Cover Story
Room for Debate
Sharing what’s on your mind — and welcoming the viewpoints of others on contentious issues — is a campus hallmark that could inform the wider world.
Hard Truth
Chris Borland ’13 did the unthinkable: he abruptly retired from the NFL, bringing the unseen dangers of the sport to the forefront.
Hidden Ws
Can you identify where these Ws appear?
Old School
Remember when Chadbourne Hall housed only women? Attending a class in the old Law Building? Your room at old Ogg Hall? Grabbing a table at the old Union South? Take this walk down memory lane and revisit campus buildings that have come and gone.
The Price Is Right
Who sets tuition, and what does it cover, anyway? We look at the bottom line of attending college, steps to keep it affordable, and the reasons why it's well worth the investment.
Can This Democracy Be Saved?
As our nation faces a great political divide, UW experts and alumni explore the current state of democracy, our voting system, the enormous power and potential of social media, and the hopeful voices of the next generation.
Thinking Inside the Box
In an excerpt from his new book, UW professor Jordan Ellenberg argues that math is part of our daily lives and encourages us to embrace its power.
Creative License
Now a UW faculty member, renowned cartoonist and author Lynda Barry explores the genesis of creativity, teaching the powerful connection between our hands and our brains.
Milk Matters
Dairy is not "straw hats and bib overalls" at the UW. The flagship institution in America's Dairyland draws on a long history of lacto-research, modern technology, and big data to thrive in what has become a very scientific field.
Scripts and the City
Special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan ’77, JD’83 is leading New York's battle with the illegal trade in prescription drugs.
The Planet Hunter
Maggie Turnbull ’98 has become an authority on the search for signs of extraterrestrial life — and she's done it on her own terms.
Uniquely Human
A UW professor guides those who have been seriously harmed by others along a path to forgiveness. And a UW alumna encourages leaders to take a new approach to conflict: honoring dignity.
An Elephant Never Begets
Delivering birth control to elephants is more difficult than you’d think — and more important.
[mis] guided light
A psychopath focuses on a goal — no matter how chilling the consequences. But UW researchers have hopeful news about changing that behavior.
A Labor of Love {for Words}
From A to Z, the Dictionary of American Regional English reaches its goal.
Lord of the Flies
It took multiple bus rides for a young Barry Ganetzky to attend college classes each day. That same singlemindedness has nourished the UW researcher’s longtime career, pushing him to study tiny creatures and find ways to treat human disease.
Delicate Balance
As China gains prominence on the world stage, the university strengthens its connections.
Tracking The Ties That Bind
Fred Gardaphé ’76 knew that if he didn’t get out of the Mafia-dominated neighborhood where he grew up, he could wind up dead. UW–Madison provided a way out.
The Eye of the Storm
Lynsey Addario’s recent capture by Libyan forces was just the latest in a series of perils for this frontline photojournalist. But she’s never let danger stop her from bringing her unique perspective to coverage of conflict and humanitarian issues.
A Conversation with The Commish
Bud Selig looks back on his career, and ahead to a return to Madison, considering it all through “the retrospect of history.”
Head-On Collision
With every brain she dissects, neuropathologist Ann McKee ’75 discovers more about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the disease that results from repeated brain injuries. Her studies are changing how sports — especially football — are played.
How to Stage a Lynching
As a graduate student, theater professor Patrick Sims became engrossed in the story of lynching survivor James Cameron. For a decade, he's been working to create a one-man play that preserves Cameron's place in history.
A Voice in the Wilderness
Before Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, there was George Schaller MS’57, PhD’62, whose crusade to protect the world’s most beautiful and endangered animals has taken him to the globe’s most remote regions.
Words, Wit, & Wild Hearts
It’s a writer-to-writer conversation when Mitchard sits down for a chat with Lorrie Moore, acclaimed fiction author and UW faculty member.
The Wayfinders
After the initial shock of hearing a grave health prognosis comes the confusion. But thanks to a unique UW program, patients can count on help to weigh the options and chart their own paths.
For all the right seasons
During its seventy-five years and the changing of the seasons, the UW Arboretum has told stories to those who will listen and learn. Even as visitors escape the demands of city life to enjoy its beauty and tranquillity, it has taught researchers just how much human forces shape the land.
The World at Their Feet
Today’s students know that by graduation, their portfolios of knowledge and skills need to include global competence. But the UW, along with its peers, is grappling to define what that means, exactly, and why in the world it matters.
Truth, Death, and Taxidermy
Errol Morris’s documentaries are known for being quirky — and brilliant. In the words of film critic Roger Ebert, “After twenty years of reviewing films, I haven’t found another filmmaker who intrigues me more ... Errol Morris is like a magician, and as great a filmmaker as Hitchcock or Fellini.”