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Bob Zuppke was head football coach at the University of Illinois from 1912 to 1941. Often credited with several significant football innovations including the huddle, Zuppke won two national championships and won or tied for seven Big Ten conference titles. This biography of Zuppke is a study of his passion for football, his advocacy for its educational value and his ability to promote and market the game to the academic community and the general public. It places him in the context of multiple themes, including the development of interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football; presidential support and public relations; sports psychology; stadium building and commercial sports; academic criticism; the fraternity system; boosters; and sports in a state-supported public university. Maynard Brichford is university archivist emeritus at the University of Illinois in Urbana.

Barns of Illinois. This magnificent new collection by Larry Kanfer documents the diversity of barns throughout the Prairie State, published by the University of Illinois Press. This hardcover collection portrays 116 evocative color photographs of barns in all stages of their existence. With engaging prose, Alaina Kanfer recounts the histories of many of the barns featured, revealing each barn's unique character and tracing its distinctive imprint on the land and on people's lives. Larry Kanfer is an award-winning photographer who operates galleries in Champaign, Illinois, and online at www.kanfer.com. His previous books include On Firm Ground, Prairiescapes, and On Second Glance: Midwest Photographs.  His original artwork is featured in public and private collections nationally.

 In 1946, Robert Allerton donated his 5,500 acre estate to the University of Illinois. For the last 60 years, residents from throughout central Illinois have spent leisurely hours wandering these formal gardens which are punctuated with sculptures from around the world. Although the gardens and mansion are now very public, until this book, Robert Allerton himself was a mystery. Through painstaking research, the authors have uncovered facts, letters and more that paint a picture of Robert Allerton, a very private man whose real story is perhaps even more interesting than the local speculation and lore. The book includes dozens of photographs, both old and new, which bring the man and his gift to life for the reader.

• Martha (Marty) Burgin graduated from the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts in 1973 with a B.A. in Painting.
• Maureen Holtz graduated from the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts in 1974 with a B.A. in Second Education (Spanish).
• Michael Holtz graduated from the University of Illinois College of Engineering in 1977 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and then from the University of IL (Chicago) with an M.S. in Structural Engineering in 1980.