Red and white graphical illustration featuring the University of Wisconsin-Madison crest with 'WISCONSIN IDEAS' text, depicting various academic and local symbols like a building, trees, a sailboat, and scientific elements.

Capturing a Badger year

Audience members holding up glowing red sticks at a nighttime event in Camp Randall Stadium. In the foreground, someone holds the sticks to form a letter W.

Photo by Jeff Miller / UW–Madison

Experience UW–Madison in 2024 through the camera’s lens. From big, loud moments to the everyday quiet ones, see how Badgers keep moving forward.

From the article: As we bid farewell to 2024, we look forward to another momentous year at UW–Madison. What discoveries, celebrations and laughs will 2025 bring? We’re not sure. But we do know one thing: Badgers will still be moving forward. And we’re going to cherish — and capture — every moment.

The ❄️Seasonal❄️ Cheat Sheet

What can we learn from toys? ❄️ Survive and thrive during holiday conversations.❄️ Getting the most from your holiday cheese plate. ❄️ 12 do's and don'ts for better gift giving. ❄️ Outdoor gift ideas. ❄️ UW–Madison Gift Guide. ❄️ 5 best practices for planning for the holidays with someone living with dementia. ❄️ The micropolitics of family gift giving. (🔒) ❄️ Your winter illness guide. ❄️ The Nutcracker at the Union.

UW for You

Booking it around Wisconsin
The Center for the Humanities at UW–Madison is bringing world literature to high school students around the state.

New test kits make for quick detection
UW–Madison biochemists have developed a new, efficient method that may give first responders, environmental monitoring groups, and individuals the ability to quickly detect harmful and health-relevant substances in our bodies and environments.

Bonus video: UW-Madison biochemists engineer proteins to detect toxins, harmful molecules in minutes

Training pharmacists on drug overdose response
The Wisconsin Opioid Overdose Response Center based out of UW–Madison School of Pharmacy launched this fall and is focused on finding solutions to the opioid epidemic by leveraging the expertise of community pharmacists.

The Cheat Sheet

Making gouda on classroom promise. ● Co-creating research, innovation. ● Beyond solar farms' sunlight harvest. ● Tracking Wisconsin's farm, food industry. ● Boosting placentas to improve pregnancy. ● UW–Madison in Driftless Area, Sauk County. ● UniverCity partnership inspires new homestead credit in Adams County.

A Message from Chancellor Mnookin

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin shares her reflections on the year and her wishes to you for a very happy holiday season.

A group of diverse individuals in festive attire, stand with Chancellor Mnookin for a photo during a holiday gathering, some making the W gesture with their hands. Bucky Badger sits in the foreground in front of the group, making the Wisconsin 'W' hand gensture. A play button with the words "Enjoy Chancellor Mnookin's Holiday Message" overlays the bottom of the image suggesting the user click to view a video.

Can't Stop a Badger

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has honored two UW–Madison teams for their incredible innovations — one that created a simplified cancer screening process and the other a new way to break down "forever chemicals."

On social media and in her product lines, body-acceptance advocate and UW–Madison alum Katie Sturino is redefining beauty norms.

UW–Madison researchers have uncovered connections between microbial bile acids and the risk of colon cancer, providing a roadmap for investigating potential new cancer detection methods and novel treatments.

Coming Up

Natural Sciences and Visual Studies Merge!
Woodruff, WI | Jan. 11 | 1 p.m.
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design students majoring in fine arts, product design, illustration or communication design present the results of their week-long research on the winter ecology of forests and lakes at UW–Madison’s Kemp Natural Resources Station.

2025 Wisconsin Agriculture Outlook Forum
Madison, WI and online | Jan. 21 | 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Experts from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Division of Extension and industry will discuss the current situation and outlook for dairy, livestock, grain and farm income, as well as key findings from the newly-released "Contribution of Agriculture to the Wisconsin Economy" report. Registration required for in-person attendance. The event will also be livestreamed.

MLK Symposium
Madison, WI and online | Jan. 28| 5:30-7 p.m.
Actress, author and activist Donzaleigh Abernathy will speak at the 2025 MLK Symposium hosted by Student Affairs and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement. The in-person event will be held in the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Shannon Hall at Memorial Union. Free ticketing will open in January. The event will also be livestreamed.

More events from UW–Madison

Picture This

Photo of Dan Jacobs in academic robes and a chef's apron holds up a roasted chicken on the Commencement stage with the University of Wisconsin–Madison crest in the background.

Winter 2024 Commencement speaker — and chef — Dan Jacobs prepared a chicken on stage while offering the new graduates guidance they could apply to their careers and relationships: remain curious and open to new experiences. Photo by Bryce Richter / UW–Madison.

View more photos of the excitement that filled the Kohl Center on Sunday as more than 2,000 graduates, ready to put their skills and training into action, celebrated their accomplishments.

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