Our students are achieving great things

As we close out another academic year, I want to acknowledge some of our students who have been particularly successful here at UW–Madison. I also want to thank our faculty and staff for the role they play in making this a great place to innovate and learn.

I had a chance to meet and honor more than 150 students on May 1 at the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Awards Ceremony, a showcase of academic excellence, public service and outstanding undergraduate research.

Among those honored:

  • We also had many students and recent graduates claim prestigious national awards, including Jordan Madden (Truman Scholarship), Phoenix Rice-Johnson (Marshall Scholarship), HaoYang “Carl” Jiang (Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans) and Fangdi Pan (Schwarzman Scholarship).
  • In addition, we had two Goldwater and two Udall scholarship winners, and two finalists for the Rhodes and one finalist for the Gates-Cambridge scholarships.
  • A total of 103 students received Wisconsin Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowships, which support undergraduate research done in collaboration with a faculty or staff member.
  • Also at the ceremony, four students received Carleton and Mary Beth Holstrom Environmental Scholarships, 21 students were awarded Sophomore Research Fellowships, 20 students earned University Book Store Academic Excellence Awards, and two seniors won Theodore Herfurth and Teddy Kubly Awards for Initiative and Efficiency. (View a full list of this year’s chancellor’s award recipients.)

Separately, 18 students have been selected to receive grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the 2018–2019 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Last but not least, 151 UW–Madison students were inducted into the Alpha Chapter of Wisconsin Phi Beta Kappa.

In short, we have an amazing group of students here, and the above list only identifies a few of them!

Something that should make all of us proud who work at UW–Madison is the success our students achieve. Meeting these students and hearing their stories brings it home in a different way than simply reading our very impressive stats about retention and graduation rates.

I also want to note that whether you work in facilities, student services, advising or the myriad other roles at UW, everyone on campus plays a part in supporting this success. It’s the reason we’ve been listed by U.S. News as one of the top ten public schools for “A Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching.”

Our greatest showcase for student achievement will come next weekend at the Kohl Center and Camp Randall as we confer degrees on the Class of 2018.

On Friday night in the Kohl Center, we’ll be giving about 1,000 degrees to students in doctoral, M.F.A. and medical professional degree programs. On Saturday morning, we’re expecting 6,500 undergraduate, law and master’s degree students to fill Camp Randall with all their friends and relatives.

You are all invited to Saturday’s ceremony. We’re expecting a great speech from ABC News anchor David Muir, but also an enthusiastic celebration of our students and a fitting end to the academic year.