While streaming services (and COVID) may have suppressed audience numbers in movie theaters, Koepp, a Pewaukee native and University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, said the drive to make and see engaging movies remains.
Category: UW-Madison Related
We’ve found the best attraction in your state capital
Wisconsin: Chazen Museum of Art, MadisonWhether it’s paintings, sculptures, photography, drawings or print works that float your boat, the Chazen Museum of Art located in the University of Wisconsin–Madison will not disappoint. Having just reopened, permanent and rotating exhibits showcase American and European artworks and you can take a guided tour for the lowdown on the history of some 20,000 works of art across all genres.
The Washington Post’s Jessica Contrera wins 2022 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics
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.
Wisconsin invests in small-scale butchers as demand for local meat rises
In 2020, the University of Wisconsin-Madison opened the new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building, a $57.1 million facility designed for education, research and outreach. (It’s also home to Bucky’s Varsity Meats.) UW introduced a two-year Master Meat Crafter Training program in 2008, aimed in part at those already in the field.
Into the wild: Animals the latest frontier in COVID fight
To infect any living thing, the virus must get into its cells, which isn’t always easy. Virology expert David O’Connor likens the process to opening a “lock” with the virus’ spike protein “key.”
“Different species have different-looking locks, and some of those locks are not going to be pickable by the key,” the University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist said.
Across the Country, Faculty Fight to Defend Academic Freedom
As of this writing, 39 institutions have adopted the resolutions. They range from Big Ten universities like Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison to such red-state universities as those of Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. (Resolutions against laws/bills that would prevent teachers from dealing with racism and other politically charged subjects.)
9 big questions about Russia’s war in Ukraine, answered
“NATO expansion was deeply unpopular in Russia. [But] Putin did not invade because of NATO expansion,” says Yoshiko Herrera, a Russia expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison geneticist among those honored with STEM statues in Smithsonian exhibit
More than 100 life-size orange statues of women are scattered around the National Mall, clustered in the gardens at the Smithsonian Castle and tucked inside the Natural History and Air and Space museums. The women hold globes, notebooks, tools, brains — symbols of their work — and one of them is UW-Madison geneticist Ahna Skop.
The first female PA announcer in Bucks history will take the mic Thursday in celebration of Women’s History Month
Quoted: “It still really hasn’t hit me,” said longtime PA announcer Bonnie Oleson.
Oleson is the PA announcer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison women’s volleyball, basketball and softball teams. On occasion, she also announces for the women’s soccer and hockey teams.
UW System Board Of Regents president discusses priorities
The ninth president of the UW System is scheduled to start this summer after a years-long search for a new leader. We discuss the selection of a Milwaukee law firm CEO and other news in higher education with the head of the UW System Board of Regents.
Some federal research agencies take steps to stop academic bullying at universities
One federal research agency has imposed consequences in recent years for professors engaging in bad behavior, such as bullying and sexual harassment.
UW-Madison cut ties with an academic bully. USDA lets scientist run her own lab
Part four of a series.
Madison, Wisconsin: What you can get for $1.25 million (real estate)
Madison is the state’s capital and has seen a rise in population over the past decade. The city is the 80th largest in the country and is named after founding father James Madison. A look at some home prices.
On Match Day, UW medical students learn where they’ll go through residency
Friday marked one of the biggest days in the careers of hundreds of aspiring doctors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Around 200 fourth-year graduating students learned where they will complete their clinical residency programs on what is known as Match Day.
Professor twice investigated for bullying shows potential gaps in how UW-Madison monitors labs
A UW-Madison professor accused twice in the past decade of bullying behavior continues to lead a lab and hold significant sway over students. The university’s most recent investigation found students felt “trapped” in a situation filled with fear and threats, leading officials to recommend safeguards such as ongoing monitoring of the lab.
Policies preventing pass-the-harasser don’t include bullying. UW is weighing if its should
There’s a phenomenon in academia known as “pass-the-harasser,” where someone commits sexual misconduct, quietly resigns and lands a job at a different institution. The University of Wisconsin System portrays itself as a leader in tackling the problem with a policy passed in the wake of the #MeToo movement that has received national attention.
Threats, abuse, retaliation: UW-Madison confronts persistent problem of academic bullying
The problem exists at most research universities, but takes on increased importance on a campus that consistently ranks among the top doctoral-granting institutions. Academic bullying, a shorthand for what UW-Madison formally refers to as “hostile and intimidating behavior,” is broadly defined as unwelcome behavior so pervasive or severe that it impairs another person’s ability to carry out their work responsibilities.
‘Give the children their poems and stories of their own people’
A reading list hints at the richness and breadth of African American children’s writing before Brown v. Board of Education. Op-Ed by Brigitte Fielder, associate professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is the author of “Relative Races: Genealogies of Interracial Kinship in Nineteenth-Century America.”
Twin 22-year-old UW-Madison grads lead a growing startup that sells data tracking corporate jets, politicians’ stock trades
A small Madison startup launched only two years ago to provide free alternative data for investors says it now has 340,000 registered users.
Twin brothers James and Chris Kardatzke debuted Quiver Quantitative in February 2020 while they were students at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying finance, economics, and statistics. They graduated that year and gave their full attention to running the business which now has six full-time employees, with plans to hire a few more soon.
Razzlekhan: The Untold Story Of How A YouTube Rapper Became A Suspect In A $4 Billion Bitcoin Fraud
It was a small-scale version of the type of calculating that would shape his career as a self-described hacker. In 2009, Lichtenstein described himself as a “huge geek” who had been the “captain of math team and quiz bowl … and even managed to date a couple girls who were way out of my league.” After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a degree in psychology, Lichtenstein moved to California.
UW-Madison administrators, UW Hillel speak out against recent antisemitic incidents
Three antisemitic incidents, recently reported to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, are leaving some Jewish students on edge.
Madison venture capital group’s parent company fined $700K for misleading investors on fees
The parent company of a Madison-based investment group that claims to solicit money for UW-Madison alumni-connected ventures even though it isn’t affiliated with the university settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week for allegedly misleading investors, among other charges.
High school students find employers and colleges are trying to recruit them
RICH KREMER, BYLINE: Public, technical and community colleges have borne the brunt of pandemic enrollment declines. Since fall of 2019, they’ve lost more than 700,000 students. The drop was around 16% among men and 10% among women. In Wisconsin, enrollment at state technical colleges dropped by 34% over the past decade. It’s dropped more than 60% at two-year University of Wisconsin System campuses. That comes as Wisconsin employers say they’re increasingly desperate to hire enough workers.
Alumni Ventures Group to repay $4.7 million and pay $700,000 SEC penalty. The group created Bascom Ventures for UW-Madison alum.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered venture capital fund Alumni Ventures Group to repay $4.7 million to certain funds, and a $700,000 penalty, for making misleading statements about fees and breaching operating agreements.
The New Hampshire-based firm has funds with names pegged to universities, such as Bascom Ventures for University of Wisconsin-Madison alum, but doesn’t have any formal affiliation with the schools.
For global brands, pulling out of Russia is a complicated decision
According to Enno Siemsen, a professor of operations management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, if the conflict is short and companies want to reopen their operations, “all the investments you’ve made over years are basically gone. If you want to reenter the Russian market, you’re starting more or less from scratch.”
Wisconsin’s racial gaps in home ownership extend beyond Milwaukee
Noted: Peterangelo added that he is working with a graduate student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a study that compares Milwaukee to cities of similar size and demographics across the country in the hopes of learning how they have addressed housing disparities. He hopes to have that new report ready by summer.
Remarkable buzzer-beater sends longtime Badgers assistant Lamont Paris to NCAA Tournament as Chattanooga head coach
Former University of Wisconsin assistant men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris will appear in the NCAA Tournament for the first time as a head coach courtesy of a remarkable overtime buzzer-beater by Chattanooga’s David Jean-Baptiste on Monday night.
House slated to vote down masks
We asked what prompted you to wait in line for more than two hours: Suzie Bassi waited in line to purchase a Cabbage patch doll for her daughter “way back in the day.”… Sharon Rosenblum camped out two days for Bruce Springsteen and a day to see Bob Dylan. … Daniel Goldwin: “Any, and I mean any, University of Wisconsin basketball game in the old Field House — this is how I “On Wisconsin-ed” 1989-94.”
ASM presents student concerns to UW chancellor following new mask order
ASM, Chancellor discussed masking, accommodations, other student concerns.
Tom Skilling, mentor relive college glory days, reflect on how far weather tech has come
It was 1970. Tom Skilling was a meteorology major at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Louis Uccellini was among his student group in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences program.
Madison doctor shares her family’s harrowing story of fleeing Ukraine
“We woke them up and said we are really worried they will close the air space, we think you should drive to Polish border,” said Dr. Nataliya Uboha, a professor at the UW Carbone Cancer Center.
Q&A: Cheese expert Marianne Smukowski judges the funky stuff
Smukowski retired in 2020 as the Dairy and Food Safety Coordinator for the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She’s also the former president of the American Cheese Society, which in 2020 gave her a lifetime achievement award.
Ukraine supporters rally at Wisconsin Capitol
Russian UW Madison PhD Candidate Anton Shirikov does not agree with President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. ”Many Russians stand with Ukraine and many Russians want this war to stop,” Shirikov said. “They want Putin to fail and I’m one of them.”
‘You can’t legislate morality’: Nearly 60 years after Milwaukee’s first stab at fair housing legislation, the city struggles to enforce it
Noted: Vel Phillips was already a woman of many firsts, having become the first Black person to graduate from the University of Wisconsin law school and the first Black woman elected to Milwaukee’s Common Council.
In 1962, she introduced a fair housing ordinance that would make housing discrimination on the basis of race and other protected classes illegal and was much stronger than the state law, which exempted much of Milwaukee’s duplex- and triplex-heavy real estate landscape.
Fiscal bureau’s Bob Lang, ‘the gold standard,’ awarded for public service
On Wednesday, the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership presented Lang with its inaugural Tommy G. Thompson Distinguished Public Leadership Award, an accolade presented to individuals who have “committed themselves to public service, worked tirelessly to advance sound public policy, and exhibited virtuous leadership.”
Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage has been a fixture in Milwaukee. Its legacy continues to grow.
Noted: In 2011, Malone was inducted into the Wisconsin Meat Hall of Fame, joining local legends such as Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcaster Bob Uecker and Oscar G. Mayer who grew his father’s company, Oscar Mayer into a powerhouse brand, and Fred Usinger, who took the Usinger’s family sausage business to new heights in the 20th century.
The Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame resides at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Meat Science Laboratory and recognizes the contributions of individuals who have had a significant impact on the state’s meat industry.
Michigan coach Juwan Howard suspended for rest of regular season; Gard fined $10K
Big Ten: Brawl a ’clear violation’ of conference sportsmanship policy.
Passing the puck: Olympians, local hockey advocates create pathways for girls to join the sport
Quoted: “Each team, that’s 25 additional roster spots. So there’s more room at the top,” said Carla Pentimone, who played for the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2009-11. Now she’s the owner and founder of Women’s College Hockey Recruiting, helping more than 250 young women navigate the transition to elite-level hockey.
“I have young girls who want to play hockey at Wisconsin or Minnesota, and they wear those sweatshirts. And I think being able to look at those teams that have had so much success and see what can be — the beautiful locker rooms and the amenities and even taking jets to play teams — as females, it’s just, it’s so cool,” Pentimone said.
UW-Madison graduate student barred from COVID-19 student advisory board amid administrative miscommunication
A neuroengineering doctorate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was appointed to the university’s student COVID-19 advisory committee in January, only to find out days later that the committee had been restricted to undergraduates only.
‘The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert’ by Cecil Taylor Review: Filling in the Blanks of a Jazz Master’s Career
Now “The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert” (Oblivion), a performance of Taylor’s quartet recorded at New York’s Town Hall in November 1973, is out now on select streaming platforms. In the years leading up to the show, Taylor had been teaching at Antioch College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Even though the jazz avant garde, of which he is a founding father, was thriving, Taylor was creating recordings on his own Unit Core label in only limited editions. He released the second half of this concert in 1974 as “Spring of Two Blue-J’s,” pressing only 2,000 copies.
Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and his wife, Heather Morgan, 31, are accused of laundering billions in stolen cryptocurrency.
Lichtenstein, a tech entrepreneur who goes by the nickname “Dutch,” was born in Russia, and his family emigrated to the United States to avoid religious persecution, settling in suburban Chicago. He studied at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and co-founded MixRank, a sales firm initially funded by Y Combinator and investors, including Mark Cuban, according to the company’s website. He described himself as a “tech entrepreneur, explorer, and occasional magician” in a 2018 blog post.
Who Plays Bertha Russell On The Gilded Age? Meet Carrie Coon
Where did Carrie Coon go to school?Coon went to college at the University of Mount Union in her home state of Ohio, where she played soccer and ran track and field. She also got a full-tuition scholarship to attend grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting in 2006.
UW Veterinary Care Blood Bank offers donor animals free food, vaccinations, & preventatives
About once a month, Carlos the greyhound eagerly walks with UW Veterinary Care Blood Donor Coordinator Emma Doubleday to an examination room, where he does something that could save another dog’s life–he donates blood. Carlos, a retired racing track dog, is one of 29 canines and 14 cats that donate blood regularly at the UW Veterinary Care Blood Bank. The blood is used to treat sick or injured animals in need of transfusions.
Education Committee approves new degrees, extends application waivers
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UW-Madison John Scholz presented new degree programs to the Education Committee. Three of the programs — the Master of Science in school psychology, Doctor of Philosophy in school psychology and a BA and BS in information science — would be implemented at UW-Madison.
Early-stage companies had a record year in Wisconsin. Here’s how some of the top companies did.
Noted: Fetch Rewards has offered customers incentives for purchasing products from partner brands like General Mills, Frito Lay and Unilever. Points earned on purchases can be redeemed for gift cards from Amazon, Target and Starbucks.
“We see a huge opportunity in that there’s probably 100 million U.S. households we should be very well plugged into, but today we only have 13 million active monthly users,” said company founder and CEO Wes Schroll.
Schroll started the company in 2013 when he was a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s now valued at more than $1 billion, making it part of an elite group of startups called “unicorns.”
COVID-19 Doctors Still Prescribe Ivermectin, Fall for Shoddy Science
Ivermectin’s popularity can be traced, in large part, to two men: Dr. Pierre Kory, a former critical-care specialist at the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Paul Marik, the former chief of critical care at Eastern Virginia Medical School. The duo formed the FLCCC in April 2020, along with six other doctors and two former journalists.
Heather Morgan is Razzlekhan, the rapper accused of laundering billions of dollars in bitcoin
Lichtenstein has a lower online profile than his wife; he described himself as a “tech entrepreneur, explorer, and occasional magician” in a 2018 blog post. According to court documents, the dual Russian and American citizen grew up in Glenview, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-founded MixRank, a sales firm initially funded by Y Combinator and investors including Mark Cuban, according to the company’s website.
UW-Madison alum, rapper wife caught with $4.5 billion of stolen cryptocurrency
Lichtenstein grew up in Glenview, Illinois and according to university spokesperson Meredith McGlone, he then graduated from UW-Madison in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. During his time as a student, Lichtenstein worked for an internet marketing firm before creating his own tech startup, MixRank, which sought to reveal the ad campaign strategy of different companies’ competitors.
‘Really special’: US goalie Alex Cavallini, 30, makes most of first Olympic start with shutout of Switzerland
lex Cavallini’s goaltending career has had several highlights.
Now she has added another milestone.
Before Sunday, Cavallini had an accomplished international career as a member of five world championship teams, most recently serving as the primary goalie during the 2019 title for the U.S. women’s hockey team. As a freshman with the Wisconsin Badgers, she was part of the 2011 national championship team, alongside current national team teammates Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker. Cavallini also holds the distinction of being the first woman drafted by the United States Hockey League (USHL).
World traveling UW-Madison professor shares a new novel and play
Author, UW-Madison professor and world traveler Amy Quan Barry says she strives to have depth and range to her writing. Her releases this month of both a novel and play certainly seem to validate that goal. “When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East,” is Barry’s third novel due out Feb. 22. A few days later, her first play, “The Mytilenean Debate,” begins its run at Forward Theatre. She will discuss both works during an upcoming in-person event through the Wisconsin Book Festival.
Meet the 2022 Olympic athletes who have ties to Wisconsin
Wisconsin will once again have a say in a Winter Olympics, with a usual array of representation in speedskating, women’s hockey … and don’t forget curling!
Dousman native Brianna Decker injured in Winter Olympics opener for Team USA hockey
Dousman native Brianna Decker, a former University of Wisconsin star and gold medalist with the United States women’s hockey team in 2018, suffered what appeared to be a significant leg injury in the first minutes of her team’s 2022 Winter Olympics preliminary match against Finland on Thursday.
UW grad tapped for landmark film/music premiere by Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Among the audience members awaiting the world premiere of Bill Banfield’s Symphony No. 8 Friday night will be 23-year-old Rigoletto Lopez, the recent UW-Madison graduate who was asked to put visuals to Banfield’s music.
Health care staff to pitch plan for pandemic help to Dane County Board
Justin Giebel, 25, is a registered nurse in UW Health’s COVID ICU. Recently he’s had to work five night shifts in a row and then stay on for a day shift because the hospital was short-staffed by seven nurses. Many nurses Giebel works with have panic attacks at work, have needed to take leaves of absence or just left nursing altogether, he said.
The health care workers have partnered with the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a national think-tank housed on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, which works to build and support worker-centered partnerships, said director of the center Joel Rogers.
Sculpture of UW-Madison art professor brings message of ‘shared humanity’
When Faisal Abdu’Allah first strolled through a pathway of stone slabs at Quarra Stone, the Madison company that would help create a sculpture of him, he felt like the materials had souls … A year-and-a-half later, the material has been crafted into a 7-foot statue of the University of Wisconsin-Madison art professor for his upcoming DARK MATTER exhibition at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, which opens Sept. 17. Titled “Blu³eprint,” the art will be installed this fall in front of MMoCA, on the corner of Henry and State streets, pending permits from the city.
Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard to wear special shoes to honor his mother
Greg and his wife, Michelle, have raised more than $5 million through their Garding Against Cancer initiative. The Gards, inspired by the loss of Greg’s father, have been dedicated to fighting cancer across Wisconsin. His knowledge of cancer didn’t make anything easier when his mother, Connie, recently was diagnosed with breast cancer.
UW-Madison grads are bringing their historic JK Williams whiskey brand to Wisconsin
While the roots of JK Williams Distilling in Peoria, Ill., go back to prohibition, the business is a career change for UW-Madison alumni Andy Faris and his wife, Stacy Shunk Faris, a Madison native. The former co-owner of Taste of Minnesota, Faris bought the business in 2019.
Growing number of cities seeking voter approval to exceed state property tax limits
Noted: A 2020 report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Policy prepared for the League of Wisconsin Municipalities shows that between 2006 and 2018, 108 local governments went to referendum and 65 percent failed on election day.
Imani Perry’s ‘South to America’ reflects on the region’s problematic history
DAVIES: Is it true that she (Hansberry) single-handedly integrated a dormitory at the University of Wisconsin?
PERRY: Absolutely, she did. And, you know, she – it was also – it was unusual for her to go to Wisconsin, right?
Indian author, former UW-Madison prof uses literature to explore life’s meaning
On Usha Nilsson’s first day teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1963, a man stopped her on University Avenue, asking, “Are you Indian?” She had arrived in the U.S. from Kanpur, India, two years earlier.