Volume 14, Number 11
Featured Stories
- L&S welcomes 1,000+ during Doors Open MilwaukeeDoors Open Milwaukee is an annual event that invites the public to peer behind-the-scenes of iconic Milwaukee buildings and institutions – including those at UW-Milwaukee! The College of Letters & …
- Pulitzer Prize winning author and playwright delivers Dean’s Distinguished LectureJoin the College of Letters & Science as Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar returns to the Milwaukee area to deliver the 2024 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities …
- Engineering an agreement: UWM economist plans for future climate change agreements with emerging technologySolar geoengineering (SGE) is an emerging technology that has the potential to help cool our warming earth. It works quickly, it’s cheap, and it can cool large areas of the …
- CoffeeShop Astrophysics delivers astronomy alongside your drink, thanks to UWM physics studentsEnjoy a black coffee while you learn about black holes. Sip a cold brew and contemplate comets, or discuss extraterrestrials over an espresso. Spacing out over your drink is encouraged …
- A ‘conventional’ education: Journalism student interns for CNN at RNC, DNCIf you tuned into the Republican or Democratic National Conventions this year, you probably caught the stirring speeches, the roar of the crowds, and the interviews with politicians and celebrities …
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Alumni Accomplishments
A couple with Chemistry: Forty-nine years ago, two young chemistry students met in the ‘New’ chemistry building at UWM. David Seemuth (‘78, BS Chemistry) and Karen Seemuth (Rowold) (‘77, BS Medical Technology) were lab partners, analyzing the phosphorus content in Tide detergent. Little did they know that their partnership in the lab would spark a lifelong journey together. The pair married in 1978 and enjoyed fruitful careers: David went on to earn a PhD in Theology from Marquette, while Karen made strides in Medical Technology, helping physicians tackle infertility. On Sept. 27, 2024, they returned to UWM for the grand opening of the new Chemistry Building—full circle from where it all began. It’s safe to say the chemistry between them is still going strong.
Sandra Mason (‘93, BA Journalism and Mass Communication) was selected to receive the 2024 award of excellence in public relations by the National Agri-Marketing Association. Sandra is director of public relations at the Association for Equipment Manufacturers.
Yhadira Ruiz (‘13, BA Art History) was named one of Wisconsin’s 36 Most Influential Latino Leaders for 2024 by Madison365. Ruiz is the vice president and business relationship manager at BMO Harris Bank and has also served as a volunteer coordinator at Mexican Fiesta for 17 years and a volunteer with the UMOS Mexican Independence Day Parade, among other volunteer positions.
Teresa Kulick (‘20, BA English) has joined the law firm of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C. where she will practice employee benefits law.
Following her graduation from UW Madison Law School, Eleanor Borden (‘19, BA Spanish and Political Science) has joined the Minneapolis law firm of Winthrop & Weinstine in their Business & Commercial Litigation department.
Faculty & Staff Accolades
Leslie Harris (Communication) received the 2023-24 Hochmuth Nichols Award from the National Communication Association for her book The Rhetoric of White Slavery and the Making of National Identity (Michigan State UP, 2023). The Hochmuth Nichols Award recognizes a book that “extends or alters our understanding of public address and/or rhetorical practice through its exceptional originality, research, intellectual creativity, and writing.”
Amanda Seligman’s (History) book Chicago’s Block Clubs is the free ebook of the month from the University of Chicago Press. Get your free copy during the month of November.
Sharity Bassett’s (Women’s & Gender Studies) new book, Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation (Michigan State University Press) was released on Oct. 1. The book “demonstrates how the cycle of action and articulation—with the intergenerational help of female leadership—firmly roots lacrosse within Haudenosaunee cultural fabric.”
In the Media and Around the Community
Kay Wells (Art History) has published “Looming Large: Presentations of textile art in Washington, DC; New York; and Chicago,” in Artforum, the magazine of record for international modern and contemporary art.
Mark Schwartz (Geography) was quoted in a Smithsonian Magazine feature article about ecologist John O’Keefe’s 30+ year study of Harvard Woods located in New England. O’Keefe’s methodology – direct observation walking through the woods – may seem unconventional in an era of drone and satellite technology, but it can provide valuable insight for phenoclimatologists like Professor Schwartz.
Riley Enright was featured in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for his charming agendas he sets for his weekly get-togethers at the bar with his buddies. Riley was made “internet famous” by his daughter, alumna Kenzi Enright (‘17, BA Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies).
Alumnus Glenn Maloney (‘02, BA Political Science and Journalism & Mass Communication) was featured in the Duluth News Tribune for his recently published book, which explores “finding the humor in psychotherapy.” Maloney is a licensed therapist.
BizTimes Milwaukee and American School & University Magazine reported on the grand opening of UW-Milwaukee’s new Chemistry Building, which officially opened its doors in September.
Kimberly Blaeser (emerita English) was the featured speaker at the Write On, Door County organization’s annual fall gala, themed “Languages of the Land,” in October. Blaeser is a former Wisconsin poet laureate.
What will be the impact of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on the presidential race? Kathleen Dolan (Political Science) weighed in on WUWM Radio. She also spoke on Wisconsin Public Radio about the importance of candidates motivating their bases to vote, and to Spectrum 1 News about Senator Baldwin receiving an endorsement from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau.
Using a compound first developed by James Cook (emeritus Chemistry & Biochemistry), researchers at the University of Cincinatti have identified a potential new way to improve outcomes for patients with lung cancer, according to a story released by the University of Cincinatti.
The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service detailed the efforts of undergraduate student Mia Moore (Political Science) to encourage her peers to vote in the presidential election.
Fall colors are beautiful, but why, exactly, do the leaves change hues? Erica Young (Biological Sciences) explained on WUWM Radio.
Milwaukee Magazine highlighted Derek Handley’s (English) new book, Struggle for the City, as one of seven Wisconsin-connected books that debuted this fall.
How did World War I change the trajectory of American music? Jonathan Wipplinger (German) explained in an essay published on History Today.
UWM’s Cultural Resource Management program, run out of the Anthropology Department, assisted the Milwaukee County Parks Department in removing a marker from a Lake Park burial mound to show respect for Indigenous communities, according to OnMilwaukee.
In honor of the spooky month, WUWM Radio spoke with Jean Creighton (Planetarium) about the Planetarium’s “Creepy Cosmos” program in October.
If you got tired of political ads during election season, you were not alone. Michael Mirer (Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies) talked about candidate advertising on WISN 12 News and Spectrum 1 News.
Neal Pease (emeritus History) explained the political leanings and historical political impact of Milwaukee’s Polish community on Spectrum 1 News.
Jeffrey Sommers (African & African Diaspora Studies) gave a workshop on the political economy and public policy uses of property taxes at the Transylvanian International Conference in Public Administration at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca on October 4th. He also gave an invited lecture at on October 9th at the West University of Timisoara on political and social developments on the run up to the U.S. Presidential Election. Finally, Sommers opined on “How to Sustain Eastern Europe’s World-Beating Home Ownership Rates” in a piece for Transitions.
Merry Wiesner-Hanks (emerita History) delivered a lecture titled, “Foremothers: Remembering Women and the Reformations” as part of the McGee Endowed Lecture Series at Baylor University in October.
Chris Young (Conservation & Environmental Sciences) provided expert commentary for a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article on deer-car crashes.
Alumnus Ramard Wright (‘03, BS Biological Sciences) is a veterinarian in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. He was profiled in the Milwaukee Community Journal.
In a tense time as instances of antisemitism have increased, Joel Berkowitz and Rachel Baum (Jewish Studies) penned a piece for the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle highlighting the positive actions and pursuit of understanding of their students.
Kennan Ferguson (Political Science) remarked on the reasons why the presidential candidates hold rallies in an article on Spectrum 1 News.
Aki Roberts (Sociology) provided expert commentary for a PennLive.com article on car theft.
People in Print
Graduate students David Kocik (English), Jill Budny (associate teaching professor, Honors College), Jon Cassie, Wren Dalton (English), and Laya Liebeseller (Anthropology). 2024. The Quiet Year. In Learning, Education & Games, Volume 4: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, (Karen Schrier, Rachel Kowert, Diana Leonard, & Tarja Porkka-Kontturi, eds.). Pittsburgh: ETC Press: 221-227.
Maura J. Mills, Mathias J. Simmons, Satoris S. Howes, Sarah E. Riforgiate (Communication), and Michael T. Braun. 2024. Time after time: Optimizing individuals’ experience of work through leaders’ facilitation of employee flow. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–18.
Miren Boehm (Philosophy). 2024. Conceivability as the Standard of Metaphysical Possibility. Hume and Contemporary Epistemology, Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy (S. Stapleford and V. Wagner, eds.). Routledge. Online.
Nan Kim (History). 2024. A New Kind of Tinderbox on the Korean Peninsula. Current History, 123(854): 209-216.