Top Stories – Page 13

A Navajo scientist couldn’t translate his work to his family. Now, because of a UW-Madison project he co-founded, he can.

Posted on 7/29/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

That’s when Martin and his colleagues — Joanna Bundus, a biology post-doctoral fellow at UW-Madison, and Susana Wadgymar, an assistant professor of biology at Davidson College in North Carolina — founded Project ENABLE (Enriching Navajo As a Biology Language for Education), an online dictionary of biology terms translated from English to Diné Bizaad, a Navajo language.

UW Alzheimer’s doctor, researcher inspired by father’s diagnosis with the disease

Posted on 7/25/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Dr. Nathaniel Chin, who grew up in Watertown and got undergraduate and medical degrees from UW-Madison, planned to specialize in infectious diseases. But during his internal medicine residency at the University of California-San Diego, his father — a family medicine doctor in Watertown — was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Blank stepping down as president of Northwestern following cancer diagnosis

Posted on 7/12/2022

Wisconsin Public Radio

Former University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank has stepped down as president of Northwestern University after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

Facing ‘aggressive’ cancer, former UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank steps away from Northwestern, returns to Madison

Posted on 7/12/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Former University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will not become president of Northwestern University due to a recent diagnosis of an aggressive form of cancer.

Rebecca Blank unable to takeover as Northwestern’s president after cancer diagnosis

Posted on 7/12/2022

WKOW-TV 27

Former University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced she has been diagnosed with an “aggressive form of cancer.”

Former UW Chancellor Blank diagnosed with cancer; will not take Northwestern job

Posted on 7/12/2022

NBC-15

Former University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Northwestern University revealed Monday.

Rebecca Blank announces cancer diagnosis, steps down as president-elect of Northwestern

Posted on 7/12/2022

Badger Herald

’This letter is among the most difficult and painful I have ever written,’ Blank says in message to Northwestern community.

Former Chancellor Rebecca Blank steps down from Northwestern position following cancer diagnosis

Posted on 7/12/2022

Daily Cardinal

UW leaders reacted to Blank’s announcement with an outpouring of grief and support.

Former UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank diagnosed with aggressive cancer, won’t start new job

Posted on 7/12/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced Monday she is stepping down from her new job as Northwestern University’s next president and instead will receive treatment in Madison for an aggressive form of cancer.

Four arrested, including 15-year-old, in attack on UW Ph.D. student

Posted on 6/20/2022

WISC-TV 3

Four people who police said attacked a UW-Madison Ph.D. student who was walking in downtown Madison Tuesday night were arrested Saturday. One of the suspects is 15 years old.Madison police said the fifth-year doctoral student was walking in the 400 block of West Gilman Street at around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday when he was allegedly punched by a group of men. The men then kicked and punched him after he fell to the ground.

‘A lasting and influential impact’: Karen Walsh elected president of UW Board of Regents

Posted on 6/13/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents elected Karen Walsh to serve as its president on Friday, filling the role after its former holder declined to run for the seat again earlier this year.

Also on Friday, the board elected Amy Blumenfeld Bogost to the role of vice president. Bogost works as a federal Title IX lawyer and joined the board in May 2020.

UW System keeps tuition freeze intact for year ahead

Posted on 6/10/2022

Wisconsin Public Radio

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Thursday approved a budget that keeps an in-state undergraduate tuition freeze in place for another year.

UW Board of Regents extends tuition freeze for in-state undergrads

Posted on 6/10/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin residents will not pay any more next year to attend the state’s universities. The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved a tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students Thursday as part of the 2022-23 operating budget.

UW System President Jay Rothman to request continued tuition freeze

Posted on 6/3/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Newly appointed University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman plans to recommend a tuition freeze in the upcoming school year for in-state undergraduate students when he presents the Board of Regents with the System’s annual budget next week.

Lifelong learners: For older students at UW-Madison, guest auditing keeps them young

Posted on 5/25/2022

The Capital Times

Steve Holtzman is easy to spot on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. At the back of a classroom in the psychology building, he and his wife Jane sit amid students decades younger than them as they take notes for a lecture on the Civil War. “You won’t have any problems seeing us,” Holtzman said, laughing. “We’re the only old folks in there.”

UW education dean Diana Hess to serve as interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs

Posted on 5/25/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Diana Hess, dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, will become interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs on June 1, when Provost John Karl Scholz takes over as the interim chancellor, UW said on Tuesday.

Ancient canoe from Lake Mendota undergoes high tech scan

Posted on 5/25/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison announced Tuesday that Lennon Rodgers, who directs the Grainger Engineering Design and Innovation Laboratory, conducted the scans at the invitation of Wisconsin State Archaeologist James Skibo and Scott Roller, a senior collections manager for the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe, being preserved and housed at the Wisconsin State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison’s Near East Side, was out of its tank for about a day in order for Rodgers, who oversees the College of Engineering’s makerspace, to do his work.

UW profs, Board of Regents show support for new chancellor after GOP attacks

Posted on 5/18/2022

The Capital Times

Professors and Board of Regents Vice President Karen Walsh spoke out in support of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s next chancellor, Jennifer Mnookin, after some state Republicans criticized the hire.

Cutting fossil fuel air pollution saves lives

Posted on 5/17/2022

NPR

“These [particles] get deep into the lungs and cause both respiratory and cardiac ailments,” says Jonathan Patz, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the authors of the study. “They are pretty much the worst pollutant when it comes to mortality and hospitalization.”

UCLA dean Jennifer Mnookin named UW-Madison’s next chancellor

Posted on 5/17/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has selected Jennifer Mnookin as the next chancellor to lead UW-Madison. Mnookin, law school dean at UCLA, was unanimously approved as UW-Madison’s 30th chancellor, the regents announced in a Monday news release. Her appointment will take effect Aug. 4.

Five things to know about incoming UW-Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin

Posted on 5/17/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Jennifer Mnookin has been named as the next chancellor to lead UW-Madison. She will be the university’s 30th chancellor. Her appointment takes effect Aug. 4.

Regents pick UCLA law school dean to lead UW-Madison

Posted on 5/17/2022

AP News

The dean of UCLA’s law school has been chosen as the next head of the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus in Madison, the university system’s regents announced Monday.

Cutting air pollution from fossil fuels would save 50,000 lives a year

Posted on 5/16/2022

The Washington Post

Eliminating air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels would prevent more than 50,000 premature deaths and provide more than $600 billion in health benefits in the United States every year, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers.

Full UW-Madison commencement thunders back to Camp Randall

Posted on 5/16/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

After years of the COVID-19 pandemic’s shuttering of dear traditions, UW-Madison had its first proper spring commencement in three years on Saturday. As the smiling faces of friends and families packed the stands at Camp Randall, the theme of change, for students and the university, ran through the words of speakers and the audience of 42,000 people.

Rebecca Blank advises successor to improve campus climate, seek flexibility

Posted on 5/12/2022

The Capital Times

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank says she will miss the Memorial Union Terrace, Badgers game days and Bucky. What she won’t miss, she told reporters Wednesday, are the hurdles in leading “one of the more constrained and regulated universities in the country.”

Outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank suggests ‘persistence and stubbornness’ for successor

Posted on 5/12/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On the cusp of leaving the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chancellor Rebecca Blank used a final news conference Wednesday to take somewhat of a victory lap, saying she is leaving the university on strong financial footing and in a much better place.

But she also took the opportunity to highlight “unfinished agenda” items, such as increasing diversity and students’ sense of belonging on campus.

UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank reflects on tenure

Posted on 5/12/2022

WKOW-TV 27

Her final day is Friday, May 27 before she heads to Northwestern.

Blank holds final media briefing as UW-Madison chancellor

Posted on 5/12/2022

WISC-TV 3

Blank, at times emotional, touted the university’s accomplishments during her nine-year tenure, including efforts to make UW-Madison more financially stable. She highlighted the university’s work in expanding summer programs, increasing research dollars and fundraising, which have allowed it to invest in high-need areas like increasing staff salaries and scholarship opportunities.

Blank laments not building diversity, won’t miss bureaucracy

Posted on 5/12/2022

NBC-15

She said she will leave with “unfinished” items on her agenda, including increasing diversity and improving students’ sense of belonging.

Woman gets second chance at UW-Madison graduation she missed 36 years ago

Posted on 5/10/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Dawn Proctor made a request in March that she considered to be bold and unusual and unlike her. The UW-Madison alumna graduated in 1986 but circumstances beyond her control prevented her from participating in the commencement ceremony. Now 67 and auditing a full load of courses this semester, being back on campus reminded her over and over again of the missed opportunity.

UW-Madison chancellor finalist John Karl Scholz points to track record of campus successes

Posted on 5/9/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison chancellor finalist John Karl Scholz said it’s going to take a three-pronged effort to address the challenges the university faces, such as the need for additional resources and the increasingly polarized view of the value of higher education.

UW-Madison chancellor finalist outlines ways to boost higher ed’s image

Posted on 5/6/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison leaders hoping to convince a sometimes skeptical public and their elected representatives of the value of higher education need to come prepared with a few key arguments and stay on message, one of the five finalists for the university’s chancellorship said during a public forum Thursday.

UW group wins it all in NYC ‘Pitch Perfect’ competition

Posted on 5/6/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

They figured they’d go to New York City and just enjoy the experience: Central Park. The Empire State Building. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But the UW-Madison singing group Pitches and Notes also capped off their Big Apple trip last month with an unexpected souvenir: The first-place trophy from the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.

UW-Madison chancellor finalist Ann Cudd wants to restore confidence in value of college degree

Posted on 5/5/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison chancellor finalist Ann Cudd is troubled by the statistics that show a large swath of the public believe leading research universities are headed in the wrong direction. “Top research universities need to both ensure and better communicate that most of their students actually graduate on time and their return on investment is, financially and socially, very highly beneficial,” she said.

UW-Madison chancellor finalist Jennifer Mnookin’s pitch: Make Wisconsin idea a national model

Posted on 5/4/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Mnookin, who is one of five finalists vying to become the next UW-Madison chancellor, said she donated a kidney to her father in late 2020. The organ made its way from Los Angeles, where Mnookin leads the University of California Los Angeles law school, to her dad in Boston thanks to a solution developed at UW-Madison that extends the time that an organ can be safely stored outside of a body

UW-Madison chancellor finalist Daniel Reed brings blend of corporate, academic experience

Posted on 5/3/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

As a computer science professor, Daniel Reed often turns to data when arguing about the value of a college degree. But sometimes, he said, those who need convincing don’t want more data points or details. The UW-Madison chancellor finalist said one of the more successful models in advocating for the university is relying on the campus community — the students learning in class, the faculty making life-changing discoveries — to tell that story.

5 finalists named in UW-Madison chancellor search

Posted on 4/28/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

The list released Wednesday — comprising two men and three women — includes no politicians and just one candidate with known ties to the university. Another candidate spent several years working in a leadership position at a large corporation but, like the others, has spent most of his career in academia.

Burned and vandalized: A history of cherry blossoms bearing the brunt of xenophobia

Posted on 4/26/2022

NBC News

But when they arrived in 1910, the Agriculture Department discovered upon inspection that they were diseased and infested with insects, according to the National Park Service. The trees were burned. Some anthropologists, including Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, are skeptical about whether the trees were, indeed, infested.

Report: Wisconsin financial aid funding lags other states, straining students and workforce

Posted on 4/12/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s financial aid funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation or the rising cost of college over the past decade, a new report found, raising questions about the state’s ability to enroll and graduate enough students to meet long-term workforce needs.

Meet the Science moms working to save the planet for future generations

Posted on 4/1/2022

Yahoo.com/Parents

Moms may just be one of our most potent weapons against the climate crisis. Dr. Rios-Berrios joined forces with several climate scientists and parents in Science Moms, a nonpartisan group launched by the Potential Energy Coalition in 2021.

“One of the things I love about the Science Moms program is that the website and outreach make it easy for moms to get involved. It takes this complicated topic and breaks it into bite-size pieces,” says Science Mom’s Tracey Holloway, Ph.D., a professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and mom to two.

The human genome is finally complete

Posted on 4/1/2022

The Daily Beast

This is an impressive tour de force and a landmark accomplishment,” Lloyd Smith, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved with the T2T project, told The Daily Beast. “It takes tremendous commitment, perseverance, and deep technical knowledge to decipher these most difficult to access regions of the genome.”

Barron’s 100 most influential women in finance: Katy Huberty

Posted on 4/1/2022

Barron's/Marketwatch

Katy Huberty has spent two decades at Morgan Stanley analyzing technology hardware stocks. Her coverage has included Apple, Dell Technologies, and Seagate Technology Holdings, among many others. Now director of equity research for the Americas, Huberty is thinking about how to scale her IT hardware team’s data-heavy approach to stock analysis to all of Morgan Stanley’s 49 research teams.

A Morgan Stanley lifer, Huberty, 44, joined the firm after college at the University of Wisconsin. Today, she sees technology diffusing into every corner of the market.

Antarctica hit 70 degrees above average in March, an apparent world record

Posted on 3/30/2022

MSN.com

“Not a good sign when you see that sort of thing happen,” said University of Wisconsin meteorologist Matthew Lazzara.

Lazzara monitors temperatures at East Antarctica’s Dome C-ii and logged 14 degrees (-10 degrees Celsius) Friday, where the normal is -45 degrees (-43 degrees Celsius): “That’s a temperature that you should see in January, not March. January is summer there. That’s dramatic.”

The Washington Post’s Jessica Contrera wins 2022 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics

Posted on 3/30/2022

Washington Post

The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has named Washington Post reporter Jessica Contrera winner of the 2022 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for her extraordinary stories on child sex trafficking in America.

At 8, he could see the whey: UW-Madison’s lone master cheesemaker shares his knowledge with Wisconsin

Posted on 3/28/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Gary Grossen talks about cheesemaking poetically, even almost romantically. “Copper vats have a special place in my heart,” he said, arm extended toward some machinery in Babcock Hall on the UW-Madison campus.

UW South Madison Partnership a “trusted space” that connects South Madison to UW

Posted on 3/23/2022

Madison365

“There is just so much going on in this area … the potential is huge. We are going to continue to have conversations with different organizations to support them in any way we can and we are hoping that will grow,” says Brenda González, director of community relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

US ambassador to United Nations to speak at UW-Madison spring commencement

Posted on 2/24/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will deliver the keynote address at the UW-Madison commencement ceremony on May 14.

UW study finds rivers emptying PFAS chemicals in Lake Michigan

Posted on 2/18/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Christy Remucal, an associate professor with the UW Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and postdoctoral investigator Sarah Balgooyen looked at the water and sediments within 41 of the tributaries that feed water into the bay, and the impact water from tributaries broadly could be having on the Great Lakes.

UW System to end mask mandate by spring break

Posted on 2/17/2022

Wisconsin Public Radio

University of Wisconsin System officials say they plan to end their campus mask mandates by spring break.

UW System interim President Tommy Thompson announced Wednesday that widespread vaccinations and waning case numbers on system campuses and across the state justify the move.

As COVID-19 case counts decline, UW schools expect to lift mask requirements as early as March 1 and no later than spring break

Posted on 2/17/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The 26 University of Wisconsin System campuses will begin lifting masking requirements as soon as March 1 and no later than spring break, outgoing System President Tommy Thompson announced Wednesday.

UW-Madison to lift mask mandate March 12

Posted on 2/17/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison will lift its mask mandate when spring break starts March 12, a move criticized by some on campus as too soon to begin easing up on the COVID-19 safety measure.

Gov. Tony Evers’ State of the State address pushes tax rebates, tuition relief

Posted on 2/16/2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced Tuesday during his State of the State address that he was extending the University of Wisconsin’s long-running tuition freeze for another year.

Tony Evers calls for education spending, $150 checks to residents in state of the state address

Posted on 2/16/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Evers, who is seeking a second term this November, also touted the billions of dollars of federal stimulus funds he has allocated over the course of the pandemic to businesses and farmers. Adding to that, he announced on Tuesday plans to spend $25 million of those funds to freeze tuition at University of Wisconsin System for two years and another $5 million to expand counseling and provide mental health programs for members of the Wisconsin National Guard.

UW campuses may drop mask mandate as soon as March 1

Posted on 2/16/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

Citing a rapid decline in COVID-19 cases across the state, System President Tommy Thompson is working with chancellors to phase out the requirement no later than spring break, which at UW-Madison begins March 12.

UW-Madison chancellor calls political divide the greatest threat to public universities

Posted on 2/11/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

In her farewell address to the UW Board of Regents Thursday, Rebecca Blank also took aim at state involvement in campus building projects, criticized some “one-size-fits-all” University of Wisconsin System policies and again called for raising in-state undergraduate tuition.

Blank: Political divide is greatest threat to UW-Madison

Posted on 2/11/2022

AP News

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s outgoing chancellor is warning regents that the state’s bitter political polarization is the greatest threat to the school’s existence.

UW-Madison keeps alive its 20-year streak in international computer competition

Posted on 2/10/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

The university’s team placed 17th out of 117 teams at the International Collegiate Programming Contest world finals in Moscow last fall, the results of which were recently released. It’s the 20th consecutive year UW-Madison has made it to the world finals, a title no other school in North America can claim, according to the university’s Computer Sciences department.

Inside UW-Madison’s new Chemistry Tower: modern labs, study spaces and a ‘library of the future’

Posted on 2/3/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison opened its gleaming nine-story Chemistry Tower to students this semester after months of construction delays. The new building at 1101 University Ave. will ease enrollment bottlenecks that have plagued the department for decades.

Beloit College mandates COVID-19 booster shots while UW-Madison starts collecting booster data

Posted on 1/14/2022

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told a faculty committee during a Monday meeting that she didn’t know what percentage of the campus community is boosted beyond those who received it at University Health Services. The university will be encouraging students and staff to report if they have been boosted off-campus to get a better picture of booster status across UW-Madison.

Tommy Thompson resigning from post as interim president of UW System

Posted on 1/7/2022

Wisconsin Public Radio

University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson plans to resign from the position March 18.

The former Wisconsin governor took on the role July 1, 2020, after being hired that June by the system’s Board of Regents. Thompson has been filling the void after a failed search for a replacement for former UW System President Ray Cross, who retired in 2020 after serving as president since 2014. Thompson was 78 at the time of being hired for the interim role.

Related Content