UW-Madison in the Media

A selection of media coverage about the university and its people.

  • Where the Fortune 500 CEOs Went to College U.S. News and World Report Jan. 3, 2011 UW-Madison ranks 4th in the number of Fortune 500 CEOs as graduates. Wisconsin stood out among its state school peers, granting 17 degrees to the CEOs, which put the school fourth overall, despite having an average U.S. News rank of 33 for the school’s undergraduate, business, and law programs. In the Fortune analysis, Wisconsin finished ahead of highly ranked schools like Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and Northwestern University. 
  • Harvard, Yale beaten in university brand survey Reuters Dec. 31, 2010 The University of Wisconsin at Madison beat storied institutions like Harvard and Yale in terms of brand presence on the Internet in 2010, according to a survey released on Thursday.
  • Huge Wisconsin contingent witnesses Rose Bowl 'heartbreaker' Wisconsin State Journal Jan. 3, 2011 As the sun sank low behind the Rose Bowl, so did the hopes of every University of Wisconsin football fan. Texas Christian’s 21-19 victory finally silenced the Badger Nation, which had dominated the stadium in both size and noise throughout the game. "It was a heartbreaker," said Mark Braden, 58, of Lake Geneva, making his fifth trip to the Rose Bowl.
  • Sales are rosy for Rose Bowl gear Wisconsin State Journal Dec. 31, 2010 The Rose Bowl remains a gift that keeps giving, even in the days after Christmas.
  • Badger fans turn out by the thousands for Party on the Pier in Santa Monica Wisconsin State Journal Dec. 31, 2010 SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The fans gathered by the tens of thousands before a stage framed by the Santa Monica Pier, the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean.
  • UW football: Watt bigger than life on and off the field Madison.com Dec. 28, 2010 LOS ANGELES - A couple of times a semester, University of Wisconsin junior defensive end J.J. Watt returns to Pewaukee to visit the schools he used to attend. It’s not unusual for a college athlete to go back to his high school and visit his former coaches or speak to the athletes. But Watt goes beyond that. Watt likes to visit former teachers and quietly slip into the back of classrooms, to see how long he goes unnoticed, although it’s not as easy lately with his rocketing fame.
  • Boost for the Humanities Inside Higher Education Dec. 22, 2010 Tyche, the Greek goddess of chance, smiled on the University of Wisconsin at Madison this week. The university announced Monday that it had received a $20 million grant -- $10 million of which will come from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with the remainder matched by the state of Wisconsin over much of the next decade. The money will allow Wisconsin to hire new faculty members and support postdoctoral and graduate students in the humanities. None of the disciplines within the humanities have been specifically designated to receive money, save one: a $2.5 million endowed chair in ancient Greek philosophy.
  • Got a cold? Study says echinacea won't help much USA Today Dec. 21, 2010 The largest study of the popular herbal remedy echinacea finds it won’t help you get better any sooner. The study of more than 700 adults and children suggests the tiniest possible benefit — about a half-day shaved off a week-long cold and slightly milder symptoms. But that could have occurred by chance. (The study was led by Bruce Barrett, School of Medicine and Public Health.)
  • What class rank says about health New York Times Dec. 17, 2010 In a fascinating new report, investigators found that it is not just the number of degrees or years of education that make a difference, but another factor — class rank.The findings come from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has been following more than 10,000 people who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957.
  • The Mowercycle Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dec. 17, 2010 The ideas are grabby, even if they never make it to the marketplace: a pedal-powered lawnmower, a snorkel device that allows the user to remain underwater for up to five minutes, a wheelchair suitable for ice and snow, and powered windows for someone with disabilities. Those were some of the projects judged Wednesday in the third annual Engineering, Mechanics and Aeronautics design competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • Report finds dramatic changes in bars, restaurants after smoking ban Wausau Daily Herald Dec. 16, 2010 The report, published by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, measured air quality in more than 200 Wisconsin bars and restaurants both prior to and after the ban’s enactment.
  • Health Law Debate Will Probably Last Years New York Times Dec. 16, 2010 Noted: This is precisely what happened to the catastrophic-insurance program that a Democratic Congress and President Ronald Reagan added to Medicare 1988. Opponents in both parties succeeded in repealing the program within 18 months, as older Americans who hadn’t yet warmed to the entitlement railed against the higher costs. “There’s a case where the window was open, and the opposition slammed it shut,” says Byron Shafer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.
  • Healthy lifestyle, healthy eyes in old age Reuters Dec. 16, 2010 Exercise and diet were each linked to a lower risk of age-related degenerative changes in the eyes, but both combined, along with a lack of smoking, caused a "particularly profound lowering" of the risk -- by more than 70 percent, study author Dr. Julie Mares of the University of Wisconsin in Madison told Reuters Health.
  • Air Quality In Bars Improves Dramatically After Smoking Ban WISC-TV 3 Dec. 16, 2010 A new report shows the air quality at bars and restaurants that had been found to have unhealthy air has improved 92 percent since Wisconsin enacted a smoking ban statewide more than five months ago, according to state officials. The Department of Health Services joined the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center in looking at the air quality of 200 bars and restaurants before the smoking ban and after.
  • Second University Research Park will dwarf the original Wisconsin State Journal Dec. 14, 2010 At University Research Park 2, a ribbon of concrete curb curls toward the grove of hardy trees, and graders have smoothed out paths that will become the business park’s main roads.Infrastructure work has begun at the Far Southwest Side site of what officials hope will become another engine of opportunity for the Madison area. Even though building construction probably won’t start until 2012, the 270-acre site bordered by Mineral Point and Pleasant View roads and Highway M could eventually have as many as 10,000 employees, plus houses, shops and restaurants, and a total value that could top $400 million, said research park director Mark Bugher.
  • Out-of-towners coming for Rose Bowl game are expected to boost Southern California tourism Los Angeles Times Dec. 10, 2010 When the Rose Parade winds down and the football game begins at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, no Pac-10 team will be on the field. But don’t cry for Pasadena, the host city of the historic game.
  • Survey maps the life of a generation Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dec. 8, 2010 Carol and Gregory Schill flip through their high school yearbooks and an entire era comes roaring back to life, Bermuda shorts and saddle shoes, rock ’n’ roll on the radio and quiz shows on TV.
  • U.S. study shows schooling equates to health Reuters Dec. 8, 2010 What you learn in school appears to be critical to your health, according to a study released on Tuesday.The long-term study of more than 10,000 Wisconsin residents who graduated from high school in 1957 concluded that the higher a participant’s school rank was, the lower the probability of worsening health as they approached retirement age four decades later. "We already know (schooling) matters for things like your work and your earnings, but this proves it also matters for your health," said Pamela Herd, an associate professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • Why religion breeds happiness: Friends CNN.com Dec. 7, 2010 As important as your religious beliefs may be to you, they don’t necessarily make you happier, a new study in the American Sociological Review finds. What does make you more satisfied with your life, the study finds, is having friends at your congregation and a strong religious identity. "Those are the people who give you the sense of belonging," said lead study author Chaeyoon Lim, of the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Lim conducted the study with Robert Putnam, author of "Bowling Alone" and "American Grace."
  • Philanthropists John, Tashia Morgridge donate hundreds of millions to Wisconsin causes Capital Times Dec. 1, 2010 Kevin Reilly had just pulled into the parking lot of a local retailer to take care of some holiday shopping three years ago when his cell phone rang. John Morgridge was on the line.
  • Farrier has big shoes to fix Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Nov. 30, 2010 Story examines the unique work of Dean Johanningmeier, farrier at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.
  • High hopes for Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Wisconsin State Journal Nov. 29, 2010 High hopes rest on UW-Madison’s shining new research building. Rising up from the center of campus, the glass-plated Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery could be the site of important medical breakthroughs — the newest treatment for cancer or insights into genetic diseases. But officials also want it to be a place for the public to come and learn about science, a symbol of scientific discovery for the entire campus. "The building is unlike anything we’ve built before," said John Wiley, former UW-Madison chancellor and interim director of one arm of the institutes. "In fact, I don’t think there’s anything like it anywhere."
  • UW Breaks Ground On Clean Energy Research Facility WISC-TV 3 Nov. 29, 2010 Gov. Jim Doyle and University of Wisconsin-Madison officials were on hand on Wednesday as workers broke ground on what they hope will be a groundbreaking research facility pursuing clean energy technology.
  • Olga Kotelko, the 91-Year-Old Track Star New York Times Nov. 29, 2010 Quoted: Inflammation, which produces that good kind of soreness weekend warriors are familiar with, “also damages a lot of healthy tissue around it,” notes Li Li Ji, an exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “That’s why I usually discourage older people from being too ambitious.”
  • Looking at local food solutions MSNBC.com Nov. 27, 2010 Quoted: Alphonso Morales, professor of  urban and regional planning at UW-Madison.
  • Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle New York Times Nov. 22, 2010 Quoted: The success of the pediatric diet seems to have made it easier for keto scientists to get money for this basic research. “Before Helen’s study, we all had a clear sense that keto worked,” says Carl Stafstrom, the head of pediatric neurology at the University of Wisconsin, “but we couldn’t say in a grant proposal that the diet has been proven to be effective. Now we can.” There are recently financed studies, for example, exploring why the body resists ketosis and exploring compounds that might trigger the antiepileptic mechanism.
  • Tours provide close-up look at UW sorority houses Wisconsin State Journal Nov. 22, 2010 Sorority members gave five tours of their houses on Langdon Street Sunday, most of them populated by five or six people, said Maria Lopez, who helped organize the event. "We’re starting out small, but we’re hoping to make it a bigger event next year."
  • NSF funds UW under-ice South Pole telescope Daily Cardinal Nov. 23, 2010 At the South Pole, buried approximately 2,400 meters in an Antarctic ice sheet, is a telescope—a cubic kilometer in volume—operated by researchers from UW-Madison.
  • Pregnant Mothers Primping for Childbirth Photos on Facebook and YouTube ABCNEWS.com Nov. 19, 2010 Quoted: Cameras came into labor and delivery rooms along with the fathers, beginning in the 1960s and especially in the 1970s, according to Judith Leavitt, author of "Make Room For Daddy" and University of Wisconsin medical historian.
  • Professors (and Learners) of the Year Inside Higher Education Nov. 18, 2010 It’s probably not unusual for junior professors to hear they should devote their time to research rather than waste it on teaching. What may be more uncommon is for one of them to do the opposite. But that’s precisely what Teresa C. Balser did, and her students aren’t the only ones reaping the benefits. Today she is among four faculty members selected as U.S. Professors of the Year, an annual award handed out by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Balser’s determination illustrates a common theme among the four award-winners: a continual, active effort to learn themselves as they promote student learning.