Eight faculty receive WARF professorships

Eight members of the faculty were appointed to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation named professorships in 2010.

The appointments, which include $75,000 in research support from WARF during five years, are:

Richard Vierstra, Stanley L. Peloquin Professor of Genetics, studies a chemical pathway that cells use to mark certain proteins for disposal.

James Skinner, Joseph O. and Elizabeth S. Hirschfelder Professor of Chemistry, probes the structure and dynamics of condensed matter with vibrational and optical spectroscopy.

Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Elizabeth M. Boggs Professor of Social Work, researches the impact of lifelong care-giving on the parents and siblings of individuals with disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia.

David Loewenstein, Helen C. White Professor of English and the Humanities, studies John Milton and the interconnections between literature, religion, and politics in early modern England.

Ullrich Langer, Alfred Glasuer Professor of French, researches the relationship between intellectual history and narrative fiction and lyric poetry in the early modern period.

Robert Landick, Charles Yanofsky Professor of Biochemistry and Bacteriology, studies the structure and function of cellular enzyme RNA polymerase and its central role in the regulation of gene expression.

Donald Downs, Alexander Meiklejohn Professor of Political Science, writes about law, politics, theory, and academic freedom.

Susan Coppersmith, Robert E. Fassnacht Professor of Physics, studies the fundamental properties of many types of matter — including how crustaceans form their shells, how advanced computers may operate at the atomic scale and how to manipulate nanoscopic matter.