24 faculty honored with Vilas professorships and awards

Extraordinary members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been honored during the last year with awards supported by the estate of professor, U.S. senator and UW Regent William F. Vilas (1840-1908).

Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships

Seven professors were named to Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships, an award recognizing distinguished scholarship as well as standout efforts in teaching and service. The professorship provides five years of flexible funding — two-thirds of which is provided by the Office of the Provost through the generosity of the Vilas trustees and one-third provided by the school or college whose dean nominated the winner.

The recipients are:

Marah Curtis, Social Work
Anthony DiSanza, Music
Thaddeus Golos, Comparative Biosciences
Adena Rissman, Forest and Wildlife Ecology
Brad Singer, Geoscience
Vikas Singh, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Michael Titelbaum, Philosophy

Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Awards

Eleven professors received Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Awards, recognizing research and teaching excellence. The award provides flexible research funding for three years.

The recipients are:

Andrew Bent, Plant Pathology
Mark Burkard, Medicine
Baron Chanda, Neuroscience
John Eason, Sociology
Nancy Kendall, Educational Policy Studies
Paul Mitchell, Agricultural & Applied Economics
Sarah Moore, Geography
Avtar Roopra, Neuroscience
Rupa Sridharan, Cell and Regenerative Biology
Susannah Tahk, Law School
Chad Vezina, Comparative Biosciences

Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator Awards

Six professors received Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator Awards, recognizing research and teaching excellence in faculty who are relatively early in their careers. The award provides flexible research funding for three years.

The recipients are:

Amaya Atucha, Horticulture
Jeffrey Endelman, Horticulture
Dudley Lamming, Medicine
Peter Lewis, Biomolecular Chemistry
John Pool, Genetics
Monica White, Community & Environmental Sociology