Romnes Awards support UW-Madison’s emerging stars

Five of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s emerging faculty stars have been named as recipients of the 2007 Romnes Awards.

Supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the Romnes Award recognizes outstanding potential of those faculty who received tenure within the past four years. It includes an unrestricted cash award of $50,000 to be used in support of the award winner’s program of research.

Winners are chosen by a committee of the Graduate School and are recognized for exceptional research accomplishments. The award is named after H.I. Romnes, former chair of the board of AT&T and former president of the WARF board of trustees.

This year’s Romnes Award winners include:

• John Curtin, psychology, who studies the psychobiological processes of drug, alcohol and nicotine abuse, and the inappropriate behaviors often associated with drug use. Curtin has previously been recognized for his work as a teacher and mentor.
• Aparna Dharwadker, theatre and drama and English, who has published widely on early modern, post-colonial and Indian theater. Her recent book, “Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory and Urban Performance in India Since 1947,” won the 2006 Joe A. Calloway Prize for the best book on drama or theater published in 2004-05.
• Anna Huttenlocher, pediatrics, whose research focuses on the molecular processes that direct cell migration in the context of the pathology and treatment of inflammatory diseases. She is working to develop new transgenic zebrafish models to study cell motility and inflammation.
• John Levi Martin, sociology, who studies the formal properties of belief systems and social structures.
• Shannon Stahl, chemistry, whose studies of oxidation and catalysis have received international acclaim. His research program centers on efforts to harness environmentally benign molecular oxygen for the catalytic synthesis of useful organic compounds.