Each year, the Dean of the College of Letters & Science offers awards recognizing outstanding performance, service, and contributions by L&S Academic Staff members.
The L&S Academic Staff Career Awards honor staff who have demonstrated exemplary performance both in terms of their positive impact on students and through distinctive contributions to their department, unit, and/or the College of Letters & Science.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025-26 awards:
Academic Staff Early Career Award
Chang-Uk Lee, Assistant Scientist, Department of Chemistry
Collaboration and mentorship are two of the key elements necessary to fuel scientific discovery, and Chang-Uk Lee deftly espouses both. For the last seven years, he has worked alongside A.J. Boydston, the Yamamoto Family Professor of Chemistry, as they have pursued advances in the creation of polymer materials and 3D printing fields. Boydston calls Lee a “university citizen of the highest character” and describes his patented discovery of a new photothermal-based method of creating complex 3D-printed silicones as ambitious and innovative.
Lee is also a generous and willing mentor, offering his expertise and advice to younger scientists in the Department of Chemistry and collaborators on the many international research projects in which he is involved. Those colleagues deeply appreciate Lee’s willingness to pay it forward.
“Dr. Lee played a key role in shaping my development as a researcher – he encouraged me to work through challenges critically, understand the underlying principles, and take ownership of my experimental decisions,” says Daria Rudykh, a faculty of science member in the Dean’s Office of the University of British Columbia. “His willingness to engage with my questions created an environment where I felt supported while also being challenged to grow.”
Molly Harris, Instructional Project & Engagement Specialist, L&S Instructional Design Collaborative
Teachers don’t succeed without support, and in the College of Letters of Science, a large part of that support comes from the Instructional Design Collaborative (IDC), a group that offers faculty members professional development programs, outreach and consultation. Harris, who joined the IDC team a mere four years ago after serving in other roles at UW–Madison, has already distinguished herself by establishing and running the Large Enrollment Instructor Community, a group of 220 faculty members that connect monthly to support teachers of the College’s largest courses. Harris also serves as the associate producer for the L&S Exchange podcast and contributes articles to IDC’s Design for Learning Series.
“Molly’s experience allows her to capture the often unseen work that happens in classrooms in ways that are meaningful and inspiring to other educators in our community,” says Shirin Malekpour, Associate Dean for Teaching & Academic Planning. “Her academic training and genuine appreciation for people allow her to tell these stories with authenticity. This is crucial to sustaining a culture where teaching excellence is recognized and celebrated across our College.”
Lynne Prost, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Academic Affairs, collaborated with Harris in creating the Returning Teaching Assistant Workshop, a new project designed to address the unmet need of providing experienced TAs with opportunities to further develop their skills and confidence. She found Harris’s creativity and adaptability appealing and valuable.
“One of Molly’s greatest qualities is her ability to see different viewpoints, highlight potential challenges and pitfalls, and think about how to effectively engage the widest audience,” says Prost. “When my team was working on a web resource for instructors working with TAs, Molly’s feedback completely reshaped the way we framed the material and the tone with which we addressed the reader.”
Academic Staff Mid-career Award
Mary Ann Feist, Senior Academic Curator, Wisconsin State Herbarium, Department of Botany
As the Senior Academic Curator of the Wisconsin State Herbarium, Mary Ann Feist is literally in charge of her own universe – a collection of 1.3 million dried and pressed plant and fungi specimens within Birge Hall. Feist doesn’t simply maintain and preserve this massive collection; she also works to expand its impact by securing dozens of state and federal grants, including several that allow her to work with students on research projects involving peat moss and bogs in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.
“Mary Ann is an advocate not only for our state’s flora, but also for its citizens,” says Ken Cameron, Professor of Botany and Director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium.
Student mentorship is another way that Feist expands the influence and impact of the Herbarium. One of her former students was Michael Krellwitz, who now works with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Krellwitz is deeply aware of the impact Feist had on his eventual career.
“Mary Ann’s encouragement to write papers, give presentations, and network within the botanical community are largely responsible for the current position I hold,” he says. “Career paths in our field are often non-linear, and Mary Ann serves as a role model for how diverse professional experiences can culminate in a well-rounded and successful career. She continually offers mentorship, support and guidance to undergraduates who have worked in the herbarium, as they navigate the complexities of the job market.”
Peter Sengstock, Teaching, Learning, and Technology Manager, Department of Communication Arts
More than many academic departments, the Department of Communication Arts relies on technology to keep its students current in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Peter Sengstock is the man responsible for making sure that technology functions effectively, whether it’s for a podcasting course or maintaining the department’s digital media history library.
“Across all these teaching, research and outreach initiatives, Pete offers competence in the technology but also the budgetary acumen to maintain it, carefully weighing upgrade and warranty options to ensure that our technology and media infrastructures are sustainable and that we do not miss opportunities for new ways of accomplishing our missions,” says Derek Johnson, professor and department chair.
Sengstock’s colleagues appreciate the way he works with them — Professor of Communication Arts Jonathan Gray cites his ability to communicate about the technology he oversees.
“Great technical skills in others often come with an inability to explain and translate to those with other levels of skill, but Pete is a blessed exception,” says Gray. “I’ve seen him hit maximum tech-speak mode with those who get it, walk people who know very little through small operations kindly, efficiently, and with respect and clarity, and all sorts of positions in between.”
Colleagues have relied on Sengstock to handle everything from a computer that locks up before a key presentation to saving critical equipment and data when weather-damaged pipes caused flooding in Vilas Hall in 2019. Like the best IT experts, Sengstock has the skill and aplomb to handle it all.
Judith S. Craig Distinguished Service Award
Jude Leimer, Managing Editor, History of Cartography Project, Department of Geography
Major projects that span multiple decades require steady hands to guide and shape them. For the past four decades, Jude Leimer has served that role for the Department of Geography’s History of Cartography Project. The Project, a massive six-volume (and growing) effort that collects the sprawling story of maps and mapping across the globe, encompasses thousands of pages and documents. Leimer has managed not just the pages, artifacts and words that comprise the project, but the army of cartographers and researchers that have contributed to it.
“I was impressed not only with the professionalism and organization with which she tracked authors, editors, reviewers, essay versions, images and citations, but her impressive ability to help authors make difficult choices,” says Jordana Dym, professor of history and the Kenan Chair of Liberal Arts at Skidmore College. “As a fellow editor, I tip my hat to Jude for keeping her own editorial team on track, providing support as needed with a gentle smile and clear guidance, and her continued enthusiasm and curiosity about map history.”
Leimer’s efforts have also earned the respect and recognition of the researchers who routinely use the project as a critical resource. As American geographer James Ackerman put it:
“The project that Jude has anchored from her desk in Madison the past decades has played a major role in raising the profile of the history of cartography within and beyond academia. Since the first volume was published in 1987, it has been my constant companion as a scholar, my first resort for reference and inspiration, and a resource I have recommended to countless colleagues and students. The History of Cartography is a remarkable publication.”