Neutrinos, Bucky and a brass section
Thousands honored UW–Madison physics professor Francis Halzen, the university’s newest Nobel laureate, at Memorial Union on Oct. 23.
On Friday, Oct. 23, the campus community honored University of Wisconsin–Madison professor Francis Halzen following his selection earlier this month for the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics.
In the Memorial Union’s Great Hall, Halzen joined interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots for a fireside chat about his scientific career and the development of the NSF IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the massive South Pole installation designed to detect astrophysical neutrinos for which the Nobel committee recognized Halzen.
Before an in-person audience of more than 400, along with thousands more watching online and at livestream watch parties across campus, Halzen and several key collaborators on IceCube then detailed the engineering, logistical and scientific hurdles that the international collaboration has had to overcome to make the observatory a scientific success. In addition to well-wishers from the UW–Madison community and beyond, the Great Hall crowd counted many “IceCubers” who were in town from across the world for the scientific collaboration’s annual meeting in Madison.
The festivities weren’t all so academic — following the Great Hall discussions, the party moved to the Memorial Union Terrace, where U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Bucky Badger and members of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band were among those who honored Halzen before a packed-to-capacity Terrace crowd. And before the event’s conclusion, Wilcots announced contests to determine the flavor and name for a special Babcock Dairy ice cream flavor in honor of Halzen’s Nobel Prize win. Join in the festivities by scrolling through these highlights:
As thousands more joined online and via livestream watch parties around campus, some 400 lucky individuals were able to join the celebration in Memorial Union’s Great Hall. A large contingent of the in-person crowd was made up of IceCube collaborators in Madison for an annual meeting. The room was awash in raised hands when interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots asked “IceCubers” to raise their hands.
Vice Chancellor for Research Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska welcomed the audience: “Beneath that [Antarctic] ice, and behind the extraordinary science we are celebrating today, is a story about curiosity, persistence, collaboration and the willingness to pursue questions that can seem almost impossibly big.”
Halzen was kept busy even before the official festivities began, shaking hands and taking selfies with well-wishers. Here, Dean of the College of Engineering Devesh Ranjan congratulates Halzen while others wait for their turn to greet the Nobel laureate.
At right, Terry Benson, director of the UW Physical Sciences Lab, describes some of the engineering challenges that had to be overcome to make the NSF IceCube Neutrino Observatory a reality at the South Pole. Benson’s remarks were part of a panel conversation at the Oct. 23 celebration in honor of Halzen that also included physics professor Lu Lu (left); Albrecht Karle, physics professor and IceCube associate director for science and instrumentation; and Halzen. Dan Hooper, director of the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center, moderated the panel.
During a Q&A with the audience, 10-year-old Madelyne McFadden asked Halzen, “What advice would you give to people who want to become a scientist some day?” His response: “Join us soon!”
Halzen, the 2026 physics Nobel Prize winner and professor of physics, received a standing ovation and sustained applause from the crowd at the end of a fireside chat with interim Chancellor Wilcots during the Nobel Prize celebration.
