The CALS community is invited to attend the 2026 CALS Awards ceremony, celebrating the 2026 CALS Awards, fellowships and department chairs who completed service in the last year. The ceremony and reception will take place Tuesday, April 28, at 4:00 p.m. in room 1220 of the Microbial Sciences Building. 

The ceremony is open to all of CALS friends, family, and colleagues of the awardees. Walk-ins are welcome, but please RSVP by Friday, April 10 for accurate ordering. Learn more and RSVP at cals.wisc.edu/calsawards. 

2026 CALS Award recipients:

Academic Staff Excellence Award
Lynn Bartholomew – Life Sciences Communication
Liza Chang – Academic Affairs
Hannah Gaines Day – Entomology
Kody Habeck – Biological Systems Engineering
Emily Laabs – Russell Labs Administrative Hub
Kari Straus – Bacteriology
Marcia Verhage – Food Science
Jacqueline Whitley – WISE (We Inspire STEM Empowerment)

University Staff Recognition Award
Karl Breneman – Agricultural Research Stations
Lindsey Burckhardt – Animal and Dairy Sciences
Amy Cottom – Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences
Jacob Oertel – Agricultural Research Stations
Pete Sutton – Agricultural Research Stations

CALS Community Builder Award
Tom Browne – Academic Affairs
Christelle Guedot – Entomology
Priya Mukherjee – Agricultural and Applied Economics

Excellence in International Activities Award
Guanming Shi – Agricultural and Applied Economics 

Pound Extension Award
Steven Deller – Agricultural and Applied Economics

Pound Research Award
Betül Kaçar – Bacteriology

Arthur J. and Ellen A. Maurer Extra Mile Award
Megan Sippel – Animal and Dairy Sciences

Donald R. Peterson Farm Technology Transfer Award
Russell Groves – Entomology

Louise Hemstead Leadership Award
Jennifer Van Os – Animal and Dairy Sciences

Robert G. F. and Hazel T. Spitze Land Grant Faculty Award for Excellence
Claudio Gratton – Entomology

Robert R. Spitzer Teaching Excellence Award
Claudia Solís-Lemus – Plant Pathology

WALSAA Outstanding Advisor Award
Claire Minor – Genetics

CALS Faculty Fellowships:

Atwood Faculty Fellowship
Nan Enstad – Community and Environmental Sociology

Kelling Faculty Fellowship
Natasha Rayne – Soil and Environmental Sciences

Department chairs who completed service in 2025:

Dominique Brossard – Life Sciences Communication
Brian Fox – Biochemistry
Amanda Gevens – Plant Pathology
Russell Groves – Entomology
Hasan Khatib – Animal and Dairy Sciences
Patrick Krysan – Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences
Guanming Shi – Agricultural and Applied Economics