University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Alumni News

UW–Madison alumnus publishes debut novel, ‘Rogues in a Nation’

UW–Madison alumnus Andrew Lifson is the author of “Rogues in a Nation,” a new Wisconsin-based novel published by Little Creek Press in March 2026. Lifson earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the School of Education in 1983 and 1985. For more than three decades, he worked as an elementary school …

UW–Madison student, alumnus receives Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project Grant

UW–Madison graduate student and alumnus Christian Bonner, a general music teacher at Kennedy Elementary School, has been awarded a 2026 Wisconsin Arts Celebration Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the Wisconsin Arts Board. Created in 2023 to celebrate the Wisconsin Arts Board’s 50th anniversary, the Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project provides free music, lesson …

Wisconsin Today features Smithsonian retrospective of Truman Lowe

A new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian celebrating the career of the late Truman Lowe was recently featured on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Today” program. “Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe” brings together nearly 50 sculptures, drawings and paintings spanning Lowe’s decades-long career. According to the exhibit website, …

UW–Madison alumna commissioned for installation at Obama Presidential Center

UW–Madison alumna Tyanna J. Buie, who earned her MFA from the School of Education’s Art Department  in 2010, has been commissioned to create a site-specific installation for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Buie is part of the most recent cohort of artists announced for the center’s 19-acre campus, along with Mark Bradford, Jay Heikes, …

Why Wisconsin?

By Maggie Ginsberg, Division of the Arts They come for the lakes, and those starburst chairs coloring the Terrace at Memorial Union in John Deere green, Allis Chalmers orange, and sunshine yellow. They come to participate in the Wisconsin Idea, drawing on a rich legacy of research, innovation, and collaboration to build a brighter future for all. They …

University Theatre stages UW–Madison alumna’s award-winning play on Flint water crisis

By Kari Dickinson “cullud wattah,” a powerful and award-winning play by UW–Madison alumna and First Wave graduate Erika Dickerson-Despenza, is the latest production from University Theatre, opening Feb. 26. Set in 2016, the play unfolds 936 days into the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. When third-generation General Motors employee Marion is on the verge of a …

From art student to game changer

By Kari Dickinson UW–Madison alumnus Brian Raffel’s path to the top of the video game industry has been anything but conventional. A former art student turned high school art teacher, Raffel co-founded Raven Software with his brother, Steve, in 1990, when they got a publishing deal for their first computer game, Black Crypt. What began …

Leaving Lasting Legacies

By Sarah Fuelleman  Norm and Barbara Berven are proud of UW–Madison and its School of Education. Barbara’s eyes shine when she talks about the School’s No. 1 rankings from U.S. News and World Report — its overall standing as the top school of education in the nation and its No. 1 graduate program in rehabilitation …

New York Times spotlights UW–Madison alumna Carrie Coon in Broadway’s ‘Bug’

UW–Madison alumna Carrie Coon was recently featured in the New York Times in an article headlined “Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts Want to Get Under Your Skin.” The Times article spotlights Coon and her husband, playwright Tracy Letts, and their latest project, “Bug,” which recently opened on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The play is …

UW–Madison alumnus recognized for lifetime achievement by Legal Aid Society

UW–Madison alumnus Philip Althouse has received the C. Lyonel Jones Lifetime Achievement Award from the Legal Aid Society, an honor bestowed on full-time employees in recognition of their longstanding commitment to the nonprofit’s mission. Althouse, who earned his bachelor’s degree from the School of Education in 1979, has worked for the Legal Aid Society of …