Shout-Outs
James Dahlberg, emeritus professor of biomolecular chemistry, named a 2025 recipient of the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s American Innovator Award
Dahlberg, cofounder of Third Wave Technologies, discovered an enzyme that detects genetic variations. His breakthrough is used in diagnostic tests for diseases including colorectal cancer (Cologuard), cystic fibrosis, and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Read more about the award here.
Sandy Fowler, CALS assistant dean for research, named chair of Region V of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA)
Region V includes research administrators in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
NCURA is committed to advanc
ing the field of research administration through education and professional development programs, the sharing of knowledge and experience, and by fostering a professional, collegial, and respected community.
Here is a Q&A with Fowler.
Offering more regional free professional development training opportunities (webinars, lunch and learns, workshops). I want to create a space for folks to connect to help us get through the ever-evolving federal funding challenges. There is a whole lot of worry, and I’d like to give folks a platform to simply chat.
What impact does NCURA have on the research enterprise at UW–Madison, how to they work together? NCURA is the one of the best places for information and training for anyone that wants to be a research administrator in the world! We have access to a lot of resources (policy examples, templates, and people) to help us work through challenges and questions.
They are doing a whole lot. Unfortunately, some of our RA counterparts were laid off due to funding cuts. NCURA opened their job postings to all of the RA community, not just to members. In addition, they started a webinar series – https://www.ncura.edu/MembershipVolunteering/CollaborateNCURA/ChangingFederalLandscapeCollaborateCommunity.aspx. Again, not just for their members but the whole RA community.
100+ UW–Madison scientists are part of a team (left) awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
The award recognizes their work at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (2015-24).
The Breakthrough Prize, renowned as the “Oscars® of Science,” recognizes the world’s top scientists. Each prize is $3 million and presented in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. In consultation with the leaders of the experiments, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation donated 100 percent of the prize funds to the CERN & Society Foundation. The prize money will be used by the collaborations to offer grants for doctoral students from member institutes to spend research time at CERN, giving the students experience working at the forefront of science and new expertise to bring back to their home countries and regions.
Learn more here.
Martin Zanni
Chemistry professor Martin Zanni elected to National Academy of Sciences
Zanni won the prestigious honor that goes to only 120 American and 30 international sciences each year for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. He pioneered a technique called ultrafast two-dimensional spectroscopy, which allows the very fast motions of molecules to be watched, albeit abstractly.
Read the full story here:
Professor Emerita Grace Wahba
Wahba wins coveted statistics prize
Professor Emerita Grace Wahba has been awarded the 2025 International Prize in Statistics – one of the highest honors in the field – for her foundational contributions to smoothing splines, a method for drawing smooth curves through messy data, and the transformative impact her ideas have had on modern data science and machine learning.