Each year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison recognizes outstanding academic staff members who have excelled in leadership, public service, research and teaching. They bring the university’s mission to life and ensure that the Wisconsin Idea extends far beyond the campus and the state. The following eight employees are recipients of 2023 Academic Staff Excellence Awards.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, horticulture instructor Johanna Oosterwyk deftly pivoted. She recorded weekly videos so that her students could see the growth of the campus crops they’d normally be tending, and she sent them plant materials so they could conduct experiments at home.

It’s just one example of Oosterwyk’s heralded teaching style: creative, engaging, empathetic, welcoming. “If it were possible, she would teach all of the horticulture classes!” one student enthuses. (Oosterwyk routinely garners five-star evaluations.)

Oosterwyk adapts content to match emerging horticultural trends. When students expressed increased interest in food crops, Oosterwyk developed Horticulture 333: Survey of Controlled Environment Food Production, an introduction and broad overview of the indoor cultivation of food crops and one of several courses she’s created.

Oosterwyk is known as an energetic and generous guest lecturer and an expert at connecting learning with outreach — students in one course sow seeds and tend plants that are provided to community partners. As manager of the D.C. Smith Greenhouse, Oosterwyk masterfully coordinates requests for space, optimizing the use of a key campus asset.

In her primary role in the Department of Chemistry, Desiree Bates earns high praise as a computational chemist whose expertise strengthens research projects. Yet her contributions extend far beyond her job description. Colleagues say few have done more to increase the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds in the department and more broadly at the university.

Bates co-directs the Chemistry Opportunities program (CHOPs), an all-expenses paid weekend that introduces highly qualified students from underrepresented groups to the doctoral program. It has significantly increased the number of underrepresented students in chemistry — and led to increases in other STEM doctoral programs.

Once enrolled, underrepresented students benefit from Catalyst, a graduate student peer-mentoring program co-created by Bates. She helped secure national funding for a pathbreaking “Bridge to PhD” program, and she’s upped the university’s recruiting game at national meetings attended by large numbers of underrepresented students, aiding many university departments.

Bates works to build strong relationships with students, often welcoming them to her home for family meals or inviting them to join her at sports events and campus activities.