When Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi, an associate professor in emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, saw that the N.I.A. was interested in video research on lucid episodes, she knew one way to approach the problem. Her past work had involved filming people with dementia during interactions with nursing staff and then meticulously analyzing the videos, second by second, to assess which types of care affected patients’ behavioral symptoms. She proposed retooling those video methods to study lucidity.
Category: Top Stories
Here’s the latest on UW-Madison’s chancellor search
After UW-Madison named a new athletic director on Wednesday, all eyes are turning to the university’s other vacant leadership position: chancellor.
Can solar energy and farming share the same land? These Wisconsin researchers think so
As solar power makes up a bigger piece of our electricity puzzle, there’s a worry about a trade-off, especially in rural areas: If we build more solar farms, are we losing land for crops?
But University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are asking the question: Why can’t we have both?
Water main break limits UW-Madison’s A/C as temps head into the 90s
A break in a chilled water line from the Charter Street Heating Plant, 130 N. Mills St., on June 17 released some 40,000 gallons of lake water onto Charter and Spring streets.
UW-Madison’s engineering dean says time as Badger shaped his approach
Devesh Ranjan looked through his calendar last summer, trying to pick a date to start as the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new engineering dean.
Ranjan chose June 16, 2025 — “a very meaningful day for me.” Twenty-two years earlier, on that date, he arrived at UW-Madison as a graduate student to study mechanical engineering.
UW system is expected to spend $461,000 finding next president, UW-Madison chancellor
UW-Madison is searching for its next chancellor at the same time recruitment is underway to find a new Universities of Wisconsin president.
Building a Future-Proof Doctor: Experts Weigh In
During a panel discussion at the U.S. News Healthcare of Tomorrow conference today in Washington, D.C., Antman; Dr. Sanjay Desai, vice dean for education at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland; Dr. Robert N. Golden, professor and dean emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Dr. Alison J. Whelan, chief academic officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges, discussed ways to reduce the financial burden for aspiring doctors.
Meet the person stepping into Jennifer Mnookin’s shoes
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is signing off as the university’s head this week, making way for an interim leader.
Eric Wilcots, the dean of UW-Madison’s College of Letters and Science, the largest division on campus, is succeeding Mnookin as the university’s temporary leader after her last day on Saturday.
Nuclear fusion facility could come to Madison’s former Oscar Mayer plant
A nuclear fusion company that got its start at UW-Madison is nearing the end of a nationwide search for the right place to advance the technology it hopes will power the future.
It didn’t have to look far.
After some promising successes using powerful magnets to shape plasmas, Realta Fusion is ready to build a prototype fusion device, which it will use to test whether the plasma inside will perform as expected at a commercial scale.
‘You are worthy’: Nearly 8,900 students graduate from UW-Madison
UW-Madison’s class of 2026 was left with a resounding message at its commencement ceremony at Camp Randall on Saturday: Find your purpose through times of uncertainty.
“Purpose is not a perfect plan, it’s a compass,” UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said to a sea of black graduation caps and gowns in the stadium. “It helps you decide what deserves your time, what deserves your courage, and what you may need to walk away from.”
UW-Madison, others part of nationwide Canvas outage disrupting exams
University of Wisconsin-Madison and the rest of the UW campuses are part of a nationwide outage of Canvas – an online platform used for assignments, grading and more – that is causing disruptions to final exams.
How Did Life Begin? with Betül Kaçar
What are the true limits of life, will we even recognize it when we see it? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the beginnings of life on Earth and what they might tell us about life everywhere else with astrobiologist and bacteriologist, Betül Kaçar.
UW system launches search for UW-Madison’s next chancellor
The Universities of Wisconsin has launched a national search to identify UW-Madison’s next chancellor.
Acting UW system head Chris Patton and UW Board of Regents President Amy Bogost appointed a group of 23 faculty, staff, students and people from the Madison area to identify UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s successor.
University Of Wisconsin Receives $100 Million For Its New AI College
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has received $100 million in private gift commitments for its new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, which is set to launch on July 1, 2026.
The donations come from what’s referred to as the Catalyst Collective — a group of alumni, business leaders and corporate partners who have pledged major investments in the college. The alumni donors include Andy Konwinski, cofounder of Laude, Databricks and Perplexity AI; John Morgridge, former chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, and Tashia Morgridge, a retired special education teacher; Signe Ostby, a former marketing executive; and Jeff Tangney, cofounder and CEO of Doximity. The contributors also include Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit; and Epic, a software company based in Verona, Wisconsin.
3 women with Wisconsin ties make Time 100 list for 2026
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.
Three UW–Madison juniors earn 2026 Goldwater Scholarships
Three University of Wisconsin–Madison juniors have received 2026 Goldwater Scholarships, the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences in the United States.
The students are juniors Aletta Bergman, Krithi Gopinath and Eva Stafne.
The job market has already been hit by tremors from the artificial intelligence earthquake. These 20 colleges—10 public and 10 private—are preparing and graduating the talent that employers will seek in this new era.
Purdue and the University of Wisconsin-Madison each plan to add 50 new faculty positions in AI before 2030.
Forward, together: A strategic framework for the future
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
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?
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
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.”
Senate approves NIL policy, debt relief for UW Athletics by single vote
In a rare moment of drama in the Senate Tuesday, a bill that would give the UW-Madison athletics department millions to pay down debt and free up other money for revenue-sharing with players passed by a single vote that changed just as the legislation appeared doomed.
Exact Sciences gives UW-Madison foundation $2.5 million for early cancer detection research
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-Madison picks interim provost as permanent second-in-command
W-Madison has named John Zumbrunnen provost after he’s served in the interim role since June, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced Monday.
Zumbrunnen named provost after interim stint
Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen has been selected to hold the role of provost permanently, beating out finalists Anna Stenport (the University of Georgia) and Charles Martinez Jr. (the University of Texas-Austin), the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Monday.
John Zumbrunnen appointed as next UW–Madison provost
John Zumbrunnen has been appointed as the provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin announced. The position is the second to the chancellor UW, managing all academic program and budget planning.
UW-Madison provost named executive vice chancellor for academic affairs
John Zumbrunnen, who has served as interim provost for UW-Madison since June 2025, saw that interim tag removed Monday. He was also named the school’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced.
Interim leader named as UW-Madison provost
John Zumbrunnen has been named the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced Monday.
UW-Madison hires political science professor for provost position
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is tapping a longtime professor to fill one of its most important positions on campus.
John Zumbrunnen, 55, was named the provost on March 9, two months before UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin departs to become the next president of Columbia University.
UW campuses can start offering 3-year bachelor’s degrees, Board of Regents says
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
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
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
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
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
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.”
Herb Kohl foundation gift will expand UW’s School of Public Affairs
The late Sen. Herb Kohl’s name will now grace not one but two buildings on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
UW-Madison’s La Follette School moving to new home after $57M upgrades
The La Follette School of Public Affairs plans to move into one of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s oldest buildings and rename the facility after former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl.
Herb Kohl’s foundation donates $30 million to renovate UW-Madison’s Music Hall for La Follette School
Former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl’s foundation is donating $30 million to UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs to modernize Music Hall, which will be renamed Herb Kohl Hall in honor of the late politician and businessman.
Here’s how Wisconsin athletes have done in the Winter Olympics
In addition to the UW-Madison hockey players competing in the Winter Olympics for the gold medal, five other Wisconsin athletes are competing. See how they’re doing.
UW-Madison now will mandate that students disclose their vaccination status
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
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
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.
UW-Madison lost $27 million to federal research cuts, Jennifer Mnookin says
The effects of the federal government’s cuts to UW-Madison’s research are coming into full view: $27 million lost in the last year from terminated or suspended grants.
TIME ranks UW-Madison among top 20 universities in the world
UW-Madison is among the top 20 universities in the world, according to a new ranking from TIME.
TIME ranked the university 20th next to top private and global institutions and gave UW-Madison the no. 2 spot for public universities in the United States, after the University of Michigan.
Madison measles case leads to hundreds of exposures
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
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
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
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
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.
5 things to know about UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s departure
he Universities of Wisconsin announced Sunday that UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin was hired as the new president of Columbia University. Mnookin will remain in her role through the spring commencement.
Here are 5 things to know.
Highlights of Jennifer Mnookin’s tenure at UW-Madison
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
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
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.
Chancellor Mnookin set to leave UW-Madison for Columbia
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is set to leave the University of Wisconsin-Madison after this school year to become the new president of Columbia University in New York.
Columbia University selects UW-Madison Chancellor Mnookin as its next president
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.
Columbia Selects University of Wisconsin Chancellor as Its President
Jennifer Mnookin has led the flagship campus of the state university system since 2022. She takes the helm at Columbia after a tumultuous period.
University of Wisconsin–Madison Chancellor to Lead Columbia
Columbia University has selected Jennifer Mnookin, a legal scholar and current chancellor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, as its next president.
Jennifer Mnookin named next president of Columbia University
Columbia University has named its next president.
The board of trustees has appointed Jennifer Mnookin to lead the university. Mnookin, 58, currently serves as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a nationally recognized legal scholar.
She’ll start in the role on July 1.
UW-Madison cancels classes, a rare move
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 on Friday due to extreme cold
UW-Madison is cancelling classes on Friday due to extreme cold.
Bitterly cold temperatures are expected to begin on Friday and continue into the weekend. An Extreme Cold Warning has been issued for Dane County from midnight to 1 p.m. Friday, with wind chills expected in the range of -30-40 F.