Han Joo Lee, Associate Professor, Psychology

Han Joo Lee examines the underlying cognitive processes of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive conditions using experimental psychopathology approaches.

In both his basic research and clinical work, he has identified novel research questions that have advanced the field and have the potential to help many people suffering from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive conditions. He has found that socially anxious people can effectively reduce the symptoms of anxiety depending on how they respond to certain negative facial expressions.

“This is a truly groundbreaking finding that should prompt the field to more broadly consider attentional problems in anxiety and how to treat them,” writes W. Hobart Davies, Psychology Department chair. “Dr. Lee is one of very few researchers investigating this important attentional avoidance process in anxiety.”

Lee has also developed a computerized intervention for individuals with OCD-spectrum problems, and it’s designed to improve the ability to stop unwanted or problematic behaviors. Lee’s work in this area earned him a UWM Research Foundation Catalyst Grant in 2013.

Lee has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed papers, including 33 since he arrived at UWM in 2009. Also since 2009, he has been awarded seven grants as PI or Co-PI, totaling $978,431, including a recent National Institute of Health R21 Research Grant Award to continue his work on computer-based interventions for OCD and hair-pulling.

Blain Neufeld, Associate Professor, Philosophy

Blain Neufeld is providing a renewed and expansive vision of political liberalism—a prominent theory of justice and legitimacy founded on ideals of liberty and equality. He challenges the conventional notion that its founding principle is toleration, arguing instead that political liberalism is founded on a principle of civic respect. He expands political liberalism beyond its traditional limits through his scholarship on the family and gender equality.

With his deep understanding of public policy, Neufeld illustrates the real-world relevance of political liberalism in areas such as civic education and foreign policy.

UWM Philosophy Department chair William Bristow writes that “Neufeld’s outstanding work on civic respect among citizens in a liberal society reorients our conception of the foundations of political liberalism.”

Simone Chambers, professor of political science at the University of California-Irvine, said that Neufeld’s forthcoming book on civic education will be “a major contribution to contemporary analytic political theory.”

Neufeld is a Center for International Education Global Studies Fellow this year, and a past fellow of the Center for 21st Century Studies. His past awards include a Spencer Foundation research grant, a Graduate School Research Committee Award, and multiple Faculty of Arts & Humanities Travel Awards.

Margaret Noodin, Director, Quinney Institute

Margaret Noodin studies indigenous and American Indian literature, culture and sociolinguistics, and she has worked tirelessly to preserve the ancient language of the Anishinaabe, a group of culturally related peoples of Canada and the United States that includes the Odawa, Potawatomi and Ojibwe.

Her highly regarded 2014 book, Bawaajimo: A Dialect of Dreams in Anishinaabe Language and Literature, is an analysis of four Anishinaabe authors that combines literary criticism, sociolinguistics, native studies, and poetics to introduce what Noodin calls an Anishinaabe way of reading. Her original works include “Weweni: Poems in Anishinaabemowin and English,” which features poems she wrote in the Anishinaabe language and their English translations.

“Very few scholars in the U.S. and Canada have both the language skills and the literary training to undertake such a project,” said Jill Doerfler, who directs American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

In addition to serving as the director of the Electa Quinney Institute, Noodin is also president of the Studies in American Indian Literatures Association and vice president of the MLA Division of Language Change.

Ramin Pashaie, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering

A core member of the bioengineering-oriented faculty at UWM, Pashaie works on hybrid instrumentation to study brain-blood communication. He received a federal grant in 2015 to develop technology to help researchers understand how information processing and blood flow are intertwined. Learning details of such processes is the first step to understanding the circuitry of diseases such as Alzheimer’s or atherosclerosis.

Pashaie is a collaborative researcher who has initiated research projects with other UWM departments as well as UW-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin. His collaborative projects with local industry include development of a new generation of multiphoton microscopy systems and building high-throughput DNA sequencing instrumentation.

Justin Williams, Vilas Distinguished Achievement professor at UW-Madison, notes the high regard in the field for Pashaie’s research program and calls him “the consummate academician, thinking about big problems with deep intellectual rigor,” and admires his “very ‘can-do’ attitude.”

Pashaie has published 26 papers in high-quality journals of bioengineering and bio-optics, including Nature Communications, Nature Neuroscience, and the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism.

Chia Vang, Associate Professor, History

Chia Youyee Vang is a leading historical scholar on the Hmong diaspora, especially in the Midwestern and U.S. context. Her early research explored the region near her home and led to her 2008 book, Hmong in Minnesota. Her 2010 book, Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in Diaspora, which explores a broader population, is highly acclaimed. Hmong Studies Journal editor Mark Pfeifer calls the book “a seminal monograph within Hmong American studies and the most comprehensive account to date of contemporary Hmong American history within any academic work.”

Former research collaborator Monica Trieu, an assistant professor at Purdue University, writes that Vang “taught me that one could simultaneously be a productive academic, while also giving back to the community,” and admires “the genuine care and commitment that she possesses for her research subjects/community.”

A Hmong American who arrived in the United States from Laos in 1980 at age 9, Vang joined UWM in 2006 as an instructor in the UWM Department of History while finishing her doctorate. She joined the faculty in 2006 and earned tenure in 2011.

Dazhong Zhao, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Dazhong (Dave) Zhao studies plant development—specifically microRNAs, an abundant but fairly recently discovered class of small RNAs that regulate gene expression. Zhao is exploring the roles microRNAs play in plant cell determination and, more recently, the hormonal signaling that stimulates plant reproduction.

“Monumental” is how Keiko Torii, distinguished professor of biology at the University of Washington, describes Zhao’s 2008 article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

His recent work on hormonal signaling and plant reproduction “will have broad impact, not only among people who study plants, but also on how these mechanisms operate in animals, including humans,” said R. David Heathcote, chair of UWM’s Biological Sciences Department.

Zhao also conducts applied research, evidenced by his 2016 Catalyst Grant from the Bradley Foundation, whose awards support work in areas at UWM deemed to have strong commercialization potential. The project’s goal is to create switchgrass that can turn its fertility on or off, helping in the production of biomass without posing a risk to natural crops.

Zhao was the 2007 Milwaukee recipient of the Shaw Scientist Award from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

Jason Puskar, Associate Professor, English

It didn’t take long for Jason Puskar to make an impression at UWM. Among some 300 applicants for an assistant professorship in English in 2005, “He stood out from the beginning as simply the best,” wrote Jane Gallop, distinguished professor of English and chair of the search committee. “His was hands-down the best writing sample of the sixty we read.”

His first book, Accident Society: Fiction, Collectivity, and the Production of Chance, published by Stanford University Press in 2012, explores how the effects of chance, accidents, and the upheavals of modern life in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries were represented in realist American fiction. Puskar argues that literature at this time actively produced chance by categorizing injuries and losses as blameless accidents, and that doing so helped Americans develop new forms of social solidarity.

Of his forthcoming book, which explores the technology of the push button in modern American culture, Gallop wrote, “I was pretty much blown away by its originality, scholarly ambition, and sheer brilliance. The first book was very good; the second will be phenomenal.”

Work on his first book was supported by a Research Growth Initiative grant, his second by a 2014-2015 fellowship at the Center for 21st Century Studies.

He is also a popular choice with students. Last spring he chaired four dissertation committees, served on seven others and chaired two graduate-level project committees.

Rafael Rodriguez Sevilla, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

Rodríguez Sevilla has achieved national and international prominence for his work on the evolution of behavior, specifically sexual selection and speciation in insects.

His department chair, Professor R. David Heathcote, says Rodríguez Sevilla’s work is “changing the way evolutionary biologists think about population divergence and the process of speciation.” He has adapted Doppler-laser vibrometry—a technique for detecting vibrations on surfaces—to measure in detail the vibrational signals of various kinds of male insects, and how females interact with them.

Rodríguez Sevilla’s work has also revealed that social and rearing environments can influence the expression of insect genotypes.

Michael Greenfield, now a professor at Université François Rabelais de Tours, directed Rodriguez Sevilla’s dissertation, a National Science Foundation-funded project that he finished in 2002 at the University of Kansas.

“Without question, he is the most intellectually gifted of the 14 graduate students that I have trained over the years—the one most destined for a successful, long-term career in academia,” Greenfield wrote. “I have followed his progress and new directions, which I might describe as meteoric in the past few years.”

Rodríguez Sevilla has attracted more than $1.2 million in research funding. He has published 55 journal articles—33 as lead author—and is associate editor of the journal Evolution, published by the Society for the Study of Evolution.

Xavier Siemens, Associate Professor, Physics

When Siemens joined the UWM faculty in 2007, he was already a premier researcher in gravitational-wave astronomy—a reputation earned from postdoctoral work at UWM, as well as Caltech and other institutions.

Siemens is a leader in the search for gravitational waves, whose existence is predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. These faint, low-frequency waves carry information on the motions of objects in the universe, and their detection and analysis will allow scientists to observe further back into the history of the universe than ever before.

With Siemens’ novel incorporation of radio astronomy data into the quest, gravitational waves may soon be detected indirectly—as tiny fluctuations in the steady frequency of radio waves from spinning neutron stars. The promise of this idea has spawned the National Science Foundation’s new North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav)—one of only 10 NSF Physics Frontiers Centers nationwide. With this five-year, $16 million grant, Siemens leads a team of more than 20 researchers from 11 institutions.

Siemens also contributes extensively to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory Scientific Collaboration, a group of more than 900 scientists worldwide dedicated to the detection and analysis of gravitational waves—and the largest, most ambitious project ever funded by the NSF.

Siemens has published more than 150 papers, which have been cited more than 7,000 times. He has attracted more than $42 million in research grants—$34 million as principal investigator—including continuous funding from the NSF since 2008.

Alexander Arnold, Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Alexander Arnold has assumed a key role in UWM’s mission of discovering new medicines for human disease.

His discoveries on ligand-receptor interactions set the groundwork for novel drug development in the area of vitamin D, thyroid hormone, and androgen signaling, to name a few.

As a founding faculty member of the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery (MIDD) at UWM, he uses his expertise in developing high-throughput screening methods for identifying promising drugs and drug targets from large molecular libraries.

This is not only essential to his own research, but also for supporting the work of other researchers. “Alexander has developed, equipped, and staffed a laboratory with broad expertise to perform in vitro pre-clinical assays and evaluate biological specimens from test animals. This capability is a core resource for my laboratory and many other investigators within the MIDD,” said nominator and UWM Distinguished Professor James Cook.

Arnold is currently involved in grants from the National Institutes of Health that total more than $5.3 million. His research has led to several patent applications, and two awarded patents, one of which was already licensed to the Boston biotechnology company KeraFAST Inc.

S. Scott Graham Assistant Professor, English

Can an English professor lay the foundation for restoring public trust in a federal agency and encouraging the many stakeholders involved in crafting national health care policy to play nice?

S. Scott Graham just might. The ambitious assistant professor of technical and professional writing has been credited for bringing new energy to the UWM English Department since he arrived in 2012 and founded the Scientific and Medical Communications Laboratory (SAMComm).Graham explores the effective and ethical uses of communication at the often volatile intersections of science and public policy, such as the interfaces among pharmaceutical companies, the Food and Drug Administration and public advocacy groups.

Rather than try to tease just quantitative data from these snarled webs of communication, Graham developed an innovative, qualitative data analysis server at SAMComm to document financial conflicts on federal pharmaceuticals policy.

In addition to national recognition, Graham is also attracting federal funding. English colleague Dave Clark writes that Graham’s funding so far–$300,000–and the nearly $1 million more in current proposals “promise to help the entire Professional and Technical Writing Program revise how it thinks about the potential of grant funding.”

Emily Latch Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Emily Latch’s research uses molecular genetic tools and statistical genetic methods to understand how ecological processes influence formation of new species and hybridization of existing species.

Her work is highly regarded by national and international researchers in her discipline. In 2013, her published work received a total of 94 citations.

“Dr. Latch’s papers demonstrate an integration of methods and ideas across molecular genetics, ecology, evolutionary biology, and wildlife management that is extremely valuable to all of these fields, but too rarely demonstrated by others who have more narrow expertise or interests,” says nominator Robert Lacy, a leader in the field of conservation genetics who has joint research appointments at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Brookfield Zoo.

Sara Oyler-McCance of the U.S. Geological Survey calls Latch “an emerging leader in wildlife genomics,” who can convey complicated molecular concepts in a way that is understandable to a lay audience.

“Emily is particularly well-known for using genetic techniques to address questions in wildlife management. She has documented the impacts of reintroductions of wildlife species by looking at hybridization, gene flow, and social structure, and has provided much insight into management strategies.”

Todd Miller, Assistant Professor Zilber School of Public Health

The research of Todd Miller focuses on algal blooms and the toxins they produce and release into the fresh- water environment, a potential threat to human health.

Miller is the leader of an international coalition of 20 scientists in 14 nations who collaborate to understand water eutrophication and algal toxin production.

With a background that encompasses micro- biology, genomics and analytical chemistry, he is well positioned to take a leading role in under- standing the nature of those problems and addressing their remediation.

“I do not know anyone else quite like him in terms of scientific breadth,” says nominator and UWM Distinguished Professor David Petering.

Miller also has linked his work to the greater community by partnering with the national Children’s Environmental Health Science Core Center and the City of Milwaukee Health Department on water quality issues.

In addition to these accomplishments, Miller has been wildly successful at attracting grants. In only three years, he has garnered just under $1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Not only is it extremely difficult to obtain top-tier funding on the first try, but also Miller as earned these while the Zilber School was just launched.

Nathaniel Stern, Associate Professor, Art & Design

Nathaniel Stern’s work bridges multiple disciplines, merging new with traditional media, installation with inter- active art, and the maker community with entrepreneurial endeavors.

He shows a sustained commitment to contemporary art practice, a vast conceptual and technical expertise, and diverse experiences as a scholar and art practitioner.

“His scholarly and creative research thoughtfully and seamlessly integrate to analyze digital media in a manner rarely seen in academics with a hybrid practice,” says one of his nominators.

It’s one reason he is sought after by multiple disciplines at UWM to teach a variety of research- intensive courses, be it the graduate seminars in Art and Design, senior seminars in Global Studies, Product Realization in Engineering, Entrepreneurship Experience in Business. As co-founder of UWM’s Student Startup Challenge, Stern inspires students to turn their ideas into companies.

“What distinguishes these pieces, and indeed all of Stern’s work,” says another nominator, “is a playful and rigorous collision of computational and digital media with more traditional media forms, whether prints, photographs or sculpture.”

This approach has earned him international acclaim. His project “Tweets in Space” garnered a huge buzz while still in its fundraising phase, with stories about the project appearing in Scientific American, National Geographic and Forbes.

Luca Ferrero, Associate Professor, Philosophy

Luca Ferrero is a recognized leader in the philosophy of action, a broad field that explores aspects of human action and decision-making, including intention and intentional action, the ontology of action, motivation, free will, and social action.

The work of philosophers of action often overlaps with that of non-philosophers including jurists, neuroscientists, and psychologists. Ferrero studies how the nature of intentional action changes over time, and how such actions influence personal identity.

Michael E. Bratman, professor of philosophy at Stanford University and eminent thinker in the philosophy of action, has cited four publications that best represent Ferrero’s work. “Taken together,” he writes, “these essays constitute an extended and insightful investigation into the relations between time and our rational, autonomous agency. I know of no other younger scholar of philosophy who has made such progress on these basic issues.”

Recognition for his work include a 2005 Stanford Humanities Fellowship, selection for a 2011 NEH Summer Seminar on 20th Century American Philosophy at Princeton University, and numerous UWM distinctions, including two fellowship offers from the Center for 21st Century Studies, two Graduate School Research Committee Awards, and three Arts and Humanities Research Travel Awards. In addition, his 2008 essay “Action” tops the “Popular Essays” list on the Web site philosophyofaction.com.

Benjamin Johnson, Associate Professor, History

Ben Johnson’s areas of research include three somewhat overlapping yet distinct fields: the history of the American West, the broader history of the North American borderlands, and environmental history.

His first two award-winning books, Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans into Americans, and Bordertown: The Odyssey of an American Place, explore racial strife on the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is now working on a history of the conservation movement in the Progressive Era, a time that popularized the idea that wilderness is spiritually renewing and an essential part of the national landscape.

Stephen Aron, professor and chair of the UCLA Institute for the Study of the American West, writes that Johnson’s achievements in Revolution in Texas go “well beyond the usual for a first book,” and that it “stands, in fact, as a primer for how to write borderlands history.” Aron further writes that Johnson’s scholarship is “shaping the direction of multiple fields and inspiring other scholars to do the same.”

Among other achievements are a 2013-’14 NEH Faculty Fellowship for his project, “A History of the American Conservation Movement” and a faculty appointment in the 2013 NEH Summer Institutes for schoolteachers.

Krista Lisdahl, Assistant Professor, Psychology

Krista Lisdahl is advancing our understanding of how chronic drug use effects the brains of adolescents and young adults. With a unique, multidisciplinary approach integrating molecular genetics, brain structure and function, and behavior, her lab aims to better understand the cognitive consequences of a chronic pot habit in the developing brain, and whether physical exercise can reduce or even prevent the damage, or decrease drug abuse.

The research also seeks more information about the process of connectivity in the maturing brain and the role of physical activity in that process.
Described by a department colleague as “truly cutting-edge work,” Lisdahl’s research has garnered several national awards, perhaps most notably the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on professionals in the early stages of their research careers.

Lisdahl has published 30 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and has eight more under review or in progress. Seven of her publications have come since her arrival at UWM in 2011. Lisdahl has 59 papers or posters presented at conferences and 11 invited lectures at research institutions around the country. Her research has been funded by more than $2 million from the National Institutes of Health.

Christine Larson, Associate Professor, Psychology

Why is a smile perceived as happy, while a scowl is considered threatening? Christine Larson’s work on emotion has demonstrated that understanding the effects of visual signals of threat and happiness can be reduced to fundamental properties, such as their geometry.

Using two important techniques to explore the emotion-brain connection—neuroimaging and psycho-physiology—Larson has discovered that certain shapes influence neural circuits in the brain that are involved in emotional processing.

With more than $1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, Larson also probes the regulation of emotions, with a focus on clarifying its role in depression and anxiety disorders.

“Chris sets herself apart from psychologists who do neuroimaging and psycho-physiology by being one of the few scientists in the world who does both,” according to one nominator.

Her work has been recognized by various publications and with several awards, including the K-award from N I H, given specifically to promising scientists wishing to acquire training in new areas of their disciplines. This will allow Larson to add molecular genetic techniques to her neurobiological investigations of emotional regulation.

Amanda Seligman, History

Between Amanda Seligman’s numerous articles and well-reviewed book, Block-by-Block, colleagues say she is reshaping what scholars thought they knew about post-war urbanization. Eagerly anticipated is her book on community organizing in Chicago—of unique interest in political and pop-cultural contexts, in addition to its historical relevance. As America pondered similarities between the Great Depression and the 2008 financial collapse, Seligman designed and taught a 2009 class on the question, attracting more than 80 undergraduates and curious “drop-in” students in her fellow history faculty.

A richly detailed narrative style has earned her praise as a rising star in urban history and mirrors her exhaustive, engaging research approach. From neighborhood block parties to university laboratories, she strives for complete, balanced, accurate storytelling. As a humanities professor writing the book, Is Graduate School Really for You?, Seligman devoted additional time to researching and reporting on the experience of graduate students in laboratory sciences.

She continues to keep her research close to home as lead organizer and editor of the upcoming Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. For this collaboration between UWM and Marquette, Seligman helped secure RGI funding and negotiated key production contracts. She simultaneously contributed to other encyclopedias, directed the Urban Studies program and taught entry-level through doctoral students of history. It’s working, say colleagues, who note that Seligman has attracted “legions of graduate students” to UWM.

Xiaohua Peng, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Xiaohua Peng has developed a novel platform for anticancer drugs that can specifically kill cancer cells while reducing the potential for toxicity to normal cells. The work could lead to cancer treatments with far fewer harsh side effects.

“Her independent research has shown creativity, courage to try new ideas and the ability to integrate novel concepts across scientific disciplines,” says one nominator.

A founding faculty member of UWM‘s Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery, Peng’s research has attracted international attention. Her work was featured in a news report published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, London. She has presented her work at National Institutes of Health workshops and at the Gordon Research Conference, considered the premier global scientific conference for leading investigators in the field.

Peng’s goal is to connect basic science discovery to improved patient care. Her work at UWM has led to two patent applications, a key step in the transfer of technology from the lab to use in oncology practice.

In May, she received the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Shaw Scientist Award, which, in addition to providing $200,000 in support of her work, recognizes the importance, impact and potential of her contributions to cancer research.

Na Jin Seo, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Na Jin Seo has produced biomechanical models that explain the need and potential for new hand-strength and function assessment tools in medical clinics. Currently, clinics measure hand strength and function with grip and pinch gauges that do not capture the subtle effects of neurological impairment nor take friction into account.

“She is one of the most productive investigators in the field of hand biomechanics and rehabilitation,” says one nominator.

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research awarded Seo the Distinguished Fellowship Award for her research to develop innovative assistive devices for people with disabilities. Her research on how strokes affect hand functioning has appeared in both journals and non-journal publications, including Science Daily and Rehab Management magazine.

Seo has been exceptional in mentoring students in research, procuring extramural training fellowships for them from organizations such as the American Society of Biomechanics and the American Heart Association. Her graduate students took first, second and third places at this year’s Larry Hause Student Poster Competition held at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Under her mentorship, 12 undergraduates have produced national and international conference publications.

Seo also participates in local stroke support groups, encouraging stroke survivors to become involved in community events and university research.

Margaret L. Fraiser, Assistant Professor, Geosciences

Margaret Fraiser’s work focuses on understanding how simple marine organisms adapted to, recovered from and evolved after the worst mass extinction of life in Earth’s history 252 million years ago. The work is particularly significant because it is helping to unravel how ancient life forms responded to dramatic climate change and drastically elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Fraiser is quickly becoming a world expert on this topic.

Working with six other colleagues from China, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., Fraiser has helped form a large international collaborative of scientists who study patterns from the mass extinction biotic recoveries in various environmental settings and climate zones.

She also was asked to be a special guest editor for Global and Planetary Change, connecting her work to the quest to understand how Earth’s organisms will respond to climate change today and in the future.

Peter Geissinger, Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Peter Geissinger’s record of accomplishment during the last 12 years at UWM is impressive. In addition to securing $2.25 million in funding, he has published 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and five book chapters. He has also transferred his research into a productive collaboration with local industry.

Advanced Chemical Systems, a Milwaukee-based company that develops water treatment technologies, has signed an option to license Geissinger’s optical-fiber sensor technology, which has been supported by the Bradley Foundation.

His novel research has also resulted in two patents—one issued and one pending. Geissinger recently completed a prestigious Erskine Fellowship at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

“Peter’s research is truly ‘cross-cutting’ in that, while educated in physics, his work is not only within the discipline of physical chemistry, but also encompasses analytical, biochemical and environmental research,” says one nominator.

As an example, one of his doctoral students recently won “best poster” award at an annual meeting attended mostly by geologists, biologists and civil engineers. “To have the research of a physical chemistry group so well-recognized at this meeting is quite remarkable,” says a nominator.

Rebecca D. Klaper, Associate Professor, Freshwater Sciences

Rebecca Klaper has clearly established herself as an expert on the biological effects of nanoparticles and emerging contaminants on aquatic organisms. She was one of the first researchers to identify the characteristics of nanomaterials that may cause toxicity in water.

In addition, she has conducted many studies gauging the effects of environmental exposure to trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in fish, including some of the first studies on how exposure to Prozac adversely affects fish reproductive behavior. Using genomics, she determines which genes in fish are “turned on” or “turned off” in controlling such behavior.

Klaper is a sought-after resource on environmental toxicology for numerous governmental agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences panel on the health and safety aspects of engineered nanomaterials.

She also enthusiastically promotes science to the public. She was producer of the 2008 documentary film “Inland Seas: Understanding and Protecting the Waters of the Great Lakes.” In 2009 she was recognized by Milwaukee Magazine as one of 36 “new leaders under 40 who will change Milwaukee.”

Marius Schmidt, Assistant Professor, Physics

Marius Schmidt has made important contributions in the relatively new field of time-resolved crystallography, a technique that allows him to image proteins as their atomic structure changes during biochemical reactions.

Using this X-ray diffraction technique, Schmidt can image an ensemble of molecules in five dimensions—three spatial dimensions and time. By adding and varying temperature, he can see all the changes in the protein as they happen, obtaining a comprehensive view of how it carries out essential functions.

This research could lead to a rational design of optical switches that could be used in biophysical research.

Replicating the work of proteins also is an important aspect of new drug discovery. Schmidt received an Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2010, the most prestigious grant for younger researchers given by the National Science Foundation.

“This is a competitive field in which Schmidt has excelled,” says one of his nominators. Says another: “With his connections, his world-class experimental experience and his analysis methods, he is poised to make high-impact research in this new direction.”

Andrea C. Westlund, Assistant Professor, Philosophy

Andrea Westlund is acknowledged by peers as much for her original contributions to moral philosophy as she is for her deeply relevant subject matter and everyday eloquence.

“Her ideas are developing in new directions and it is absolutely clear that not only is her current work outstanding, but her best work is yet to come,” writes one colleague.

Westlund’s work on companion love and forgiveness—in “tightly argued, systematic, zero-fluff” writing—inspires particular praise. She does not proffer marital advice, nor does she make value-laden suggestions about those grievances that deserve forgiveness, or those that do not. Acknowledging the complexity of human relationships, she offers morality as a window through which to look at those near us and consider our response to them.

In her own words, forgiveness “expresses moral faith in an offender, understood as readiness to interpret the offender as worthy of one’s love and goodwill even though the underlying realities are indeterminate.”

Westlund’s philosophy, adds another nominator, is the kind that lingers on after the book has been closed or the page has been turned. “Her work is never just an intellectual exercise. It is the sort of work that a reader can come away from personally changed.”

Jolien D. Creighton, Associate Professor, Physics

Jolien Creighton is one of a new breed of gravitational physicists who works at the interface of theory and experiment. Detecting gravita­tional waves—ripples in space-time caused by violent movement of massive objects in space—is among the most challenging scientific endeavors of the century.

Finding evidence for gravitational waves requires the observation of a change in the distance between two mirrors on a detector that is smaller than a proton! It requires physicists like Creighton to extract a signal that is deeply buried in “noise,” a task that Creighton accomplishes using algorithms.

His research brings together a deep understand­ing of theoretical gravitational physics with a superb technical mastery of data analysis and statistical methodologies in a unique way. For example, he developed methods for detecting weak, short bursts of gravitational radiation from sources that cannot be accurately modeled theoretically or numerically.

“The most recent talk I heard by Jolien was enti­tled something like, ‘Searches for gravitational waves from bursts, compact binaries and ringdowns,'” says Barry Barish, Linde Professor of Physics Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology. “This title alone demonstrates the breadth of his in-depth work because the three topics have very different chal­lenges and opportunities and Jolien has been central to all three.”

His high stature in gravitational physics also is reflected in the funding he has received from the National Science Foundation, which includes well over $2 million in grants as principal investigator.

Jennifer A. Jordan, Associate Professor, Sociology

Jennifer Jordan has distinguished herself as an outstanding scholar for her work in the areas of collective memory and the sociology of food. She has maintained a remarkable pace of research since attaining tenure in 2006.In her first book, Structures of Memory, she explores why certain places in the urban landscape of Berlin—and, by extension, other places such as Oklahoma City—become marked as significant in our collective memory, while others fade.

“Her writings demonstrate a highly detailed and meticulous style of qualitative research,” says one nominator.

Now she has “made the turn” from the research of her dissertation, which resulted in the highly praised book, and created a whole new research direction. Her work on the cultural meanings of heirloom produce and heritage livestock links memory, loca­tion, status and taste.”

Her attention to contexts of locale and space is one of Jennifer’s singular contributions to studies of collective memory,” says one nominator.

Not only has the draft of her second book, Edible Memory, already generated interest from one of the most prestigious presses in sociology, but Jordan also has garnered much coverage in the general media.

She also has been extraordinarily successful in generating external funding for research that is typi­cally un- or underfunded. In her time at UWM, she has received funding from no less than five different external sources, including the Austrian Science Fund, the Austrian equivalent of the National Science Foundation in the U.S.

Lindsay J. McHenry, Assistant Professor, Geosciences

Much of Lindsay McHenry’s work has been focused at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, one of the world’s most famous paleo-anthropological locations, and is helping to unravel questions of early human evolution. McHenry is a geologist who uses geochemical analysis and correlation of volcanic ashes to help archaeolo­gists at Olduvai accurately date finds at excava­tion sites.

These artifacts are buried in a complex succession of sedimentary and highly altered volcanic strata, rather than in neat, chronological layers. That has prevented researchers from iden­tifying the first appearance of some of the various fossils and stone-tool technologies.

McHenry is involved in fieldwork in at least three other sites near Olduvai, demonstrating the interest of many project leaders in counting on her expertise, says one nominator. “It is not an exag­geration to state that Dr. McHenry is becoming a key researcher on the study of quaternary geology in East Africa.”

Because of the importance of Olduvai and the charged political climate, it is extremely difficult to obtain funding and permits to work in the gorge. But McHenry has managed to navigate these difficult waters and secure substantial funding.

As a result, she advanced this summer from being a participant on various field teams working within the gorge to being a lead principal inves­tigator and team leader in charge of an interna­tional group.

Her research in altered volcanic ash in archaeo­logical contexts has also led McHenry to a new line of inquiry. She has discovered that her meth­ods are relevant to the study of the history of water on Mars.

Abdolhosein “Adel” Nasiri, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Adel Nasiri’s research is focused on wind energy, particu­larly energy-efficient electronics and wind turbines, as well as the effective use of energy storage systems. His work addresses the need to integrate renewable energy systems with conven­tional power sources without major disruptions.

In the past five years, he has demonstrated great potential to achieve distinction in the field through his scholarship, well-funded research activities and broad collaboration, especially with local industry, which provides some of his funding.

“Dr. Nasiri is a scholar with a strong record of research accomplishments that can have significant impacts in solving our energy crisis,” says one nomi­nator. “Moreover, he plays a crucial role in connecting with local companies owing to the synergy of his research with the industrial base in Wisconsin.”

Since joining the faculty in 2005, Nasiri has acquired two patents, and a third is pending. He has achieved an impressive level of funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, and has developed collabora­tive research relationships with other UWM schools and departments and other institutions in Milwaukee.

His large team of 11 graduate students demon­strates his success in building a research program in power electronics and renewable energy in only a brief period.”

The record of external funding shows that he is gaining recognition for his creativity and innovations,” says a nominator. “His professional activities are commensurate with a ‘rising star’ in his field.”

Scott J. Adams, Associate Professor, Department of Economics

Scott Adams specializes in the economics of health policy, the labor market for older workers, and the effect of living-wage ordinances—popular local laws that set wages that companies doing business with the government must pay to their employees.

Adams has become a national expert on these policies, showing how they have affected employment and the distribution of income.

He is a skilled and creative researcher, whose studies have generated substantial interest from the popular media, including the Washington Post, USA Today and The Economist.

He also is highly sought-after by policymakers. A clear indication of the regard with which his work is held in the profession was his selection last academic year as a senior staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The nine appointees to this post are chosen by the best economists from a handful of leading departments. Adams is the first from UWM to be named to this position.

Erica Bornstein, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology

Erica Bornstein’s research on humanitarianism in India, begun after her arrival at UWM in 2004, is at the forefront of the emerging field of comparative studies of humanitarianism. Her work encompasses philanthropy, charity, humanitarianism, nongovernmental organizations, political anthropology and the anthropology of religion.

Her 2003 book, The Spirit of Development: Protestant NGOs, Morality, and Economics in Zimbabwe, has been adopted for courses in at least 15 universities, including Stanford and the London School of Economics.

In 2006-07, Bornstein was one of six resident scholars at the School of Advanced Research on the Human Experience in New Mexico. In 2008 she co-organized an advanced seminar at the school that produced the forthcoming volume Forces of Compassion: Humanitarianism Between Ethics and Politics.

James Ferguson, chair of the Anthropology Department at Stanford University, wrote that Bornstein “combines an extraordinarily acute, critical intelligence with exceptional imagination, creativity and intellectual curiosity,” adding that her dissertation was “one of the most exciting and original that I have seen.”

Michael Liston, Professor, Department of Philosophy

Michael Liston has distinguished himself among philosophers of science and mathematics with his deep knowledge of the disciplines’ actual history. He has compiled an impressive record of research in the philosophies of science, mathematics and language, and has also written on the philosophy of logic and philosophical naturalism.

Liston is currently writing a book on philosopher, physicist and historian Pierre Duhem, an important figure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Liston’s research on Duhem’s philosophy of science was funded by a 2006 UWM Research Growth Initiative<sup® (RGI) award, and subsequently by the National Science Foundation in 2007, a rare accomplishment among philosophers.

Arnold Koslow, philosophy professor at City University of New York, calls many of Liston’s papers “philosophical gems so worthy, and filled with interesting arguments and evaluations that they will repay continued study.”

Liston has also been a fellow at the Center for 21st Century Studies and received two UWM Sabbatical awards and a Graduate School Research Committee Award.

Jorg Woehl, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jorg Woehl’s research expertise lies in the imaging and manipulation of single nanoscale objects.

Prior to coming to UWM in 2004, Woehl had already built a reputation in his field—near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), which uses a subwavelength light source as a scanning probe.

He is one of the few people in the world with this expertise and has built an extremely sophisticated experimental laboratory focusing on NSOM imaging. The equipment he has built is so precise that it can obtain information on a single molecule.

He also is investigating nano-positioning methods for molecules on surfaces, such as proteins in biological membranes. If successful, such methods would provide new avenues for probing molecular function and present new potential applications.

Woehl has filed three patent applications related to his research on methods for fabricating novel optical fiber tips from photonic crystal fibers. He also has translated his initial experimental successes into both publications and funding since his arrival at UWM.

Lei “Leslie” Ying, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Lei Ying’s work revolves around improving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, which currently are too slow to be effective for use on parts of the body that move, such as the heart.

Ying’s work has opened up a new research direction for developing algorithms that will achieve the highest imaging speed possible.

She is one of the first researchers to investigate the application of a math theory called “compressing sensing” to MRI, and she is leading the field. Compressed sensing would enable MRIs to produce real-time pictures of internal human organs without sacrificing the quality of the image. It could potentially improve diagnoses of many diseases.

Ying’s achievements have recently been recognized by the National Science Foundation with a prestigious Early CAREER Award.

She holds two U.S. patents through the UWM Research Foundation and will soon have a third. In addition, Ying has established collaborations with other institutions and industries, and with other departments at UWM.

Junhong Chen, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

The research of mechanical engineer Junhong Chen includes unique production of nanoparticles for advanced technology devices and development of nanoscale gas and biological sensors.

Using plasma—partially ionized gases—Chen’s lab produces nanocrystals with precise size, form, structure, and composition, and on various surfaces.

The miniaturized gas sensors under development in his lab, which rapidly identify trace amount of gases/vapors or their mixtures, are important in such areas as environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis, food processing, and control of other industrial processes. Chen’s UWM Research Foundation Catalyst Grant is funding development of a nanoscale gas sensor that combines and improves upon two existing sensor technologies.

Chen’s graduate advisor at the University of Minnesota, Jane Davidson, writes that “he is one of the leading young scientists in the U.S. and has the intellect and drive to become one of the future superstars.”

Other funding for Chen’s research since 2004 includes a Research Growth Initiative^® award, five grants from the National Science foundation, and grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, Xerox Corporation, and Miller Electric Manufacturing in Appleton.

Dyanna Czeck, Assistant Professor, Geosciences

Dyanna Czeck studies how rocks deform under stresses caused by tectonic motions. Such research is important for understanding how and where rocks may fault—break catastrophically—or flow—deform gradually—in tectonically active areas.

Her specific areas of study include the three-dimensional flow processes, mineral alignment, and strain in deformed rocks.

Czeck’s work is remarkable for the wide range of research techniques she employs. In addition to traditional geologic field mapping and geophysical surveys, she uses electron microscopy, material flow studies, and GIS technologies.

Czeck is a widely traveled researcher, having done fieldwork in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico, Utah, Canada, Scotland, and Spain.

UW-Madison structural geologist Basil Tikoff writes of Czeck, “Her integration of field geology, quantitative analysis, and geophysical methods has had a major impact” on knowledge of lateral-motion faults, adding that “It is a pleasure to work with someone as intellectually alive as Dyanna.”

In addition to a 2005 grant from the National Science Foundation, Czeck received a 2003 UWM Research Committee Award and a 2006 Research Growth Initiative^® award.

Prasenjit Guptasarma, Associate Professor, Physics

Understanding unconventional superconductivity, and other phenomena involving strong interactions between electrons, is considered the Holy Grail of condensed matter physics. Such research has helped produce many electronic devices we use today—devices that are faster, greener, cheaper, and smarter.

Prasenjit Guptasarma and his colleagues have carried out pioneering work in superconductivity and magnetism, now published in many influential research journals such as Nature. In 2005, Guptasarma won the National Science Foundation’s prestigious CAREER award. Today, he continues to attract a substantial level of extramural funding.

To probe fundamental interactions, physicists use single crystals and study them in extreme environments such as very low temperature and high magnetic field.”

He ranks among the most promising young experimental physicists in this country today,” says Arun Bansil, program manager in the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy. “He is already among the best crystal growers in the world.”

He also is well-known for the how often other scientists cite his published work in their own research. More than 1,500 publication citations places Guptasarma in the top 5 percent of associate professors in condensed matter physics, says Marshall Onellion, professor of physics at UW-Madison.

Daniel Agterberg, Associate Professor, Physics

Daniel Agterberg’s basic research is helping explain how superconductors work. They’re already revolutionizing the power, cell-phone, and magnetic imaging industries, but Agterberg is helping to overcome obstacles that could allow superconductors to help create a new type of faster, quantum computer.

How some materials are able to conduct electricity with zero resistance has long been a mystery to scientists, and Agterberg’s bold predictions have helped overturn long-standing beliefs and resolved some important questions.

Professor Manfred Sigrist, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, writes that “Daniel is a highly gifted and original researcher with the rare talent to connect experiments and theoretical concepts in a very physical and intuitive way.”

Agterberg attracted a nearly quarter-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, an impressive feat in the competitive field of superconductivity.

Agterberg is primary or contributing author of 50 articles since 1993 and has been invited to give 20 conference presentations and 21 seminars and colloquia. He has also received two UWM Research Committee Awards and funding for a 2006 Research Growth Initiative^® proposal.

Jian Chen, Assistant Professor, Chemistry

With previous success in industry, Jian Chen has hit the ground running at UWM. Since arriving in August 2005, the materials chemist has focused his group’s research on fundamental understanding of organic nanomaterials and their applications in alternative energies, smart materials, and biomedical materials and devices.

After nearly five years of research and development at nanotech company Zyvex Corporation, Chen has established a state-of-the-art nanomaterials laboratory at UWM and collaborated with researchers from the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the WATER Institute.

At UWM Chen has generated over $910,000 in external funds from the National Science Foundation and Environmental Protection Agency, and has received Research Growth Initiative^® funding in each year of the program, as well as a 2007 MiTAG award.

Kristene Surerus, Chair of the UWM Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, praises Chen’s “multidisciplinary approach and wide-ranging collaborations with physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers,” and writes that “Jian has excelled both in an industrial setting and in academia.”

Chen holds seven patents, and has filed three provisional patents since coming to UWM.

Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

After just two years at UWM, Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong has established one of the best research funding records at the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Gong is developing microcellular bio-based polymer nanocomposites with the goal of improving the performance of plastics made from renewable resources. She also is making new polymers suitable for human tissue regeneration and drug delivery. In addition, she is developing novel polymer nanocomposites with unique actuation capabilities. She is author or co-author of 70 technical papers on a wide range of topics, Gong’s research has attracted over $1.2 million extramural funding from the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, including an NSF CAREER award, the most prestigious award for junior faculty members. She also is a principal investigator for three UWM Research Growth Initiative® grants.

Lih-Sheng Turng, co-director of the UW-Madison Polymer Engineering Center, writes, “Every major research university would like to have Professor Gong in light of her research accomplishments and fund-raising record. . . which are incredible, to say the least.”

Thomas Hubka, Professor, Architecture

Thomas Hubka is widely recognized for his studies of vernacular architecture, which refers to common, everyday buildings indigenous to a specific time or place.

He is best-known for his research on 18th century wooden synagogues of Eastern Europe. In the words of UWM Architecture Department Chair Brian Wishne, this work “single-handedly restored the history and significance of the architecture of Polish wooden synagogues from the lost Jewish-built culture and communities of Eastern Europe.”

Culminating in the 2003 book, Resplendent Synagogue, this work led to Hubka’s lifetime achievement award from the Vernacular Architecture Forum in 2004.

His 1984 book, Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn—also recognized by the Vernacular Architecture Forum—was described by a reviewer as “one of the standard works on regional farmsteads in America.” Other areas of his research include imagery in the design process, New England farm architecture, vernacular architecture theory, and the architecture of H.H. Richardson.

He is currently investigating American popular housing of the 19th and 20th centuries, including case studies of working-class housing in major U.S. cities.

Patrick Brady, Physics
Adrian Dumitrescu, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Rina Ghose, Geography
Karen Marek, Nursing
Krishna Pillai, Mechanical Engineering

Paul Brewer, Journalism and Mass Communication
Gil Indig, Chemistry/Biochemistry
Paul Lyman, Physics
Gabrielle Pinter, Mathematical Sciences

Anthony Azenabor, Health Sciences
Kyoung Ae Cho, Visual Arts
Lian Li, Physics
Thomas Malaby, Anthropology
Mark Netzloff, English

Graham Moran, Chemistry
Lisa Samuels, English
Kyle Swanson, Mathematical Sciences
Yehua Dennis Wei, Geography
Vladislav Yakovlev, Physics

Fred Helmstetter, Psychology
Carol Hirschmugl, Physics
Eun-Ok Im, Health Maintenance
Zhong-Ren Peng, Urban Planning

Ryo Amano, Mechanical Engineering
Carla Bagnoli, Philosophy
Keith Corzine, EE & Computer Science

Bettina Arnold, Anthropology
Tien-Chien Jen, Mechanical Engineering
Jeffrey Karron, Biological Sciences
Mark Schwartz, Geography

Stephen Forst, Bio Sci
Peter Haddawy, Electrical Engineering & Comp Sci
David Pritchard, Mass Comm
Ann Snyder, Health Sciences

Martha Carlin, History
Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, Physics
Mark McBride, Bio Sci
Rhea Steinpreis, Psychology

Bruce Allen, Physics
Fred Anapol, Anthropology
Laura Peracchio, Bus Admin
Leslie Schulz, Health Sciences

Reinhold Hutz, Bio Sci
Craig Sandgren, Bio Sci
Kristene Surerus, Chemistry
Anastasios Tsonis, Geosci

Mike Allen, Communication
Dennis Bennett, Chemistry
Chie Craig, Comm Sci and Disorders
Suresh Garimella, Mechanical Engineering
Patricia Mellencamp, Art History

Barry Brummett, Communication
John Heywood, Economics
Mahmun Hossain, Chemistry
Neil Oldridge, Health Sciences
Dilano Saldin, Physics

Sherry Ahrentzen, Architecture
Mohsen Bahmani, Economics
Milicent Ficken, Bio Sci
Terry Nardin, Political Sci
Bimal Sarma, Physics

Yvo Desmedt, Electrical Engineering & Comp Sci
Richard Perlman, Economics
Carla Sinopoli, Anthropology
Brian Tonner, Physics
Gerald Weisman, Architecture

Fred Berman, Art
Richmond McQuistan, Physics
Ruth Phillips, Bio Sci
Pradeep Rohatgi, Materials
Mark Sothmann, Human Kinetics

David Amrani, Health Sciences
Gerald Bergtrom, Bio Sci
Glen Jeansonne, History
Tong Hun Lee, Economics
Robert K. Turner, English & Comp Lit

John Buntin, Bio Sci
Sidney Greenfield, Anthropology
C. Frank Shaw, Chemistry
Richard Sorbello, Physics
Yehuda Yannay, Music

Mary Lynne Perille-Collins, Bio Sci
J. Patrick Gray, Anthropology
Susan Riesch, Foundations of Nursing
Izzet Sahin, Bus Admin
William Wainwright, Philosophy

George Davida, Electrical Engineering/Computer Science
Victor Greene, History
Moises Levy, Physics
Will Rayms, Bus Admin
William Wehrenberg, Health Sciences

Carolyn Aita, Materials
Melvin Friedman, Comparative Literature
John W.K. Harris, Anthropology
G. William Page, Urban Planning
Adolph Rosenblatt, Art

Richard Blau, Film
Jacqueline Clinton, Nursing
John Koethe, Philosophy
David Lichtman, Physics
Markos Mamalakis, Economics
James McFarland, Chemistry

Michael Day, Geography
Dennis Gensch, Bus Admin
Haig Khatchadourian, Philosophy
Leonard Parker, Physics
Cecelia Ridgeway, Sociology

S.H. Chan, Mechanical Engineering
Peter Farrell, Human Kinetics
David Petering, Chemistry
Jane Waldbaum, Art History
Kathleen Woodward, English

James Cronin, History
John Friedman, Physics
Sarah Vogen, English
William Washabaugh, Anthropology

Arthur Brooks, Zoology
James Cook, Chemistry
J. Walter Elliott, Bus Admin/Economics
Joan Moore, Sociology

Uriel Cohen & Gary Moore, Architecture
Robert Eidt, Geography
Robert Greenler, Physics

John Downey, Music
David Hull, Philosophy
David Tong, Physics

Janis Eells, Professor, Biomedical Sciences

Janis Eells has an internationally recognized research program directed at understanding how cell mitochondria regulate the processes of aging and degeneration in the retina.

From 2004 to 2009, she held a Wisconsin Distinguished Professorship, an honor bestowed by the UW System to recognize researchers whose work had the potential to boost Wisconsin’s economy and who were nationally recognized in their field. Eells’s research has brought in more than $2 million from sources such as the National Institutes of Health, Foundation Fighting Blindness and American Heart Association. Her collaborative research endeavors have totaled more than $15 million.

She also has taken her knowledge outside the university, advising pharmaceutical firms such as Alcon Laboratories; medical facilities such as the Dean Clinic; and firms that make near-infrared light devices used for healing wounds, including LumiThera Inc. Her expertise in toxicology has been sought by organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization.

Mark McBride, Professor, Biological Sciences

Most bacteria move around with a whip-like flagellum that propels them in a way that’s similar to an outboard motor. Mark McBride has made seminal contributions in the study of how bacteria move when they don’t have a flagellum.

He developed tools to study the genes of a specific bacterium that glides over surfaces. Using these, McBride has uncovered the mechanism of its motility and, in the process, discovered a new type of protein secretion system in bacteria. His tools are now in high demand because many bacteria that move in this fashion are part of the human microbiome that inhabits our gut, and are therefore critical for human health.

McBride also collaborates with scientists at the USDA at the UWM School of Freshwater Sciences to study the gliding bacteria that cause a disease common in fish raised in aquaculture.

“Many laboratories now build research on his discoveries,” said Tâm Mignot of Aix Marseille University in France.

Ryoichi Amano, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Amano is an established leader in the fields of turbo-machinery, aerospace and energy systems for power systems.

He has worked on high-profile aerospace propulsion engineering projects, including the Aerojet engine at NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC); the gas turbine engine for Raptor at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; and solid booster rocket engine research at the Air Force Research Lab at Edwards Air Force Base.

Amano’s research has captured the attention of many federal agencies and large companies, such as NASA, the U.S. Army, Toshiba and Hitachi.

In the energy field, some of his research has been used by Tokyo Electric Power Company in the construction of new power plants. Other work has developed a process to help power plants reduce harmful emissions.

“Heat transfer and fluid flow are amongst the key issues of great importance to R&D engineers for sustainable energy systems,” wrote Ashwani K. Gupta, distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland. “Professor Amano is an international authority in his field on modeling with focus on applications to power industry. His work on wind energy is well-recognized.”

Carol Hirschmugl, Professor, Physics

Hirschmugl’s approach to experimenting with infrared imaging at diffraction limit has made it possible to observe previously hidden surface structures.

She developed a specialized microscope that uses the ultra-bright, infrared light generated by synchrotron radiation to reveal high-quality chemical images of cellular and subcellular interactions.

This instrument has been sought by collaborators worldwide, including groups from Canada and Germany.

“She has been invited to various national laboratories and universities in the U.S. and Europe to jump-start infrared spectroscopy efforts there,” wrote F.J. Himpsel, physics professor emeritus at UW-Madison. These have included the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Yale University and the European Synchrotron Light Source workshop.

Some of her most recent work has been in extending imaging to three dimensions, which has made it possible to form chemical maps of protein and lipid structures in stem cells.

“Carol is a truly exceptional physicist who has advanced her career by a combination of ability, determination and focus, while excelling at every phase,” wrote Gwyn Williams, deputy division head at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility near Newport News, Virginia.

Reinhold Hutz, Professor, Biological Sciences

The research of Hutz has furthered the knowledge of reproductive technologies for people.

Renowned for his study in the reproduction of non-human primates, Hutz has combined several disciplines within the biological sciences that focus on reproduction. His work led to the development of in vitro fertilization techniques used to treat infertility in humans.

“Reinhold is a fantastic colleague; he is collaborative, collegial and has an impeccable reputation,” said Francesco J. DeMayo, professor of molecular and cellular biology at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Hutz is also an expert in the study of reproductive toxicology, investigating contaminants called endocrine disruptors, chemicals, which even in trace amounts, confuse the messaging system of the body’s hormones.

“He has had a truly impressive and productive scientific career,” wrote Robert Tanguay, distinguished professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University.

Hutz’s career has also included multiple levels of service to UWM. In his nearly 30 years here, he has served as an interim associate dean for research in the Graduate School, Graduate Program director and co-director of the Natural Science Divisional Committee.

Fatemeh Zahedi, Professor, Business

Zahedi has proven herself to be a distinguished scholar in the field of information systems.

Much of Zahedi’s work has been in the cutting-edge technology that includes social networks, cyber security and artificial intelligence. Her theoretical and empirical research focuses not only advancing technologies, but also on issues individuals encounter in using information technology and the ways to enhance their lives through the technology.

She has investigated both the negative side of information systems, such as security violations and privacy concerns, and also the valuable aspects, such as green advances and applications that improve health care.

In 22 years at UWM, Zahedi has held several prestigious positions—Wisconsin Distinguished Professor, Trisept Solutions Professor, James R. Mueller Distinguished Professor and her current role as the Roger L. Fitzsimonds Distinguished Scholar.

“She has elevated the profile of UW-Milwaukee in the information systems and business administration communities through her many excellent contributions,” wrote Izak Benbasat, distinguished professor of information systems at the University of British Columbia.

Zahedi has also brought her research to the community, working to share technology knowledge with minority and women entrepreneurs.

Junhong Chen, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Junhong Chen’s research projects are at the intersection of interesting fundamental science and industrial applications. In the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Chen is professor of both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, and an Excellence in Engineering Faculty Fellow in Nanotechnology. His research focuses on nanomaterial innovations for sustainable energy and environment.

Dr. Chen has invented a dry technique to efficiently and effectively assemble nanocrystals onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene-based materials. The resulting structures could enable numerous new opportunities for nanoscience and advanced applications in biosensors, gas sensors, water sensors, solar cells, nanoelectronics, catalysis, and nanomanufacturing.

In 2011 he founded NanoAffix Science to commercialize nanotechnologies invented in his UWM lab.

Chen is currently director of the Water Equipment and Policy Research Center, one of many industry-university partnership funded by the National Science Foundation.

College of Engineering and Applied Science dean and Mechanical Engineering colleague Tien-Chien Jen calls Chen “a star faculty on the UWM campus” who has “demonstrated an extremely high level of excellence in both research and entrepreneurship during his post at UWM. “In addition to grants from the NSF, Chen receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and industries including Xerox, Johnson Controls, We Energies, Rockwell Automation, and Sigma Aldrich.

Thomas Holbrook, Professor, Political Science

Thomas Holbrook is a renowned scholar of American politics, whose work has focused on various aspects of political behavior, campaigns and elections, and voting behavior. His articles, which include analyses at both the state and national levels, have been cited more than 2,400 times, a strong testament to the significant impact of his work on his field.

On the faculty at UWM since 1989, Holbrook is the chair and Wilder-Crane Professor of Government in the Department of Political Science. He has served as editor of the journal American Politics Research and on the editorial boards of American Journal of Political Science, American Politics Quarterly, American Politics Research, and State Politics and Policy Quarterly.

He is former director of the UWM Undergraduate Laboratory for the Empirical Analysis of Politics (ULEAP).James Garand, the Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor and R. Downs Poindexter Professor at Louisiana State University, calls Holbrook “an outstanding scholar who is a major contributor to scholarship that furthers our understanding of American politics.”

He has attracted over $500,000 in federal funding from the National Science Foundation—an impressive total for a social science researcher—and more than $200,000 in UWM Research Growth Initiative® grants.

Lian Li, Professor, Physics

Lian Li has an active and highly regarded research program focused on the study of the electronic and structural properties of exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. What he is learning about graphene—a single later of carbon atoms—are important pieces of a puzzle that may unlock graphene’s potential as a material for next-generation electronics and quantum computing.

Experimental physicists in this field typically either specialize in growing a material or use a specific advanced characterization technique to investigate that material’s physical properties, notes Michael Weinert, Physics Department chair and UWM Distinguished Professor. He continues, “Lian is one of only a small number of people worldwide that actually does—and excels in—both aspects.”

Li has received continuous funding for his work from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy since 2003. He has attracted over $4 million in federal funds in a highly competitive field. This achievement is even more impressive, Weinert says, given that applicants to the programs that fund him have just a 10 percent success rate.

Professor Li is also a previous recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER Award, the Office of Research/UWM Foundation Research Award, and the UWM Research Committee Award.

Roger O. Smith, Professor, Occupational Therapy

Roger O. Smith has made a career-long commitment to advancing the field of rehabilitation science. Since arriving at UWM in 1994, Smith has made extraordinary contributions to the understanding of individuals with disabilities and strategies to improve their participation in daily activities.

His wide-ranging academic background in occupational therapy, engineering, and the social sciences has led to a research program that has been recognized nationally and internationally. His establishment in 2001 and successful management of the UWM Rehabilitation Research Design and Disability (R2D2) Center has resulted in a self-sustaining research center that brings together top scholars—from the College of Health Sciences, across the university, and throughout the broader research community—to answer some of the most complex problems facing the field of disability research.

Professor Carol Haertlein Sells, a longtime colleague in the UWM College of Health Sciences, calls Smith “one of the most innovative thinkers in our profession who has been sought out by international colleagues to advance their understanding of these critical topics.”

Smith has attracted 32 grants totaling over $9.5 million from sources including the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Fred Helmstetter, Professor, Psychology

Fred Helmstetter is among the world’s leading researchers studying how the brain works, focusing on the brain’s fundamental mechanisms of encoding and storing memory. Through experiments on rats and humans, he has advanced our understanding of the neural systems that support complex psychological phenomena such as learning, memory, and emotion. He has also shown new ways that experience and learning can modify the structure and function of the nervous system.

Psychology Department Chair Douglas Woods credits Helmstetter’s “planning, vision, and dogged support of excellence” for the tremendous growth of the department’s research productivity over the last 15 years.

Michael Fanselow, co-director of the UCLA Integrative Center for Learning and Memory, writes, “I can think of few people that have had such a broad impact” on our understanding of learning and memory.

Helmstetter’s nearly $5 million in funded research since 2002-2003 ranks 10th among all UWM researchers during that time. His internal funding has also been impressive, including two RGI grants as principal investigator and four as co-investigator, as well as a collaboration on a 2010 Intercampus Research Incentive Grant.

Among the 17 Ph.D. students Helmstetter has supervised, five have earned prestigious NIH National Research Service Award training fellowships.

Helmstetter’s publications include over 80 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and over 170 published abstracts.

James Peoples, Professor, Economics

James Peoples—whose broad research interests fall within the economics of transportation systems and labor markets—may be best known outside academe for studies of public transportation labor and infrastructure issues.

In 2010 testimony before the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, Peoples presented research revealing the importance of greater investment in public transit as a complement to a comprehensive jobs program. He testified that public-transportation projects make the most substantial economic impact on jobs and improved transportation systems. The White House again invited Peoples in 2012 for a meeting on African Americans, jobs and the economy. UWM Distinguished Professor of Economics Moshen Bahmani-Oskooee has cited People’s “tireless work ethic and admirable innovativeness” and “prolific and consistent output.” In addition to 38 refereed journal articles, he has written 10 book chapters and three encyclopedia entries, edited four books, and made 42 conference presentations.

Peoples is editor of the Advances in Airline Economics series, associate editor of the Review of Black Political Economy, editorial board member of the journal Transport Policy, and president of the Transportation and Public Utilities Group

Bahmani-Oskooee concludes, “His passion for research and interest in sharing that passion with others has contributed to him becoming a central figure in the research reputation of the department of economics at UWM.”

Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Professor, Italian

Robin Pickering-Iazzi is internationally recognized as one of the top scholars in modern and contemporary Italian studies. Her many areas of inquiry include Italian literature and film, feminist theory, gender studies, and cultural studies.

Her groundbreaking research on Italian women during Fascism has revealed important contributors to Italian literature and culture, in contrast to the stereotype of obedient, submissive mothers.

Pickering-Iazzi’s examination of portrayals and realities of the Italian Mafia and criminality are so pioneering that her undergraduate Mafia course premiered years before the first such course appeared in Italy in 2004.

Dana Renga, assistant professor of Italian at Ohio State University, writes, “I can think of no one working in the fields of Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-First century Italian literature, film, and cultural studies more deserving of [this award].”

Her scholarly productivity—including books, edited collections, translations, and journal articles—has remained high, even with heavy teaching loads and her role as Italian program coordinator. Since she took on the role in 2000, the number of Italian majors has increased almost tenfold.

In addition to Pickering-Iazzi’s numerous UWM awards—including two fellowships at the former Center for 20th Century Studies—she has also been funded by the Italian National Research Council.

Kathleen Dolan, Professor, Political Science

UWM political scientist Kathleen Dolan is a leading scholar on the impact of gender on American politics. She has made important contributions to our understanding of voting behavior and public opinion, gaining a national and international reputation in the process.

Dolan currently is funded by the National Science Foundation to examine the impact of voter stereotypes on support for female candidates in gubernatorial and congressional races. She has nearly completed her second book, Does Gender Matter in Elections? The book explores whether voters employ gender stereotypes when evaluating women candidates and discusses the role of candidates’ campaign decisions and the media’s reporting decisions.

Dolan’s work often elicits strong reactions from journalists, commentators and members of the general public, but UWM colleague Marcus Ethridge says she “addresses them through rigorous empirical analysis, using sound statistical skills to shed light on the ways gender stereotyping affects public opinion and on the different choices men and women make in the voting booth. [Dolan’s] work has corrected false presumptions and clarified important insights.

“Her work has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and other top journals. Colleagues praise Dolan for her involvement in professional associations, service on committees and boards, and editorships.

Martha Carlin, Professor, History

Much of what is known about everyday life in medieval England is a result of the tireless work of UWM history professor Martha Carlin, whom one nominator calls “the most knowledgeable scholar in the English-speaking world on the subject of how medieval urban householders fed and clothed themselves.”

Her focus on social, economic and urban history has produced highly regarded books. In Medieval Southwark (1996), she traced the urban development of London’s first suburb from the year 50 to 1550. In London and Southwark Inventories 1316-1650 (1997), she cataloged from obscure legal documents more than 1,900 surviving inventories that shed light on the personal property of medieval and early modern debtors.

In all, Carlin has seven published or forthcoming books to her credit, as well as 26 articles, 16 book reviews, and more than 50 conference presentations and lectures. Her efforts were recognized with her 1996 election as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in London.

Carlin’s exhaustive research in European libraries and archives has been funded in part by 11 travel awards from the Graduate School since 1995. Other UWM awards include a 1991 Graduate School Research Committee Award and a 1998 Graduate School (now Office of Research)/ UWM Foundation Research Award.

Hugo Lopez, Professor, Materials Engineering

Hugo Lopez is widely known in the academic and research community for his work in developing advanced engineering materials.

He has been at the forefront in the development of cobalt alloys with important applications in improving biomedical devices such as hip implants. His advances developing aluminum alloys and nodular irons have helped solve engineering challenges in the manufacture of engine blocks, heads and crankshafts for General Motors and Chrysler.

Lopez has published more than 200 articles and conference papers, which have been cited more than 600 times in scientific literature.

Tien-Chien Jen, mechanical engineering professor and former UWM College of Engineering and Applied Science interim dean, calls Lopez “a recognized leader in the development of cobalt-based alloys with enhanced properties for applications in the biomedical field.”

Last year Lopez was named a level-three member of the prestigious Mexican National System of Research Scientists. This year he was awarded the 2012 British Foundry Medal and Prize. Also, he is the founding editor-in-chief of the open-access journal Metals, established in 2011.Lopez has been primary or co-investigator on 20 grants, contracts and research awards, as well as founder and organizer of a 2011 international welding symposium and organizer of the World Casting Congress earlier this year.

Dennis W. Bennett, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Dennis Bennett’s research explores the structures and bonding of molecules within crystals, and how these molecules are affected by differences in electron charge density. Among his accomplishments in the field of crystallography is revealing the complex decomposition process of sulfur-oxygen compounds, which had stumped other researchers.

Bennett last year completed a textbook titled Understanding Single Crystal X-ray Crystallography. Joseph Ferrara, a vice president at the Molecular Structure Corporation, writes, “If I were to teach a course in small molecule crystallography, this is the book I would use…. I can honestly say I wish I had this book when I was in school.”

Bennett also has written a widely used molecular graphics program called MolXtl. His collaboration beginning in the 1980s with UWM Professor James Otvos—developing methods for blood analysis, primarily determining “good” and “bad” cholesterol levels—led to the formation in 1994 of the diagnostic company today known as LipoScience.

Bennett has written more than 130 published articles and five book chapters.

Patrick R. Brady, Professor, Physics

For Patrick Brady, this UWM Research Foundation Senior Faculty Award is just one more of the many accolades he has received for his outstanding work on black holes and the search for gravitational waves.

While achieving full professorship after just eight years at UWM, Brady has been recognized with prestigious awards from the Sloan Foundation, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the UWM Graduate School. Perhaps most notable is his 2010 election as a fellow of the American Physical Society, an honor earned by no more than half a percent of society members annually.

In a support letter for the APS fellowship, one reviewer wrote that Brady “is in every way a perfect gem, guaranteed to bring life, enthusiasm and the highest standards of scholarship to any group lucky enough to get him.”

At UWM, Brady directs the Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, one of the most prominent such centers worldwide, and he plays a leading role in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, whose ambitious goal is to establish gravitational-wave astronomy.

Sandra Braman, Professor, Communication

Sandra Braman’s research focuses on information policy and its impact on society, law and technology. She is author or co-editor of a number of books in the area, as well as four special journal issues. She has written numerous articles in the top journals of the communication and information fields.

She has held visiting professorships and fellowships in both the U.S. and internationally. Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Because of her interdisciplinary approach, her work has been cited and is taught in classes in communication, information science, sociology, law and legal studies, political science, international relations, economics and the arts.

“Through her sustained and productive program of research, Professor Braman has not simply contributed to the field of information policy, she has been instrumental in defining that field, and in shaping national and international policy,” writes Michele H. Jackson, director of the University of Colorado’s ASSETT (Arts and Sciences Support of Education Through Technology) program.

John L. Isbell, Professor, Geosciences

John Isbell is a sedimentologist internationally known for his work in the Late Paleozoic Ice Age that occurred 326 to 306 million years ago and is regarded as the longest glacial event since the evolution of animals.

His particular expertise on this period centers on the continents of the Southern Hemisphere that once composed the supercontinent called Gondwana. Isbell’s work has set forth a well-reasoned challenge to conventional wisdom about the history of glaciation in this area, the best analog scientists have for examining the Earth’s transition from icehouse to greenhouse conditions.

“This body of research clearly establishes him as a major player in the community of scientists working on climate issues, and a leader amongst those working on Gondwana glaciation,” says one nominator.

His record of funded research and frequency of his fieldwork is hard to match. He has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation—13 grants—since 1990. He also has been a leader or team member on international research projects on three modern continents, notably on 14 trips to Antarctica.

John D. Buntin, Professor, Biological Sciences

It is very difficult to get a regular research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and even more difficult to have it renewed over several funding periods. John Buntin’s main NIH grant was funded without interruption for more than 20 years.

Perhaps most striking, however, is that he received an NIH Merit Award from 1989-2000, which places him in the very top group of NIH investigators.

Buntin has established himself as an international authority on the actions of the hormone prolactin on the central nervous system. It is an avenue of research that would have discouraged many. How this hormone is able to affect processes that are presumably controlled by the brain has been a big mystery in the field of neuroscience.

Buntin has contributed more to solving this mystery than anyone else, and has advanced understanding of hormone-brain interactions more broadly.

He has made fundamental breakthroughs in understanding prolactin’s central regulation of parental care at the cellular and molecular level. Many of these advances have been made possible by the systematic and insightful way Buntin has developed and characterized a unique avian model to approach these questions.

“While I think John deserves this award based only on his academic accomplishments in neuroendocrinology,” says one nominator, “I think there are also several other reasons he should receive it. One of these is in recognition for his continued tangible contributions to the development of UWM as a serious research university and, more specifically, to the growth of neuroscience on campus.”

Michael F. Fendrich, Director, Center for Addiction and Behavioral Health Research and Professor, Social Work

As director of the Center for Addiction and Behavioral Health Research (CABHR) and a member of the social work faculty since 2005, Michael Fendrich has brought a number of initiatives and grants to UWM and moved CABHR forward as a national center researching addictions and mental health.

While developing proposals for cutting-edge research examining substance abuse, Fendrich has become a nationally recognized expert and has served on national panels for federal agencies. In addition, he is on the editorial boards of two major addiction journals and is working on a number of federally funded projects—including an evaluation of Milwaukee’s first drug treatment court.

Other projects include an important linkage to private industry conducting research on a new biomarker for heavy alcohol consumption. “This is an example of a public-private partnership to address a serious issue facing the community and private business,” says Stan Stojkovic, dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare.

In addition to making presentations to community agencies and national entities, Fendrich was pivotal in organizing a national conference held at UWM on high-risk drinking and the importance of a prevention message to students, a collaboration between CABHR and MillerCoors.

Under his leadership, CABHR has expanded its focus to include researchers in nursing, communication, psychology and gerontology. This has led to the creation of an ongoing summer research methods seminar, encouraging research competency among faculty and mentoring relationships on campus.

A milestone for CABHR was the recent establishment of the Community Research Center in Milwaukee’s central city, a move that clearly demonstrates the importance Fendrich and other CABHR researchers place on university-community collaboration.

Marleen C. Pugach, Professor, Curriculum & Instruction

The faculty of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction unanimously nominated Marleen Pugach for the Senior Faculty Award.

“Dr. Pugach is one of the most respected scholars, nationally and internationally, in the area of collaboration between general and special educators,” wrote colleague Linda Post, associate professor of education. “Her advocacy for models of inclusion for special education students is a consistent theme throughout her work.”

Pugach, who joined UWM in 1986, has focused her research and work on ways of helping children with special needs learn in the least restrictive environment. Pugach’s research and writing continues to have a tremendous impact on teacher education, generally, and on special education, wrote colleague Linda Blanton, professor at Florida International University.

Her research and writing have focused on ways to help teachers integrate children with special needs into “regular” classrooms, looking at such topics as collaboration among general and special education teachers, team teaching and preparation of special education teachers in content areas.

Her work has been recognized nationally with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s (AACTE) Margaret B. Lindsey Award for Distinguished Research in Teacher Education and the TED/Merrill Award from the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Pugach has been a visiting scholar at the University of Otago in New Zealand and at Arizona State University. She received a Fulbright for work and research as a senior specialist at the University of Alberta.

Most recently, she and Blanton have been working with the AACTE and the Council of Chief State School Officers to study collaborative programs in general and special education. From that work, they have developed an action guide for policy makers.

Vladislav V. Yakovlev, Professor, Physics

Vladislav Yakovlev has made important advancements in optical spectroscopy both from an engineering and a scientific perspective, and has pioneered the development of techniques that have set the pace in the field of ultrafast optics for 20 years.

Yakovlev’s research is focused on applications of advanced optical spectroscopy to biological and medical imaging that can provide immediate knowledge of chemical content.

His discoveries have helped move ultrafast femto­second lasers from use only as laboratory tools to systems that solve real-world problems—in this case, some of the very first work using femtosecond lasers for surgery.

In fact, says one nominator, “His contributions to the fields of nanoscale optical imaging of sub-cellular structures, protein structural chemistry and biomedical applications of the optical technology are known throughout the world.”

Examples of Yakovlev’s work have been highlighted in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as well as in the top journals in the field.

In addition, he has developed strong ties to world-renowned collaborators, which allows him to continually link new breakthroughs in spectroscopy to applications in medicine and biology, generating a large number of research proposals. He currently has two active grants from the National Science Foundation, three from the National Institutes of Health and one from the U.S. Department of Defense.

“This brings your institution a very strong applied optics and spectroscopy program,” says one nomina­tor, “and a direct linkage to biomedical device engineering and development.”

Margo J. Anderson, Professor, Department of History

As the country’s leading scholar on the history of the U.S. Census, Margo Anderson has made distinguished contributions to research in American social science.

Her research on the past censuses shows how current events have affected or changed the process, and how social prejudices have tainted the count throughout its history.

Anderson has worked tirelessly to explain the significance of the census process to questions of social inequality, both through her many publications, including three books, and by testifying before Congress.

In addition, she has most recently been involved in promoting scholarship on Milwaukee. This work took off in 2004 when she organized a conference on Milwaukee history in conjunction with the meeting of the Urban History Association here.

Her scholarly contributions have been recognized by a variety of professional organizations. She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Panel on Census Requirements for the Year 2000 and Beyond. In addition, she has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

Margaret Duncan, Professor, Department of Human Movement Sciences

Margaret Duncan is known nationally and internationally for her research into the sociocultural aspects of sport and physical activity.

From earlier work on gendered bodies and media portrayals, to work on sport and ability/disability, to more recent work on the social construction of obesity, she has drawn upon the most recent constructs and theoretical orientations in a variety of disciplines.

Her work has spanned the fields of sociology, anthropology, health and kinesiology, psychology, history, cultural studies and gender studies to advance research and professional practice in human movement sciences.

Another noteworthy aspect of Duncan’s research is her desire to share the findings of her work with students. Through mentoring of graduate students across campus departments, she has helped students translate research into professional practice.

Duncan is an Active Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, the most prestigious honorary organization in the U.S. for scholars in kinesiology. Membership is limited to 140 Active Fellows; to be elected, a candidate must demonstrate long-term scholarly productivity at the highest level.

Paul J. Roebber, Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences

Paul Roebber is regarded as one of the leading forecasting experts in the United States and the world, and his research has affected how future weather is determined today.

Roebber’s research has led to an improved method for forecasting snowfall which has recently been adopted as the standard methodology by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

In addition, his research group was the first to show that high-resolution weather prediction models can reliably predict the occurrence, mode and timing of thunderstorms within a region 24 to 48 hours in advance.

Roebber also is widely regarded for his teaching expertise and for finding effective ways for his students to be actively involved in research. In the last two years, he created a program in which both undergraduate and graduate students provide targeted forecasts to local businesses. Eight clients, including We Energies, are signed up, and the contracts with these businesses are leading to new ways to support students in atmospheric science.