UW In The News

This growing UW-Madison lab helps students create using AI, other tech

Launched in February, the lab is a collaboration between the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Business and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. It provides an opportunity for students from across the university to try emerging technologies — including AI, blockchain and virtual reality — and use them to potentially solve real-world problems.

“I love it because I see students progress remarkably,” said Sandra Bradley, the lab’s executive director. “When you give them a lot of … space and then hand them things that they need, the magic happens.”

Chazen showcases local influence in newly acquired photos

The Chazen Museum of Art has added 28 photos taken by acclaimed photographer Irving Penn to its collection.

The photos were donated to the museum by the Irving Penn Foundation in Penn’s name. It was a gift in honor of UW-Madison alumnus and former Museum of Modern Art photography director John Szarkowski, according to a statement from museum spokesperson Kirstin Pires.

UW scientists alarmed by Trump plan to break up national weather research center

University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are sounding the alarm over a Trump administration plan to dismantle a prominent weather and climate research center, saying it could jeopardize the future of weather forecasting.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is based in Boulder, Colorado, but is overseen by a consortium of universities, including UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. The center allows researchers to work together on large projects that no one scientist or university could do alone.

Wisconsin’s 32 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2025, Part 2

Dr. Earlise Ward is faculty director for the Cancer Health Disparities Initiative (CHDI) and co-director of the T32 Primary Care Research Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She conducts community-engaged clinical intervention research focused on African American adults’ mental health and culturally competent mental health services. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Baruch College, master’s degree in counseling and Brooklyn College and PhD in counseling psychology at UW-Madison.

Donald Dantzler is an alder for the City of Fitchburg, candidate for Dane County Board, and a Survey and Research Specialist for the Madison Metropolitan School District. He was previously faculty and adjunct faculty for UW-Whitewater, and has also worked as a research associate at Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory and a project assistant for the UW System Administration Office of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Success.  He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Whitewater and is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program at UW-Madison.

In manure, UW-Madison researcher Brayan Riascos sees the future of plastic

Wisconsin’s 32 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2025, Part 1

Maurice Thomas is chief operating officer at Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy, a 4k-8th grade Christian school in Milwaukee. He is an alum of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and expects to earn a master’s degree in education leadership from Harvard in 2027.

Jerry Jordan is a nationally-known painter working in the style of contemporary realism. He counts the unsung artists of the Harlem Renaissance as his artistic role models. By day, Jordan is an academic and multicultural advisor with the UW-Madison School of Education. He holds a degree in art from UW-Whitewater.

Dr. Bashir Easter is founder of Melanin Minded, a company that aims to empower Black and Latino communities by culturally appropriate resources and support for individuals affected by Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. He began his career in elder care nearly 15 years ago with Milwaukee County as an elder abuse investigator, human services worker, and dementia care program specialist, and later served as associate director of the All of Us Research Program at UW-Madison.

‘Pride in ourselves’: Indigenous UW-Madison students learn to sew ribbon skirts

“It’s important to be able to express ourselves through our clothing and kind of use it not only as a statement … that we’re still on campus, but also just have some pride in ourselves and our traditional attire,” said Miinan White, an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.

UW-Madison’s woodworking program combines art and craft

Their very first assignment is hand carving the utensil out of a block of poplar. But there is a reason that Katie Hudnall — the director of UW’s woodworking and furniture program — calls it the “not a spoon” assignment.

“If the project was just shaping a perfect wooden spoon, they wouldn’t really get the chance to design something for themselves,” says Hudnall. “The assignment is really to create not just a spoon. The design element is what gets them to unlock their art brains.”

Barry Burden on congressional redistricting going into 2026

UW-Madison political science professor and Elections Research Center Director Barry Burden considers implications of multiple states seeking to redraw congressional district maps by the 2026 election.

Women’s work: the hidden mental load of household decision-making

“I really saw a turning point during the pandemic when parents were really struggling, and moms in particular were really struggling,” said Allison Daminger, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the division of labor in adult romantic relationships.

Daminger’s book, “What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life,” examines how gender shapes household duties and why women are more likely to carry the mental load.

Poisonings from ‘death cap’ mushrooms in California prompt warning against foraging

Anne Pringle, a professor of mycology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said there is a litany of poisoning cases in which people misidentify something because their experience is not relevant to a new region: “That’s a story that comes up over and over again.”

UW-Madison chancellor says new AI college will connect campus, serve most popular majors

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, who leads the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sees opening a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence as the right move to support in-demand majors and says funding the school won’t come at the expense of other areas of the university.

New UW-Madison major will teach students to bridge partisan divides

At a time when American politics are increasingly polarized and partisan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is launching a new undergraduate major focused on working across those divides to create evidence-based public policy.

Americans drank more milk in 2024, reversing a decade-long decline

Leonard Polzin, dairy markets and policy outreach specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said whole milk has benefited from the diet craze around protein, driven in large part by health and fitness influencers online.

“The more protein, the better. Consumers are all about that,” he said. “The other portion is kind of a shift towards healthy fats too. So for example, cottage cheese is having a real moment right now.”

UW-Madison earns $1 million for winning Big Ten blood drive competition

The University of Wisconsin-Madison won the Big Ten “We Give Blood Drive” competition, earning $1 million that will go toward student or community health initiatives.

The competition, sponsored by Abbott, challenged all Big Ten schools to collect the most blood donations to help address the nationwide blood shortage.

‘The next step:’ UW-Madison details $80 million college focused on AI

 For the first time in more than 40 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is launching a new college.

Approved by the UW Board of Regents on Thursday, the “College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence” is set to open in July.

“We see the new college as kind of the next step,” UW-Madison Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen said. “We envision it as a hub around computing, data and AI on our campus, but really beyond our campus too.”

Matchmaking website could connect retiring farmers with younger farmers

“If we want land to be available to new or beginning farmers, figuring out ways that the land can be affordable for them and still provide the income that the owner generation needs is key,” said Joy Kirkpatrick, a farm succession outreach specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.

UW-Madison’s new Hub envisions seeding students’ startups across Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin wins Big Ten blood drive, securing $1M for health initiatives

The University of Wisconsin won in the second season of Abbott and the Big Ten’s We Give Blood Drive, overcoming Nebraska in a close contest.

Running from Aug. 27 through Dec. 5, the “We Give Blood” competition, was announced at the 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game in Indianapolis.

UW-Madison’s proposed AI-focused college gets Regents’ OK

UW Board of Regents approves new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved the reorganization of the School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences to create a new, standalone College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence during its December meeting on Thursday.

New College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence approved for UW–Madison

UW Board of Regents approved UW-Madison’s proposal to create a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), school officials announced on Thursday

Regents approve UW-Madison plan to create College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) will be reorganized into the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence under a proposal approved by the UW Board of Regents Thursday.

UW receives approval to move L&S’s largest majors to new AI-focused school

The University of Wisconsin-Madison received approval to separate the school’s largest and fastest-growing majors into a new college focused on Artificial Intelligence and computing ahead of next fall.

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to authorize creation of a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI) at UW-Madison, the first new academic division since 1983, when UW-Madison created the School of Veterinary Medicine.

UW-Madison creating a new college for artificial intelligence

For the first time in 42 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will launch a new college.

In 1983, the college opened the School of Veterinary Medicine so students could learn how animals and humans relate.

Why UW-Madison is creating a new college focused on AI

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is set to create a new college for the first time in more than 40 years.

The Board of Regents — which oversees UW-Madison and Wisconsin’s 12 other public universities — approved a proposal Thursday to establish the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.

Is my morning coffee climate friendly?

A study led by Andrea Hicks, the director of sustainability education and research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, yielded similar results, concluding that single-serve coffee pods have a similar environmental impact to drip-filter and French press coffee.

“I was surprised when we first found this, after reading all of the popular press saying that single serve coffee pods were terrible for the planet,” Dr. Hicks said. “It seems the public has a hard time believing this, as well.”

Spotify Wrapped reveals the real battle for attention in the music industry

AI-generated tracks already make up nearly one in five uploads on some platforms, said Jeremy Morris, a media and cultural studies professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, raising concerns about royalty dilution and algorithmic bias.

“Streaming is the new record-store shelf,” Morris told Axios, adding that algorithms now determine which artists get the best placement.

Yes, the government can track your location – but usually not by spying on you directly

Written by Emilee Rader, a professor of information at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

These groups help crime victims. Trump’s anti-DEI push is putting them on the defensive.

Howard Schweber, a UW-Madison professor who studies constitutional law, said it is widely accepted that Congress, as the branch of government that holds the power to tax and spend public funds, sets the terms of federal grant restrictions.

What is debated is how much power the president has to alter those terms after Congress has appropriated funds to federal agencies, he said.

According to Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, federal grant funding has followed a predictable structure of laws and contracts for decades. Trump’s declarations are challenging the limits of constitutional law, he said.