In Focus Magazine: Current Issue

Volume 16, Number 5

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Alumni Accomplishments 

  • Pakou Vang (‘03, MA Communication) was named the president of Normandale Community College in Minnesota by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Her appointment makes her the first Hmong-American college or university president in the United States. Vang has served as Normandale’s interim president for the past 10 months and holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, as well as an extensive background in higher education.  
  • Soham Patel (‘18, PhD English) published their most recent work, a multi-genre collection titled The Daughter Industry, in April. The book examines the social and economic dynamics of gender through the lens of sex-selective elimination in Southeast Asia. They and their work were featured on the Electric Literature website. 
  • Hunter Turpin (‘23, BA Urban Studies and Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies) has a new beat at BizTimes Milwaukee. Turpin, who has worked for the publication since 2023, covering real estate, will now be writing stories examining nonprofits, education, and health care. 
  • The Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll 1944-1964 by David Luhrssen (‘91, MA History) and Michael Larson (‘89, BS Political Science) was published in April by Bloomsbury Academic. This is the duo’s third encyclopedia exploring 20th-century American popular music for Bloomsbury. 

Laurels & Accolades 

  • Associate Professor Susana Antunes (Portuguese) is the co-editor of a new collection of essays and papers titled Sentient Books: AI’s Impact on Creation. The book explores human creativity and authorship in an age where an algorithm can produce a symphony or a work of art. How do artists create their work when artificial intelligence can be both a collaborator and a threat? 
  • Professor emerita Kimberly Blaeser’s (English) short story “Waiting, a Quintet” was chosen for an O. Henry Prize, recognizing it as among the best short stories of the year. Her work was published in The Best Short Stories 2026 (ed. Tommy Orange) with other O. Henry Prize Winners. Blaeser’s story is available for reading on Literary Hub. Her book Ancient Light (2004), a collection of poetry, was recognized as a 2026 National Book Foundation Science + Literature selected title, which comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Blaeser was recognized for her achievement at the Madison Central Library in April. Blaeser and her book were recently featured in The Cap Times. 
  • Graduate student Sophie Nunberg’s (English) creative nonfiction piece, “This is Just to Say I Have Recommended the Last Book You Were Saving,” won an AWP Intro Journals Award in prose (AWP stands for Association of Writers & Writing Programs). It will appear in an upcoming issue of Mid-American Review. These are prestigious awards for graduate students; eight UWM creative writing students have won AWP Intro honors in the last twenty years, a record bested only by the University of Utah and Purdue. 
  • Genevieve Dwyer (Chinese; ‘22, BA Psychology), Preston Ruh (‘25, BA Linguistics), Isabelle Bright  (Linguistics), and students from the UWM Chinese calligraphy class had some of their student work selected for inclusion in the 2025 National Chinese EXPO of Student Works. This achievement highlights the UWM Chinese Program’s impact on students’ academic growth, community engagement, and career exploration. Their work was completed under the guidance of Senior Teaching Faculty Lu Yin (Chinese). UWM was also honored with a trophy recognizing these national achievements. 
  • At this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, Professor Alexander (Leggy) Arnold (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Award. Additionally, Maya Fernando (also Chemistry and Biochemistry), a doctoral teaching assistant from the same department, was honored with the Graduate Student Mentorship Award.

In the Media and around the Community 

  • Fox 5 News in San Diego and U.S. News & World Report spoke with Natasha Wade (‘14, MS Psychology; ‘18, PhD Clinical Psychology) about a new study suggesting that marijuana use among teenagers slows the development of memory, focus, and thinking speed. 
  • Republican Byran Steil represents Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. Distinguished Professor emerita Kathleen Dolan (Political Science) discussed Democrats’ difficulties and potential strategies for flipping that district on Spectrum 1 News. 
  • The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources highlighted a paper by recent graduate Michelle Hess (‘25, BS Conservation & Environmental Science and Geography), suggesting 19 Milwaukee Public Schools that should be prioritized for tree planting to increase their canopy cover. 
  • Jonny Lohr (‘07, BA English), one of the founders of the Milwaukee-based Adjunct Press, cited the late Senior Academic emerita Susan Firer (English) as one of his literary inspirations and mentors in an article by On Milwaukee. 
  • Before the Orion capsule returned safely to Earth, Fox 6 News spoke with Director Jean Creighton (Planetarium) about the Artemis II mission. 
  • How do parents keep their children safe on the internet? Associate Professor Noelle Chesley (Sociology) spoke to Fox 6 News about online safety.  
  • Associate Professor Susana Antunes (Portuguese) co-organized and participated in a virtual panel with three Brazilian educators focused on “Centering Indigenous Knowledges in Contemporary Brazil.” The educators discussed promoting the well-being of their Native communities and cultures in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The event, part of Antunes’ Center Latin American & Caribbean Studies Fellowship, awarded for support of her research on Indigenous nations in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, took place in April. 
  • Have you noticed your attention span growing shorter? Do you find yourself doom-scrolling for hours? Clinical Professor Stacey Nye (Psychological & Brain Sciences) recommends taking “active” breaks to retrain your mind, reported the Milwaukee Independent. 

People in Print