How do massive scientific and academic projects sustain momentum across multiple decades, or translate highly technical innovations into reproducible, real-world tools? While the public often envisions breakthroughs as the work of isolated geniuses making sudden discoveries, the reality of modern research is highly collaborative and deeply dependent on structured institutional infrastructure. The newly announced 2025-26 College of Letters & Science (L&S) Academic Staff Career Awards at UW–Madison highlight this exact dynamic. By examining the work of these award-winning scientists, curators, and specialists, we can better understand how specialized academic labor translates raw theory into scalable scientific and educational methodologies.
Translating Chemical Innovation and Pedagogy into Practice
Chang-Uk Lee, an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Chemistry, has spent the last seven years working alongside A.J. Boydston, the Yamamoto Family Professor of Chemistry. Their collaborative research focuses on advancing the creation of polymer materials and the rapidly growing field of 3D printing. Rather than relying on standard printing techniques, Lee patented a new photothermal-based method of creating complex 3D-printed silicones.
While headlines often claim that major chemical discoveries are overnight successes driven solely by senior faculty, the reality of Lee's work reveals a slow, highly structured process of trial, error, and meticulous mentorship. Former student Daria Rudykh, currently a faculty of science member in the Dean’s Office of the University of British Columbia, points out that Lee’s methodology forces researchers to work through challenges critically and take ownership of experimental decisions. This hands-on guidance ensures that the physical chemistry developed in the lab can actually be replicated by other scientists globally.
Similarly, educational methodologies require systematic support structures to function at scale across a major university. Molly Harris, an Instructional Project & Engagement Specialist at the L&S Instructional Design Collaborative (IDC), achieved this by establishing the Large Enrollment Instructor Community, which now connects 220 faculty members monthly to support those teaching the college's largest courses. Harris also serves as the associate producer for the L&S Exchange podcast and contributes articles to the IDC’s Design for Learning Series.
To address a critical gap in graduate student training, Harris collaborated with Lynne Prost, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Academic Affairs, to design and launch the Returning Teaching Assistant Workshop. Shirin Malekpour, Associate Dean for Teaching & Academic Planning, notes that Harris’s academic training allows her to capture and share the often unseen work that happens in classrooms. This systematic documentation is vital for sustaining a culture of teaching excellence across diverse departments.
Managing the Physical and Digital Archives of Natural Science
As scientific data expands, the physical preservation of historical specimens remains a critical baseline for environmental research. At the Wisconsin State Herbarium, Mary Ann Feist serves as the Senior Academic Curator, managing a massive physical archive of 1.3 million dried and pressed plant and fungi specimens within Birge Hall. Feist secures state and federal grants to fund student-driven research projects focused on peat moss and bogs in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.
Her former student, Michael Krellwitz, who now works with the Illinois Natural History Survey, credits Feist’s career-path mentorship as the primary reason for his professional placement. According to Ken Cameron, Professor of Botany and Director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium, Feist acts as a crucial advocate for both the state's flora and its citizens. Her methodology combines physical curatorial preservation with active professional networking for undergraduate researchers.
In parallel, keeping pace with modern media education requires an entirely different type of infrastructure management. Peter Sengstock, the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Manager for the Department of Communication Arts, is responsible for maintaining the technical and budgetary sustainability of the department’s media tools. Sengstock's operational capability was put to the test in 2019 when weather-damaged pipes caused severe flooding in Vilas Hall. His swift intervention saved critical equipment and irreplaceable data from destruction.
Sengstock’s colleagues, including Professor Derek Johnson and Professor Jonathan Gray, emphasize his unique ability to translate highly complex technical specifications into clear, accessible guidance for educators. This technical-to-pedagogical translation is what allows complex media curricula, such as advanced podcasting courses, to function without disruption.
The Long-Arc Methodology of Cartographic History
Perhaps the most striking example of long-term academic stewardship is found in the Department of Geography’s History of Cartography Project. Jude Leimer, the Managing Editor of the project, has guided this massive undertaking for four decades. The project is a monumental, six-volume effort that documents the global history of maps and mapping across thousands of pages.
Managing a project of this scale requires a highly organized methodology to coordinate an international army of cartographers and researchers. Jordana Dym, a professor of history and the Kenan Chair of Liberal Arts at Skidmore College, highlights Leimer's structured approach to helping authors make difficult editorial choices while tracking reviewers, citations, and images. American geographer James Ackerman notes that the project, which published its first volume in 1987, has played a primary role in raising the profile of cartographic history worldwide.
Limitations to Consider in Academic Infrastructure
While these awards celebrate individual excellence, they also highlight a systemic limitation in modern research institutions: the extreme dependency on single, highly specialized individuals to maintain massive archives or technical operations. When a decades-long project relies heavily on the institutional memory of a single manager, or when a major herbarium depends on one curator to secure dozens of external grants, it reveals an operational vulnerability.
Furthermore, early-career breakthroughs, such as Lee's photothermal 3D printing, require sustained institutional funding to successfully transition from lab-scale patented discoveries into widespread industrial applications. Without structured institutional pathways to transition these roles and technologies, valuable scientific and historical progress remains vulnerable to sudden staffing or funding changes.
Next Steps in Institutionalizing Research Support
The next critical steps for these award-winning initiatives lie in their ongoing expansion and transition phases. For the History of Cartography Project, the immediate metric to watch is the compilation and publication progress of its subsequent volumes beyond the current six-volume footprint.
In the natural sciences, the next reading of grant acquisitions and specimen digitization rates at the Wisconsin State Herbarium will signal how effectively Feist's peat moss and bog research can scale across the Upper Midwest. Ultimately, tracking these metrics will show whether academic institutions can successfully systematize the specialized, often invisible work of academic staff, ensuring that scientific discovery and historical preservation remain sustainable for the next generation of researchers.
