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Category: Top Stories

3 women with Wisconsin ties make Time 100 list for 2026

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people of 2026 includes three people with strong Wisconsin connections: Olympic hockey champion and U.S. team captain Hilary Knight, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison star; actor Kate Hudson, who portrayed local singer Claire Sardina in the recent film “Song Sung Blue”; and photojournalist Lynsey Addario, a UW alum renowned for documenting the lives of women and children in conflict zones.

Forward, together: A strategic framework for the future

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Wisconsin State Journal

A new five-year strategic framework for UW–Madison helps identify and advance clear shared priorities and define the university’s mission for the years ahead.

The following message was sent by Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin, Provost John Zumbrunnen and Interim Chancellor-designate Eric M. Wilcots to all students and employees on April 7, 2026.

UW–Madison graduate programs earn top U.S. News rankings

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Wisconsin State Journal

University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate programs are once again highly ranked among the nation’s best in the 2026 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools.”

Highlights include high marks in several specific rankings — with nearly 20 ranking in their respective top 10 lists — shining a light on the breadth and depth of the university’s overall graduate offerings.

Is There Life After Smartphones?

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The New York Times

For most of his childhood, Shaawan Francis Keahna considered himself to be a fundamentally unattractive kid — “too giggly and too gangly and too smart,” as he put it to me recently, “with a face that was really, really adult, despite my youth. My biggest problem, of course, was that I was just plain weird.” Growing up in Hayward, a former logging town on the Namekagon River in northwestern Wisconsin, he was often teased by white classmates for his Native ancestry and for his love of poetry and art. “It became a self-fulfilling thing,” he said. “I internalized it and basically came to see myself exactly the way they saw me.”

UW-Madison’s budget cuts force Space Place closure

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison is closing its astronomy outreach center, UW Space Place, this spring after nearly 36 years, citing budget cuts.

Over the last three decades, the astronomy department has run Space Place as a hub for guest lectures on space and astronomy research, as well as for programming for Madison-area schools and families that teaches about UW-Madison and Wisconsin’s impact in the field.

“Space Place was the primary way of satisfying that sort of demand for the community for decades,” said Jim Lattis, UW Space Place’s longtime former director, who retired last May after more than 30 years and who has continued to volunteer there post-retirement. “So that’s going to go away. The astronomy department is going to do their best, but there’s no longer anybody who is specifically dedicated to doing astronomy outreach in those forms.”

Exact Sciences gives UW-Madison foundation $2.5 million for early cancer detection research

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Wisconsin State Journal

Madison-based biotech leader Exact Sciences has gifted UW-Madison’s foundation $2.5 million to improve early cancer detection discoveries through research.

The Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association’s new grant will establish the James Dahlberg Fund for Cancer Detection and Clinical Integration, named after UW-Madison professor emeritus James Dahlberg, to support university researchers and clinical trials at UW Health focused on detecting and preventing cancer.

UW campuses can start offering 3-year bachelor’s degrees, Board of Regents says

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Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s public universities are now allowed to offer reduced-credit, three-year degrees — joining dozens of schools across the country finding alternatives to traditional four-year bachelor’s programs.

The UW Board of Regents on Thursday approved policy changes allowing the Universities of Wisconsin’s schools to develop the degrees, which typically require students to take 90 credits to earn a bachelor’s degree, rather than a minimum of 120.

Three-year college degrees could be coming to some UW campuses

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Shorter and ultimately cheaper college degrees could be coming to some University of Wisconsin campuses.

The UW Board of Regents approved revising a policy that previously mandated bachelor’s degree programs be a minimum of 120 credits. The changes, unanimously endorsed without discussion during a March 5 meeting, now allow campuses to offer 90-credit degrees.

UW-Madison lukewarm on 3-year degrees despite UW system’s blessing

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The Cap Times

Wisconsin’s 13 public universities can now develop three-year bachelor’s degree programs — but it could be a while before any appear at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I know there are some other UW institutions that are exploring that as a possibility. We have not had discussions here at Madison about that,” Allison La Tarte, UW-Madison’s vice provost and chief data and analytics officer, said at a recent campus meeting.

Why UW-Madison interim provost believes he’s the right one for the permanent job

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison’s Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen saw a room of familiar faces Tuesday during his presentation to faculty and the campus community explaining why he should be in the role permanently.

Zumbrunnen is one of three finalists in the university’s search for the next provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs. Finalists are doing in-person visits to campus this week as UW-Madison seeks a replacement for Charles Isbell Jr., who was named chancellor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2025.

Governor gets firsthand look at future of nuclear energy at UW–Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

The visit follows a partnership announcement between the Public Service Commission and UW’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics to study nuclear energy opportunities in the state.

Inside the University of Wisconsin Nuclear Reactor Tuesday morning, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers peered over the shoulders of student operator Nick Tierney, a senior majoring in nuclear engineering, to eye the array of instrumentation on the reactor control panel, then climbed the stairs to look down into the reactor’s cooling pool.

Ignite Wisconsin grant works to jumpstart Wisconsin’s lead in fusion energy

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ABC 27

Ignite Wisconsin’s grant of nearly $800K to the Wisconsin Fusion Energy Coalition will help push Wisconsin as a national hub for fusion energy.

Gov. Tony Evers, along with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), announced Thursday that the coalition, led by 5 Lakes Institute and UW-Madison’s fusion research work, will “accelerate startup formation, supply chain development, and community outreach in a sector projected to reach nearly $3 trillion by 2080.”

UW-Madison now will mandate that students disclose their vaccination status

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison students now will be required to report their vaccination status to the university, campus officials said Thursday.

The mandate comes after UW-Madison announced earlier this month that a student living in an off-campus apartment tested positive for measles. University and Dane County officials said at least 4,000 people were exposed.

UW-Madison to require students share vaccination status for measles

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UW-Madison has announced it will now require students to share their vaccination status for multiple diseases, including measles.

The policy change comes after a measles case in a UW-Madison student, which was reported in early February. The student visited several locations on and off campus while contagious, and university officials had to notify about 4,000 people who may have been exposed.

UW-Madison dean named interim chancellor to succeed Jennifer Mnookin

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Wisconsin State Journal

The Universities of Wisconsin has named a temporary successor for UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.

College of Letters and Science Dean Eric Wilcots will serve as interim chancellor starting May 17 as Mnookin begins her departure to lead Columbia University, UW system President Jay Rothman announced Wednesday.  

Madison measles case leads to hundreds of exposures

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Spectrum News

Dane County health officials continue to contact hundreds of people who may have been exposed to measles after a University of Wisconsin–Madison student tested positive for the highly contagious virus.

Public Health Madison & Dane County posted a growing list of exposure locations on its website, including several UW-Madison buildings such as Union South, the Genetics and Psychology buildings, multiple Madison Metro bus routes, Qdoba on Park Street and the Waisman Center.

UW rises to No. 2 U.S. public university in latest TIME Magazine rankings

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The Daily Cardinal
TIME Magazine named the University of Wisconsin-Madison the 19th best university in the world and the 2nd best public university in the United States in their ‘World’s Top Universities of 2026’ rankings.

UW-Madison rose seven positions from 2025, leapfrogging the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles. The University of Michigan took the top U.S. public university spot

Hundreds rally at Library Mall in solidarity with Minneapolis, demand sanctuary status from ICE at UW

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The Badger Herald

Hundreds gathered in negative windchill in solidarity with the city of Minneapolis and rallied for no Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence on UW’s campus at Library Mall, Jan. 27.

Madison Students for a Democratic Society held the rally in response to the presence of ICE operations across the U.S. and ICE agents killing two Minneapolis residents, according to their Instagram.

Bill threatens UW research, study abroad programs in 6 countries

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The Daily Cardinal

Wisconsin Republican lawmakers want to limit the University of Wisconsin System’s academic and research collaboration with six countries amid concerns over national security and foreign influence in education.

The bill, which passed the Assembly on Jan. 22, prohibits study abroad, dual degree programs and research collaborations with China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Qatar. While there are currently no UW-Madison programs in four of the targeted countries, the university has three study abroad programs in China and one flagship program in Russia.

What Columbia University and Jennifer Mnookin will get from each other

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Wisconsin State Journal

When Jennifer Mnookin joined UW-Madison in 2022 as its chancellor, she faced declining state funding, a decadelong tuition freeze, then campus protests and an onslaught of federal research cuts.

But during her nearly four years in the position, Mnookin built a track record of forging deals with critics of her leadership or the university itself, such as breaking ground on the hard-fought new engineering building, despite frequent opposition from the Republican-led Legislature.

Highlights of Jennifer Mnookin’s tenure at UW-Madison

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Wisconsin State Journal

From her own ice cream flavor to a tense standoff with pro-Palestinian protesters and battles with the Legislature and the Trump administration over DEI, Jennifer Mnookin made a mark during her four years as chancellor at UW-Madison. On Sunday she was named the next president of Columbia University.

Here are highlights from her tenure in Madison.

UW-Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin tapped as Columbia’s president

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Wisconsin State Journal

Almost four years after Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin stepped in to lead UW-Madison, Columbia University has tapped her as its new president.

Mnookin, 58, will succeed acting president Claire Shipman. Mnookin will remain in her role in Madison through spring commencement and start at the New York university on July 1, Columbia announced Sunday. Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said he will appoint an interim chancellor after her departure.

University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin leaving for Columbia

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is leaving at the end of the school year for a job as president of Columbia University.

Mnookin, 58, started at UW in August 2022 after 17 years at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. A search for her replacement will begin later this year.

Columbia University selects UW-Madison Chancellor Mnookin as its next president

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Columbia University has selected University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin as its next president.

Mnookin has led the state’s flagship university since 2022.

In a statement Sunday, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said Mnookin brought “unbounded energy, resilience, and deeply thoughtful leadership to the position.

UW-Madison cancels classes, a rare move

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison has called off classes on Friday due to extreme frigid winter weather — the first time the university has canceled instruction since 2019.

The university canceled lectures, labs and discussion sections, but other campus operations will continue as normal, the university announced Thursday.

UW-Madison cancels classes Friday due to extreme cold

Posted on
The Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison cancelled Friday classes due to freezing weather conditions for the first time since 2019, according to a news release.

The cancellation of all lectures, labs and discussion sections comes after the National Weather Service placed Dane County under an Extreme Cold Warning from midnight to 1 p.m. Friday, with wind chills projected to range from 30 to 40 degrees below zero.

How Trump made life difficult for international students and Wisconsin

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The New York Times

One of the first signs of trouble came last spring, when the Trump administration abruptly moved to deport scores of international students, including a handful at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

University officials were alarmed, well aware that around 8,000 students, 15 percent of its enrollment, were from abroad. And they worried that the looming deportations might spook prospective international students, said Frances Vavrus, the dean of the international division at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

5 UW professors reflect on the year when Trump upended federal research

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Avtar Roopra’s research has effectively stalled since President Donald Trump started his second term and upended the federal research funding landscape. Agencies have cut projects, delayed grant reviews, fired thousands of federal employees who offer guidance to researchers and reduced the number of new projects getting funding.

“This is like the Holy Grail of epilepsy, what we’ve been looking for for hundreds of years,” Roopra said. “All of it is on hold. It’s extremely frustrating.”

Federal civil rights complaint against UW-Madison filed over scholarships

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Wisconsin Public Radio

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Wisconsin-Madison on behalf of conservative students on campus.

The firm alleges the school is offering about two dozen race-based scholarships. WILL is asking the U.S. Department of Education to investigate “race-based practices” on behalf of its client, the Young America’s Foundation.

UW-Madison research foundation seeks next ‘diamonds’ amid federal cuts

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The Cap Times

The organization is set to provide $206.9 million in total support to UW-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research this school year, including $50 million toward research projects and nearly $36 million for faculty, graduate students and staff.

Now in its second century, the nonprofit faces challenges, though. The Trump administration’s widespread cuts to federal research funding could limit the number of discoveries coming to WARF.

UW-Madison set to finish two new buildings in 2026, start another

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The Cap Times

tudents are on track to take classes in a new humanities building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. And the athletics department plans to finish an indoor football practice facility next to Camp Randall Stadium this summer.

As those two projects wrap up in 2026, Wisconsin’s flagship public university also plans to break ground on a visitor and education center at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, near Picnic Point.

For 1st time since 2014, UW-Madison research ranks in top five nationally

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has reclaimed its status among the top five institutions nationally for research spending – the highest ranking the state flagship has earned since 2014.

UW-Madison’s national research ranking has been a sore spot on campus for a decade after the university fell out of the top five for the first time in nearly 45 years. It dropped to No. 8 in 2018. UW-Madison officials at the time attributed the slide in rankings to state budget cuts and the loss of senior faculty members.

UW-Madison ranks fifth nationally in research spending, tops $1.93 billion

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Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison is among the top five universities in the country for research spending — the highest ranking the institution has earned since 2014.

A National Science Foundation survey released Tuesday ranked UW-Madison No. 5 out of 925 universities for the $1.93 billion it spent for research in fiscal year 2024, which ran from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

Trump’s closure of national weather center may imperil UW-Madison research

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Wisconsin State Journal

Established in 1960, the center says it provides “state-of-the-art resources, including supercomputers, research aircraft, sophisticated computer models and extensive data sets” to the atmospheric and related Earth system science community. It’s funded through the National Science Foundation.

Among other things, the center has helped improve early warnings in weather forecasts and air safety, the American Meteorological Society said in a statement.

UW scientists alarmed by Trump plan to break up national weather research center

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are sounding the alarm over a Trump administration plan to dismantle a prominent weather and climate research center, saying it could jeopardize the future of weather forecasting.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is based in Boulder, Colorado, but is overseen by a consortium of universities, including UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. The center allows researchers to work together on large projects that no one scientist or university could do alone.