Stories

Campus History

A Taste of Freedom

From urban gardening to Southern black farmers who organized against oppression, UW assistant professor Monica White’s research reveals a missing chapter in the civil rights narrative.

Campus History

Grain of Truth

A UW wood scientist became the star witness in a trial that captivated the nation, garnering comparisons to Sherlock Holmes for his role in solving the Lindbergh-baby kidnapping case.

Science & Technology

Potato, Interrupted

There’s more to genetically modified foods than what you hear in political debate. Just ask UW professor Jiming Jiang and his hardy — if unloved — potato.

Campus History

Then and Now

After 25 years of covering UW–Madison, a university photographer revisits the people and places he’s captured to show how they’ve changed.

Environment & Climate

An Unexpected Landing

For former Badger rower Todd Jinkins ’96, parachuting out of a plane with more than 100 pounds of gear on his back to prevent a forest fire is all in a day's work.

International

Planet IceCube

This eerie, moonlit setting looks like it could be on another planet, but it’s right here on Earth. At the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, UW–Madison operates the world’s biggest telescope, buried deep in the ice, and detects tiny particles that could help unravel how the universe was made.

Campus History

Diversity’s Complex History

Jeff Miller

When some schools barred the door, UW–Madison welcomed black students from around the country who then went on to successful careers in journalism, law, medicine, and a host of other fields.

“When I told my dad I was going to Wisconsin, he…

Science & Technology

Pokémon Who?

George Clerk/ISTOCK

Even if you didn’t spend the summer desperately seeking a Dratini, you’ve surely heard of Pokémon Go, the augmented-reality game that captured audiences when it was released in July. As reviews came in, there was overarching praise for the physical nature…

Environment & Climate

Mammoth Island

Aunt_Spray/ISTOCK

By ten thousand years ago, woolly mammoths had gone extinct from mainland Asia and North America. But a population of island-dwelling mammoths survived on a remnant piece of land once part of the Bering Strait land bridge.

UW geography professor Jack Williams and…

The Arts

Pioneering Glass Artist

Audrey Handler was one of the early students of famed UW professor Harvey Littleton, who pioneered the studio glass movement. John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal

Audrey Solomon Handler MA’67, MFA’70 is in fine company: when she earned the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award, she…

Campus Leadership

Time for a Change

Billboards placed around the state that tout the contributions of UW alumni are part of an unprecedented effort ahead of the next state budget. Vincent Lyles ’84, JD’87 oversees the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee’s more than 800 employees and nearly 600 volunteers.…

Health & Medicine

I Quit (Maybe)!

Marccophoto/ISTOCK

Electronic cigarettes can’t be sold or marketed as smoking cessation aids, but many smokers see so-called vaping as a desirable way to quit.

The problem is, many of them get “stuck” using both this option and traditional cigarettes, says Doug Jorenby MS’86, PhD’91,…

The Arts

The Hyperpiano

UW music professor Christopher Taylor debuts the new instrument he developed on campus.

Campus History

Campus Reacts to WWII

A capacity crowd of students, faculty, and community members gathered inside the Field House on December 12, 1941. UW Archives S07306.

No exclamation point was needed, but the editors of the December 9, 1941, Daily Cardinal used one anyway: “We Are at War!” The…

Business & Entrepreneurship

2016 Distinguished Alumni Awards

For 80 years, the Wisconsin Alumni Association has honored exceptional alumni with Distinguished Alumni Awards. Early recipients include actor Fredric March ’20 of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fame and Helen C. White PhD’24, the beloved English professor whose name now graces College Library. More recently, alumni such as Earth…

Book

Better Aging Through Art

Changing our perceptions of aging is at the heart of The Penelope Project: An Arts-Based Odyssey to Change Elder Care, and it’s in the heart of coeditor Anne Basting MA’90. She’s earned a 2016 MacArthur “genius” grant for her work as an author, playwright, founder…