The Postdoc Excellence Awards recognize current postdocs at UW-Madison who contribute their time, knowledge, energy, and enthusiasm to mentoring, teaching, and service. Postdocs are nominated by themselves, current/former mentors and mentees, or colleagues.
Each year numerous nominations are received recognizing postdocs for their outstanding efforts. Only a select few of the most deserving nominations can receive an award, but the efforts of every postdoc nominated are appreciated and contribute to the vibrant postdoc community at UW-Madison.
2026 Award Nomination Details
Award categories: There are three award categories: 1) Excellence in Mentoring, 2) Excellence in Teaching, and 3) Excellence in Service.
Eligibility: Eligibility is restricted to current UW-Madison postdocs with the appointment titles: Research Associate, Postdoctoral Fellow and/or Postdoctoral Trainee. Individuals with the title Honorary Associate/Fellow should contact Imogen Hurley (ihurley@wisc.edu) to confirm that they are eligible to participate. Postdocs may be nominated by themselves, current/former mentors and mentees, or colleagues. Nominees can come from any discipline.
Evaluation criteria: It is important that you address the specific criteria listed in the following rubrics, as they will be used to judge nominations for each of the awards: mentoring, teaching, and service.
How to Nominate: Submit a nomination letter (2 pages maximum) via the online portal here. If a postdoc nominates themselves, either a mentor or mentee, as applicable, should also submit a letter of support simply stating that they have read the nomination letter and support it.
Nomination deadline: Nominations must be submitted by Friday, April 10, 2026.
Questions? Contact the Postdoc Awards Committee (uwpa@postdoc.wisc.edu).
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2025 Awardees
2025 Postdoc Excellence Winners
Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
- Jericha Mill, PhD – Biochemistry
Postdoc Excellence Award in Service
- Burcu Alptekin, PhD – Bacteriology and Botany
- Lauren W. Yowelunh McLester-Davis, PhD – Native American Center for Health Professions
Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
- Tingting Fan, PhD – Pediatrics
- Freya Joëssel, PhD – Psychology
- Anumitha Venkatraman, PhD – Surgery
- Nathaniel B. Willis, PhD – Nutritional Sciences
2024 Awardees
Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
Nate Fisher, PhD
Mathematics
Postdoc Excellence Award in Service
Joshua K. Brown, PhD
School of Human Ecology
Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
Babita Rahar, PhD
Medicine
Usman Arshad, PhD
Animal & Dairy Sciences
Linda Horianopoulos, PhD
Wisconsin Energy Institute
2023 Awardees
Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
Robert (Rob) Mooney, PhD
Biocore
Postdoc Excellence Award in Service
Wasikul Islam, PhD
Physics
Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
Yili Qian, PhD
Biochemistry
Melinda Soares-Furtado, PhD
Astronomy
2022 Awardees
Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
Sam Waterworth, PhD
Pharmacy
Postdoc Excellence Award in Service
Alison Deatsch, PhD
Medical Physics
Morgan Howe, PhD
Chemistry
Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
Adam Schafer, PhD
Chemistry
Laura Swan, PhD
Population Health Sciences
Lauren Zebertavage, PhD
Human Oncology
2021 Awardees
Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
Anna Kowalkowski, PhD
Biology Core Curriculum
Cooper Rosin, PhD
Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
Postdoc Excellence Award in Service
Anahid Ebrahimi, PhD
Mechanical Engineering
Nell Maltman, PhD
Waisman Center
Daniel Z. Radecki, PhD
Comparative Biosciences
Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
Liza Chang, PhD
WISCIENCE
Anna J. Finley, PhD
Center for Healthy Minds
Natascha Merten, PhD
Population Health Sciences
Cara Moravec
Laboratory of Genetics
2026 Celebration of Postdoc Excellence
Friday, May 22, 2026 from 5-8 pm
The Postdoc Excellence Awards will be publicly announced at this event.
This event will be held in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union
Quotes about Previous Awardees
“Dr. Fisher has taught a wide variety of courses and has succeeded in creating a welcoming classroom environment in which students are engaged and feel comfortable sharing their ideas and questions.
Nate Fisher, PhD, 2024 Postdoc Excellence Award in Teaching
“Dr. Rahar exemplifies all the qualities of an excellent mentor : supportive, patient, compassionate, committed, thorough, empowering, and well versed at explaining experimental design and techniques to each mentee.”
Babita Rahar, PhD, 2024 Postdoc Excellence Award in Mentoring
“Through his ability to identify unmet needs and work across groups, Dr. Brown has guaranteed that when he leaves UWMadison the postdoc community will continue to benefit from his substantial contributions.”
Joshua Brown, PhD, 2024 Postdoc Excellence Award in Service