Dear alumni & friends,
We are five weeks into the spring semester, and campus is alive with energy. I enjoyed that vibrancy at our annual L&S Night at the Kohl Center at the end of January, where nearly 500 L&S students packed the stands beside me, cheering on the women’s basketball team to a thrilling victory over Michigan. The excitement in the arena was electric, but what stood out most was the sense of community — our students aren’t just working hard in the classroom, they’re showing up for each other, celebrating together and embracing what it truly means to be a Badger.
At the same time, we are five weeks into a new federal administration. You’ve likely heard about the recent federal directives impacting funding from the National Institutes of Health, which Chancellor Mnookin addressed recently. I want to take a moment to reflect on this issue and how it strikes at the heart of our mission in L&S.
For more than 75 years, federal funding has allowed the U.S. to maintain its position as a global leader in scientific research and human discovery. Federal investment — whether from the NIH, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or other government agencies — has supported nearly every major scientific breakthrough we have made as a nation. Public funding has not only allowed UW–Madison to be a leader in solving the world’s biggest problems, it has also provided the support to launch tens of thousands of careers dedicated to research, including my own which began more than 30 years ago at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in New Mexico.
Federal support of research, especially curiosity-driven research, is based on a simple but powerful premise: The road to discovery is long and, while sometimes indirect and unpredictable, leads not just to a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us, but to ultimately improving lives and driving economic development.
We see this right here at UW–Madison. For instance, in our Department of Chemistry, researchers are working to unlock new possibilities in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease — a debilitating illness that impacts millions of Americans and is projected to cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion by 2050. With support from the NIH, a research team recently developed a new approach that could lead to more effective treatments. It’s the kind of discovery that might not make headlines today but could, years from now, change lives. And this is just one of hundreds of examples of groundbreaking research in L&S that is made possible by federal support.
This is the nature of research. The impact is not always immediate, and the path is rarely straight. But without steady investment in curiosity-driven exploration, we risk cutting off the flow of ideas that will shape the future. Federal research funding doesn’t just fuel innovation — it supports the people behind the breakthroughs. It provides salaries for postdoctoral researchers, stipends for graduate students, and the resources needed to sustain research at every level. These dollars also have a ripple effect, supporting businesses in Wisconsin and beyond that supply the materials and equipment required to push discovery forward.
Right now, my colleagues and I are closely watching the uncertain landscape of federal research funding and considering what it means for our university, our researchers, our students and, most importantly, all citizens for generations to come. We remain committed to fueling the road to discovery, and we hope you’ll join us in advocating for this critical federal investment because as history has shown time and again, when we invest in knowledge as an institution, as a community and as a nation, essential progress follows.
On, Wisconsin!
Eric M. Wilcots, Dean
Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy
College of Letters & Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison