Four faculty receive Romnes Fellowships

Four faculty members have received Romnes Fellowships from a program that helps younger faculty further establish their scholarly careers.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation supports the $50,000 fellowships. Recipients are faculty who have attained tenure within the prior four years; they are chosen by a committee of the Graduate School. The awards are named for the late H.I. Romnes, former chair of the board of AT&T and former president of the WARF Board of Trustees.

The recipients are:

• Amy Barger, associate professor, astronomy. Barger has made revolutionary discoveries of new populations of galaxies and super massive black holes in the distant universe. Her studies revealed that the young universe is dominated by rare, extremely luminous sources. She holds Sloan and Packard fellowships, and she received the prestigious Pierce Prize in astronomy. She was the recipient of the 2004 Phillip R. Certain Letters and Science Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
• John Denu, associate professor, biomolecular chemistry. Since joining the biomolecular chemistry department in the School of Medicine and Public Health in August 2003, Denu has published 14 scientific papers and filed two patents focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which reversible protein acetylation controls transcription, aging, cell-death and metabolism. These studies with a recent focus on Sir2 deacetylase enzymes directly relate to understanding human aging, diabetes and cancer. Denu serves on numerous university committees and teaches biochemistry to undergraduate, graduate and medical students.
• Caroline Levine, associate professor, English. Levine is the author of “The Serious Pleasures of Suspense” (University of Virginia Press, 2003) and “Why Democracy Needs the Arts” (Blackwells, forthcoming in 2007). She has taught a range of courses on literature, literature’s relation to the visual arts and the nature of culture. She is one of the principal organizers of the department’s “Middle Modernity” group and is on the advisory board of the Center for the History of Print Culture.
• William Sandholm, professor, economics. Sandholm’s research is in game theory, the mathematical study of interactive decision-making. His work focuses on behavioral dynamics in large populations — for instance, the behavior of drivers in highway networks. Sandholm is a 2001 recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in game theory and statistics.