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Fall 2025
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- Back to Campus
- Welcome, Martin Eiermann and Peter Rich!
- Happy retirement, Alice Justice!
- Fellowships and a scholarship for Bijoyetri Samaddar
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- Wisconsin Success Story NextGenPop
- Fill The Hill October 9-10
- Watch for BOV Member Lisa Youngers
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Decency. Excellence. Diversity.
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Back to Campus
The return of students to the UW-Madison campus is a sure sign of the changing seasons. The sidewalks, buildings, and busses are once again filled with the hurly-burly of students from all 50 states and 124 countries.
Over the summer, restructuring staffing structures in the College of Letters & Science have meant new responsibilities and new work relationships for some Sociology staff members. Leigh Stangl, Debbie Ingham, and Justin Ostrem have been working diligently to learn Workday and to keep the department moving forward.
The 120th American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting took place August 8-12, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Notably, Jessica Calarco has been elected the 2026-2027 Vice President of ASA. Other UW Sociology faculty in new roles of leadership and service are Fabien Accominotti, who was elected chair of the ASA Section on Decision-Making, Social Networks, and Society for 2025-2026, and Eunsil Oh, who was lected onto the Council for the ASA Family Section. Several UW-Madison students, faculty members, and alumni received section awards; details are available on our website.
As much as UW Sociology members have accomplished over the summer, we are not ones to rest on our laurels. It's time to take a deep breath of the crisp September air and jump with both feet into a new academic year.
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Welcome, Martin Eiermann and Peter Rich!
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Martin Eiermann has joined our department as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. He was previously at Duke University as a Postdoctoral Fellow and a Research Affiliate; he earned his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2022. He studies the politics of personal data and patterns of state contact with contemporary institutions of care and social control. His book, The Limiting Principle: How Privacy Became a Public Issue, examines the historical origins of America’s fragmented privacy architecture and demonstrates that the uneven legibility of different populations and types of information is built on a foundation of legally codified exceptions.
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Peter Rich has joined us as an Associate Professor of Sociology. He was previously an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Cornell University. He earned his PhD from New York University in 2016.
Peter’s research investigates how inequalities by race and socioeconomic status unfold between generations, over time, and across space. He focuses on how people sort themselves within complex social structures, trying to pull apart the ways that individuals both shape and are shaped by their geographic, institutional, social, and demographic contexts.
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Happy Retirement, Alice Justice!
In bittersweet news, Alice Justice has retired from her position as our Graduate Admissions Coordinator. Alice has been on campus since 1984, and she has worked in eight different units across campus, including Urban and Regional Planning (URPL) in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture.
Alice was often the first human connection that incoming grad students had in the department, and she made a wonderful first impression. Her colleagues have remarked that they will miss her dedication, kindness, and sense of humor.
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Fellowships and a Scholarship for Bijoyetri Samaddar
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Grad student Bijoyetri Samaddar has received a Data Analytics for Policy Research Fellowship from the Impact and Policy Research Institute based in New Delhi. This fellowship supports a four-month immersive online certificate training course designed to equip policymakers, researchers, and data enthusiasts with cutting-edge analytical skills.
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Wisconsin Success Story NextGenPop
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Several undergrad Sociology majors have been accepted to NextGenPop, a program that trains students from underrepresented groups in population science. Jeremyah Williams participated in the summer of 2024, and Noor Hamed and Simon Aizenstein attended in 2025.
NextGenPop has several other Wisconsin connections. Marcy Carlson, Professor of Sociology, and alum Kelly Musick (PhD 2000) are the Principal Investigators for the grant that partially funds NextGenPop, and, alumni Mary Campbell (2004) and Lina Guzman (PhD 2003) are on the advisory board. This program has strong ties to the University of Wisconsin project, and we're proud that it's preparing the next generation of scholars in population research. The Summer 2026 session of NextGenPop will be held at the University of Minnesota; applications will open soon.
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Fill The Hill October 9-10
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The flamingos are back! On October 9 and 10, the pink flock will cover Bascom Hill in our annual Fill The Hill celebration and fundraiser.
Now more than ever we need your help to sustain the next generation of research, teachers, and leaders in the field of sociology. That's why gifts to the Sociology Department during Fill the Hill will go towards supporting grad student travel and research.
New this year if you give $100 or more, you'll receive your own mini yard flamingo! You can also make a gift of $350 or more to receive a full-sized lawn flamingo.
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Watch for BOV Member Lisa Youngers
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Lisa earned her B.A. in Sociology and Communication Arts at UW-Madison, and she later earned her J.D. from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Lisa is an expert in telecommunications, and she currently works as a consultant/strategist for Access Intelligence. She has previously served as CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association and Nextlink Wireless LLC, and we are pleased that she has been on our Board of Visitors since 2018.
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This newsletter was created by Erin Skarivoda and Tina Hunter.
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