a sampling of the articles found the 2008-09 Annual Report. View or save the PDF version for the full report.

Welcome from President B. Joseph White

I firmly believe that the University of Illinois is the state's most valuable asset for a prosperous future, and I tell people that wherever I go.

The U of I — with campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield — is a world-class institution that pays huge dividends on our state's and our families' higher education investment and delivers benefits that extend far beyond the borders of Illinois and the nation.

The University's impact is big because of its scale: 70,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students enrolled; 18,500 degrees awarded annually; a $4.2 billion annual operating budget, including $645 million in sponsored research.

The Urbana-Champaign campus boasts nationally ranked programs in engineering, science, business, agriculture, the arts and professions. The ground-breaking research and creative thinking of our faculty and alumni have been recognized for decades with 23 Nobel Prizes as well as MacArthur "genius" Fellowships, Fulbrights, Pulitzers and numerous other accolades. The Urbana campus' 21st-century Extension provides education and service to Illinois citizens in all of Illinois' 102 counties.

The Chicago campus educates more physicians than any other medical college nationally. UIC operates the state's major public medical center and serves as the principal educator of Illinois' dentists, pharmacists, nurses and other health-care professionals. The Great Cities Commitment at UIC continues to engage and enrich Chicago and advance knowledge of contemporary urban life.

In Springfield, we have made measurable progress on the goal of UIS to be one of the nation's top five liberal arts universities. U.S. News and World Report ranks UIS as the best public university — master's category — in the state and the fourth best in the Midwest.

And last year Global Campus was launched, expanding educational opportunity and access with state-of-the-art online coursework. We are working with the state's community colleges to offer affordable, career-oriented bachelor's degree-completion programs to students who can't join us on our residential campuses.

Of course, the University's best asset is its people. I am confident you'll find the accomplishments of the U of I faculty, students and staff featured in this annual report as substantial, creative and exciting as I do.

Sincerely,

B. Joseph White