UW-Madison Professor of Economics Kim Ruhl was appointed as a member of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), the White House announced Tuesday.
February 5, 2025
Top Stories
UW Economics Professor appointed to President’s Council of Economic Advisers
Curt and Sue Culver Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin Kim Ruhl has been appointed as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers by the Trump administration, according to a UW press release. Ruhl currently serves as the co-director for the Center of Research on the Wisconsin Economy and is an expert in international economics.
Research
Wisconsin child care costs soar, but thousands miss out on state aid
“If you’re eligible for a subsidy and there’s just no child care in your community, or no providers that accept subsidies, that’s going to make it a lot harder for you to actually participate in (Wisconsin) Shares,” Pilarz said.
The state’s providers could care for up to 33,000 more children if they had staff to operate at full capacity, according to a 2024 UW-Madison study commissioned by the Department of Children and Families. The study found nearly 60% of Wisconsin child care providers had unused space, including closed classrooms.
UW-Madison researcher wants to improve the Hmong experience in Midwestern nursing homes
Medical anthropologist Mai See Thao, an assistant professor in UW-Madison’s Department of Anthropology and Asian American Studies, researches what life is like for refugees long after they’ve resettled in a new place.
Lessons learned from the push for new UW-Madison engineering building
Ian Robertson is excited construction will soon begin on a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wonders, though, what could have been possible if the facility had been built faster.
Higher Education/System
Wisconsin Technical College System requests $60 million increase for 2025-27 state budget
Leaders of the Wisconsin Technical College system present their budget requests for the next fiscal biennium, requesting for a roughly $60 million increase.
UW System budget ‘completely out of sync with what is available,’ former Gov. Thompson says
“We’ll never have a great state without a great university. We got to fund it, we got to support it,” said Thompson, who served as interim UW System President from 2020 to 2022. “I think what is currently being asked for is completely out of sync with what is available.”
Campus life
UW to host 26th Annual Evening of Storytelling Feb. 7, shedding light on Indigenous languages and storytelling
This year’s featured storytellers, Yaari Walker (Yupik) and Valerie Barber (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), and Neil Cantemaza McKay (Dakota) are dedicated to preserving and revitalizing Indigenous languages and traditions.
Full list of UW Winter Carnival events 2025
The annual UW Winter Carnival will begin on Thursday, February 6 with events going through Sunday, February 9.
Winter Carnival returns to Memorial Union
Winter Carnival highlights Wisconsin’s winter traditions.
Self-advocates: UW students with disabilities fight for access, inclusion on campus
‘I have succeeded in college not in spite of my disabilities, but alongside being a disabled student,’ UW student says.
Crime and safety
UWPD in final stages of selecting new police chief, final candidate presents – The Daily Cardinal
The four finalists for the position are: Benjamin Newman, chief of police at Southern Illinois University; Bobby Cuthbertson, deputy chief of police at North Carolina A&T State University; Brent Plisch, interim chief of police at UW-Madison; and Nicole Waldner, assistant chief of police at the Milwaukee Police Department.
Agriculture
Ag industry leaders say Trump policy changes on trade, immigration could hurt farmers
Farm economists and industry experts weighed in on these impacts during the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Agricultural Outlook Forum, an annual event for farm and food industry leaders in the state. Chuck Nicholson, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, was one of the speakers.
“If we substantively implement some of the policy ideas that have been proposed and talked about prior to the inauguration, I think that will pose some pretty significant economic challenges for the farmers of Wisconsin and the U.S. generally,” Nicholson said.
Opinion
Trump and Congress are skipping out on the bill for mass deportations
Op-Ed by John Gross,a clinical associate professor of law at University of Wisconsin Law School and director of the Public Defender Project.
Donald Trump and the End of DEI: Students weigh in
Column by UW-Madison student Devin Mehta: At a state school such as my own, the wide range of political beliefs, backgrounds and ideas creates wide-ranging discussions and open worldviews. DEI initiatives are valuable on campuses because they force constructive dialogue that challenges existing viewpoints.
UW-Madison Related
‘Influencing culture’ at UW-Madison
After most recently working as the adult faith and evangelization coordinator for St. Christopher Parish in Verona and Paoli — part of Divine Mercy Pastorate — where she is also currently a parishioner, Swanke has accepted a position at the Lumen Center, an ecumenical think tank on the UW campus. The Lumen Center, an initiative of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation, has a mission to influence the university “at the level of ideas,” Swanke explained.