The governor told cabinet members and state employees gathered at Governor Nelson State Park on Monday that he was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 — a result of Wisconsin’s former governor and senator Gaylord Nelson’s advocacy.
UW-Madison holds more than 50 events as part of Earth Fest.
The Sauk County Board of Supervisors voted last week to provide a financial boost to the University of Wisconsin- Platteville Baraboo Sauk County, the smallest campus in the Universities of Wisconsin system.
Some drivers pulled over by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department for minor equipment violations are getting certificates for repairs instead of citations.
Amid quickly intensifying rain and ongoing citations for a previous protest, two dozen protesters, mostly University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students, picketed outside the UWM chancellor’s residence in Shorewood on Thursday, April 18.
The University of Wisconsin athletic board provided no surprises Friday in dealing with UW’s winter sports coaches.
Men’s basketball coach Greg Gard received the standard one-year rollover, which re-establishes his contract at five years.
When a University of Wisconsin-Madison pier collapsed last year, the cause seemed pretty simple: There were too many people on the structure at the time.
But a newly released investigative report found overcapacity was not the cause of the Labor Day collapse that plunged dozens of people into Lake Mendota. Rather, the report indicated people on the pier were jumping and introducing too much strain on the pier, causing it to crumple.
Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison, said much of Gaylord Nelson’s legacy focused on alleviating poverty and addressing inequality in society — not just the environment.
“We lead with a community-first vision that justice comes first,” Robbins said. “If you get justice right, you’re on the road to healing the environment.”
In a speech touting the value of higher education to northwest Wisconsin delegates visiting the state Capitol for Superior Days, University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman singled out the system’s Superior campus for particular praise. But his talk came amid a third-party analysis showing financial deficits at 10 of Wisconsin’s public universities, including the Superior campus. Rothman’s speech, along with a review of the financial report, are highlighted.
According to his legislative bio, Barca got his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received a master’s in public administration and educational administration from UW-Madison. He also attended graduate school at Harvard University.
According to a UW-Madison alumni profile, Barca was a “self-proclaimed math geek.”
Olson is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the same university. She also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
A brood of periodical cicadas that call part of Wisconsin home is emerging for the first time in 17 years this spring. We cover all things cicada with P.J. Liesch, one of our favorite entomologists.
In Madison, more than half of renters were “cost-burdened,” with over 30 percent of their income going to housing in 2015. That’s higher than the rate for the rest of Dane County and the rest of Wisconsin, according to an analysis from University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Applied Population Lab.
Co-authored by ssociate professor of Management and Human Resources, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Leaders with the University of Wisconsin-Madison said food waste accounts for about 30% of the solid waste the university generates.
Dr. Lucille Barash Glicklich Rosenberg accomplished something rare in 1950. She graduated from UW-Madison as a pediatrician.
It was one of many accomplishments throughout her career that contributed to her reputation as a trailblazing woman in medicine in the Milwaukee area.
Evers sued GOP lawmakers in October over decisions to withhold pay raises for University of Wisconsin System employees and to block conservation projects, arguing such actions made by legislative committees rather than the full Legislature violate the state Constitution’s separation of powers requirements.
Kish explained that the Quickfire Challenge would be centered around another Madison culinary icon: chef Carson Gulley, who was the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s residence hall chef from the 1920s through the 1950s. From 1953 to 1962, he and his wife hosted a weekly cooking show on WMTV — the first-ever African American couple to host a cooking show.
Tahnee Aguirre, a financial security educator for UW-Madison Extension, which provided the rent education and financial literacy classes, said the women already had the tenacity and intelligence to be successful. Now they have a vision.
“Now that they see it and know what they need to do to make it happen, they have a better chance to achieve their goals,” Aguirre said. “Their opportunities are endless.”
“This is an innovative way to approach the issue, and the authors are up front about the limitations of their analysis, because it is so new,” says Tracey Halloway, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved in the report but read a draft. “The optimist in me knows there are a lot of moving parts, and it could end up being easier to be sustainable, easier to be resilient, than we thought, and maybe in some ways that will offset the costs that they project.”
The Chronicle is tracking higher ed’s dismantling of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. As colleges make changes in response to anti-DEI legislation and mounting political pressure, an inconsistent and confusing landscape has emerged. This resource aims to document the changes and help readers better understand how the campaign against DEI has actually reshaped campuses.
PJ Liesch, an extension entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, compared it to the recent solar eclipse because “you only have so many opportunities in your life to witness something like it.”
“This year we are talking billions, if not, trillions of cicadas,” Liesch said.
University of Wisconsin schools are facing challenging financial futures without major changes, according to recent campus financial reports.
Several factors have led to campuses’ financial difficulties including declining state support on an inflation-adjusted basis over the last decade, the impacts of the decade-long tuition freeze that ended in 2022, declining enrollment and inflation.
“Available housing is incredibly low,” said Grace Kobe, who co-directs the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Eviction Defense Clinic, which is part of the partnership. “And so much of that housing that is being built is not affordable, and so when folks are facing eviction, or not facing eviction and just trying to find somewhere to go, their options are so incredibly limited here.”
Gov. Tony Evers announced a push Friday calling on the Legislature to approve more funding for the Universities of Wisconsin.
Evers called it the largest increase in state support for the university system in more than two decades.
Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center director, said the main source of distrust in elections are messages from political leaders to their followers indicating they should be distrustful.
“As the most important voice in one of the major parties, Trump has a unique ability to undermine public confidence through his rhetoric, even though it is often detached from facts about the situation,” Burden said.
Top graduate schools in Wisconsin landed on the latest U.S. News & World Report list ranking more than 2,000 programs across the country. U.S. News & World Report published its 2024-’25 report in April, ranking graduate programs in business, education, law and nursing, among other fields.
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s the School of Education tied for first overall with Teacher’s College, Columbia University, according the report. That’s up from third overall and second among public universities last year.
In 1951, Velvalea Phillips became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and in 1956, she became the first woman and first Black member of the Milwaukee Common Council.
Heather Kirkorian, professor of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researches the effects of media on children’s development. Kirkorian said media effects vary widely among individuals, noting it can pose both positive and negative outcomes. While clear evidence exists of manipulative practices to keep youth engaged longer, she said a direct link is lacking between the use of social media and an increase in suicidal ideation or mental health problems.
“It’s really important for us to understand that the effects of media are not the same for everybody, and some groups of children might be disproportionately affected by media,” Kirkorian said.
A newly released third-party analysis raises concerns about the financial future of multiple state universities.
“We have heard from Milwaukee listeners for years that they want us to bring classical music radio back to the city and this will do just that,” Marta Bechtol, executive director of the Educational Communications Board, said in a statement from WPR. The board operates WPR and PBS Wisconsin in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Newly released reports raise questions about the financial viability of Wisconsin’s public universities and signal additional cuts coming to some campuses in future years.
One of the event’s sponsors was UW-Madison’s Kemp Natural Resources Station. Kelly Tyrell, a spokesperson for UW-Madison said in a statement that the speaker at the GLTPA conference is chosen by a committee and that the university hosts speakers on a viewpoint neutral basis.
A UW-Madison professor explains new research and immigration patterns in the Darién Gap. Then, a hematologist discusses a rare blood disease known as amyloidosis. Then, WPR’s Lori Skelton previews the spring concert season.
New programs are working to fill the gaps. A new University of Wisconsin-Madison Special Education Teacher Residency Program covers the cost of an in-state resident’s master’s degree in special education and provides a stipend for students who agree to work at Milwaukee Public Schools. And the new Wisconsin Special Educators Induction Program provides coaching and training for new special education teachers.
Ezra Klein, New York Times columnist, podcast host, and bestselling author of “Why We’re Polarized”, will be in Wisconsin later this month for a presentation on why American politics is so polarized and what it has done to electoral institutions, policymaking, and the media. Before his stint at the Times, he was the founder, editor-in-chief, and then editor-at-large of Vox, the explanatory news platform, which has won many awards and now reaches more than 50 million people each month.
There are many types of cicadas in North America. Some emerge every year, often in July and August. These cicadas have life cycles of about 2-3 years, PJ Liesch, extension entomologist and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Insect Diagnostics Lab, told the Journal Sentinel.
“First, consider whether an online savings account is the only banking product you need right now,” says Jonathon Ferguson, a financial capability specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Financial Education Division of Extension. “Online savings accounts can be great due to their relatively high-interest rates and tech tools. However, these accounts do not solve all needs.”
America dropped 20 spots in the latest World Happiness Report. We talk with Christine Whelan, a UW-Madison consumer science professor, about the trends contributing to lower happiness and what can be done about it.
Collectively, about five million Americans are diagnosed with either MS or Sjogren’s disease. Interview with Dr. Sara McCoy, a clinical rheumatologist at UW Health and director of the Sjogren’s Syndrome Clinic.
We live in a time when fake news permeates social media feeds and partisan coverage blasts through some cable news channels. Teaching media literacy can help people wade through the disinformation and become critical news consumers. As Christina Lieffring tells us, a video game created by UW-Madison’s Field Day Labs aims to teach students to become more media literate and what it takes to be a journalist.
Joshua Calhoun, professor in the Department of English at UW-Madison, discusses how Shakespeare’s sonnets have been organized, printed and grouped over the centuries. Calhoun explores love and heartbreak in the poems.
Brandon Maly, chair of the Republican Party of Dane County, posted a photo on X of a large crowd of people gathered on UW-Madison’s Library Mall. Those people were “out in full force at UW Madison today protesting Biden,” he claimed.
Multiple news reports confirm that the people were in fact there to watch the eclipse.
Avian flu remains prevalent in Wisconsin’s wild bird populations and the risk to farms this year is about the same as recent years, said Ron Kean, a poultry specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Kean said lasers are a great option to reduce spread of the disease.
“Keeping the wild birds away from our domestic birds seems to be a big part of biosecurity,” he said.
America dropped 20 spots in the latest World Happiness Report. We talk with Christine Whelan, a UW-Madison consumer science professor, about the trends contributing to lower happiness and what can be done about it.
Ken Knobel of San Francisco traveled to Wisconsin to visit his son at UW-Madison over the weekend and decided to watch the eclipse from Milwaukee because of the clear skies.
“I think the most exciting part of it is that it’s, for some people, once in a lifetime,” said Knobel, who said it’s the first eclipse he’s ever watched.
An analysis by the University of Wisconsin’s Student Success Through Applied Research Lab found in 2020 that the largest group of borrowers — 23% of those with student debt — owed between $20,000 and $40,000, and 21% owed between $10,000 and $20,000.
Nielsen data shows that the top streaming service on home televisions is not Netflix or Hulu but YouTube. UW–Madison media studies professors Jonathan Gray and Derek Johnson weigh in on how the video social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok are becoming the top competition for the television and movie industries.
The University of Wisconsin System is becoming more family friendly.
Employees will receive six weeks of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child under a new policy bringing UW campuses in line with many other universities across the country. The policy takes effect July 1.
Nearly three-quarters of the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh do not approve of Chancellor Andrew Leavitt’s job performance.
Ever since the days of Puritan New England, American governments have struggled to define the relationship between religion and a secular nation. In recent years, that struggle has become increasingly strident with the rise of the Christian Right. What is the relationship between the Christian Right and traditional evangelicals? At what point did the Christian Right become an influence in US presidential elections? And who were the key players in that development? Historian Dan Hummel of UW-Madison will take us into the world of the Christian Right and its influence in American politics.
UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid assistant director of federal awards Katy Weisenburger describes nationwide difficulties with the FAFSA process and impacts on Wisconsin college students.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty voted no-confidence in their chancellor, sending a symbolic message of disapproval during a difficult budget year.
Bo Ryan is officially a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer. Ryan, 76, on Saturday was named to the Hall of Fame, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was also a Hall of Fame finalist in 2023, but didn’t make the cut despite an impressive resume. Ryan in 2017 was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
University of Wisconsin-Madison criminal justice professor Kenneth Streit said the new unit will allow people on the waitlist for Mendota and other state mental hospitals to get treatment at a civil facility sooner, with more access to personal space and state-trained medical professionals. Many are currently languishing in county jails.
“A person’s going to have much more contact with people who are aware of what their symptoms are and aware of how that person should be behaving,” Streit said
Anglers aren’t the only ones catching something out in Wisconsin waters. University of Wisconsin researchers have detected almost 20 viruses in wild sport fish, including a distant relative of coronavirus that’s usually associated with birds.
The State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School also examined the referendum language and found that Wisconsin didn’t lay out some exceptions that other states have.
“Even states that have restricted the use of private funding or resources have often included exceptions for common donations, such as private spaces for use as polling locations or food and beverages for poll workers,” staff attorney Emily Lau wrote in an analysis of the referendums.
Samantha Crowley, a medical student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during the Biden campaign’s press conference that a national abortion ban would “take away the reproductive freedoms” of over 1 million Wisconsin women. She said Trump’s largely taken credit for the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision getting overturned.
A lab at UW-Madison is working to create an atlas of prenatal brains with Down syndrome in an effort to better understand the condition. Anita Bhattacharyya, the leader of the lab, joins us.
Johnson grew up in the city’s troubled 53206 zip code and attended Milwaukee Public Schools. He was one of 10 siblings — his father worked as a janitor for the Milwaukee Public School District and his mother as a certified nursing assistant. After attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he returned to his hometown to work for the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, now Employ Milwaukee.
