L&S News & Notes is a monthly blog and e-newsletter for faculty,
staff, graduate students and alumni and friends of the UW-Madison 
to expand. | L&S 'Forward Under Forty' are movers, shakers |
This year, 10 alumni of the College of Letters & Science were named Forward Under 40 honorees.
The award, given by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, honors UW grads under age 40 who are making an impact on the world by living the Wisconsin Idea.
The outstanding contributions by these young graduates are a reminder of the caliber of our alumni and a testament to the value of the liberal arts.
Of the twelve honorees this year, ten graduated with liberal arts degrees.
Congratulations to the L&S alumni!
Aaron Bishop ’94, ’95, MS’00
UW Major:
Bacteriology, Genetics and Social Work
An adviser
to Wyoming senator Michael Enzi, Bishop is a tireless advocate for
Americans with disabilities and has shaped several laws aiding disabled
people.
Phillip Chavez ’94, JD’98
UW Major:
Political Science and Sociology; Law
A former
Badger linebacker, Chavez is now the first elected Latino municipal
court judge in Milwaukee’s history.
Jerry Halverson ’94, MD’99
UW Major:
Psychology and Medicine
Now the
medical director for adult services at Rogers Memorial Hospital,
Halverson conducted research into new psychiatric therapies and
interventions at UW-Madison.
Britt Lintner ’92
UW Major:
Economics
Lintner, a London
clothing designer, creates functional and fashionable apparel for
professional women and has earned praise from Vogue and Marie Claire.
Brian Riedl ’98
UW Major:
Political Science and Economics
Riedl is the lead
federal budget analyst for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative
Washington think tank, and he’s recognized as a national leader on tax
and spending issues.
Elsworth Rockefeller MA’06
UW Major:
Library and Information Studies
As the
manager of children’s and teen services in the District of Columbia
library system, Rockefeller writes an influential column that informs
librarians around the country.
Angela Rose ’02
UW Major:
Sociology
A survivor of sexual
assault, Rose founded Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE)
while an undergrad at UW-Madison. This grassroots organization now has
chapters combating sexual assault in 55 cities and three countries.
UW Major: Physical Anthropology
Rust was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her work as an investigative reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Her articles revealed the presence of toxic substances in food containers.
Ahna Skop PhD’00
UW Major:
Cellular and Molecular Biology
An assistant UW
professor of genetics, Skop leads a lab that has expanded our
understanding of cell division, and she’s an accomplished artist whose
exhibits adorn campus buildings.
Nelson Tansu ’98, PhD’03
UW Major:
Applied Math, Engineering and Physics
Tansu is the
youngest tenured professor at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University, where
his research focuses on nanotechnology, energy efficiency, and renewable
energy sources.
Category: College Updates
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 | Anthro alumnus invited to Presidential Summit on Entrepeneurship |
Dr. Nasser AbufarhaUW-Madison alumnus Dr. Nasser Abufarha (MA'03, Anthropology; PhD'06, Anthropology with a minor in Urban & Regional Planning) has been invited by President Obama to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship April 26–27 in Washington.
Abufarha is the founder of Canaan Fair Trade and the Palestine Fair Trade Association, two organizations committed to fair trade and social progress with small Palestinian farmers.
Abufarha helps export olive oil, olives, couscous, almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, tahini, za’atar (thyme), honey and olive oil soap to companies and specialty stores in the United States, Europe, Canada and Southeast Asia.
More than 1,700 farmers provide source materials to Canaan Fair Trade and the artisan farmers are organized into collectives and cooperatives under the Palestinian Fair Trade Association.
Abufarha will also be giving two talks on campus:
- "Insisting on Life" Tuesday May 4, 12-1:30pm - 206 Ingraham Hall: Fair trade and organic agriculture in Palestine has become a vehicle for economic and social empowerment and a medium for cultural expression and alternative modes of engagement. This grassroots livelihood and environmental sustainability initiative makes space for Palestine as a culture by articulating traditional Palestinian agri-culture within the modern global economy through fair trade and organic agricultural practices.
- "Dying to Live" Wednesday May 5, 3-4:30pm - 206 Ingraham Hall: Drawing from his book The Making of a Human Bomb, Abufarha will present the development of martyrdom strategies and Palestinian suicide attacks through mimetic engagement with Israeli state violence and how they serve as a medium for cultural expression. He explores how the cultural meanings associated with the performance of martyrdom and sacrifice in Palestine sustain Palestinian life.
Category: Social Sciences
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| L&S faculty take home eight Distinguished Teaching Awards |
Each year, the Committee on Distinguished Teaching Awards honors faculty for teaching excellence. This year, the committee selected ten outstanding faculty — eight who teach in the College of Letters & Science.
Congratulations to the winners on this outstanding achievement!
To read more about the recipients and their work, see: http://www.news.wisc.edu/17913
- Emily Auerbach, professor of liberal studies and the arts and English, Van Hise Outreach Award
- Richard Avramenko, assistant professor of political science and integrated liberal studies, William H. Kiekhofer Award
- Donald Davis, associate professor of Languages and Cultures of Asia, Class of 1955 Distinguished Teaching Award
- Judith Leavitt, Ruth Bleier WARF Professor of medical history, history of science and women’s studies and UW Foundation Chair Rupple-Bascom Professor, Chancellor’s Award
- Mahesh Mahanthappa, assistant professor of chemistry, Emil H. Steiger Award
- Kirin Narayan, professor of anthropology, Chancellor’s Award
- Antonia Schleicher, professor of African languages and literature, Chancellor’s Award
- Tracy Schroepfer, assistant professor, School of Social Work, Chancellor’s Award
The recipients will receive their awards at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m. at the Pyle Center.
News via University Communications
Category: College Updates
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 | Collaboration highlights rare Japanese books |
This collection of books represents the earliest depictions of the Ainu by the Japanese now available in the UW Digital Collections.
The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections (UWDC) is pleased to announce its recent collaboration with Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, the William F. Vilas Professor of Anthropology and the 2009 Kluge Distinguished Chair of Modern Culture for the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.
The UWDC scanned Ohunki-Tierney’s collection of books on the Ainu people by the Japanese. The Ainu, who lived on Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the Kuriles, are earliest known occupants of these islands.
The books focus on the Sakhalin Ainu and were acquired by Ohnuki-Tierney at the time she was studying them.
These books are extremely rare and are either hand-written, with illustrations hand-drawn, or are wood block prints.
Many of these early documents were authored by explorers and scholars at the order of the Bakufu or the Matsumae clan. These documents often include a number of detailed maps, including the topography and Ainu place names.
The Ainu Komonjo (18th & 19th century records) — Ohnuki Collection can be viewed at: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/EastAsian.JapanRice
Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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| Hawks a guest on 'Science Talk' podcast |
Anthropologist John Hawks talks about recent human evolution, especially of our ability to digest lactose on the latest Science Talk podcast via Scientific American: Human Evolution II: Recent Evolution; and Becoming Human NOVA Preview. (Nov. 3, 2009)
Also on the podcast: producer Graham Townsley discusses his three-part PBS NOVA premiering on November 3rd called Becoming Human.
Category: Biological & Physical Sciences
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| Two L&S faculty inducted in American Academic of Arts & Sciences |
On Saturday, October 9, three faculty members from the University of Wisconsin-Madison — two from the College of Letters & Science — were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The professors were:
- Daniel Hausman, Herbert A. Simon Professor, Department of Philosophy, College of Letters & Science
- Karen Strier, Hilldale Professor of Anthropology, College of Letters & Science,
- Sean Carroll, Professor of Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Medical Genetics, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Category: College Updates
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 | Undergraduates unearth Menominee photos in anthropology archives |
One of the photographs uncovered by undergrads last spring. The photos are the work by Drs. George and Louise Spindler, prominent anthropologists who lived with the Menominee.
Recently, the Department of Anthropology initiated renovations to
improve care and preservation of objects and archives. These
improvements enhance the “life” of the objects and facilitate teaching,
research, and exhibitions.
In the spring of 2009, undergraduate
students Theresa Heindel and Jacqueline Pozza were working under the
direction of the Curator, Danielle Benden, when they unearthed 1950’s
photographs documenting Menominee Indian lifeways in Wisconsin.
Benden alerted her colleague cultural anthropologist Dr. Larry Nesper, whose research focus is Great Lakes Indians. Nesper recognized the photos as the work of Drs. George and Louise Spindler, prominent anthropologists who lived among the Menominee while graduate students at UW-Madison.
Several of these photographs are published in the Spindlers’ book “Dreamers Without Power: The Menominee.” [Read More]
Category: Humanities & the Arts
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