Sharon Dunwoody Journalist in Residence Program

For more than 30 years, the Journalist in Residence program has offered the world’s top journalists an opportunity to share their expertise, engage with the campus community, and collaborate with university scholars.

The university offers residency programs in Science, Public Affairs, Business, Journalism Ethics and Wisconsin. Visiting journalists spend approximately one week on campus, participating in public forums, and serving as a resource for students, faculty, and staff.

Named after the late Sharon Dunwoody, a professor of journalism at UW–Madison who co-founded the Science Journalist in Residence program with Terry Devitt, emeritus director of research communications, the Journalist in Residence program is sponsored by the Office of Strategic Communication and campus partners, including the La Follette School of Public Affairs, the Wisconsin School of Business, and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with support from the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association.

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Upcoming events

Monday, October 20
AI: Beyond the Headlines (featuring Reuters Tech Correspondent Deepa Seetharaman)
5 p.m. reception; 5:30 p.m. program starts
7th-Floor Seminar Room, Morgridge Hall
RSVP appreciated
Tuesday, October 21
Public Health and Personal Freedom: A Conversation with Journalist Cassandra Willyard
5:30–6:30 p.m.
Room 2520, Grainger Hall
Free and open to the public

Journalists in Residence

For the fall 2025 semester, UW–Madison will welcome the following journalists for in-person and virtual public events:

Headshot of Deepa Seetharaman. She has dark hair and is wearing an olive green collared jacket.

Deepa Seetharaman

Reuters, tech correspondent

Business Journalist in Residence

Headshot of Cassandra Willyard. She has dark hair and is wearing a terra cotta collared shirt.

Cassandra Willyard

Independent health reporter

Science Journalist in Residence

In Pictures: Journalists in Residence

Imbler views a variety of preserved animal specimens in the UW Zoological Museum in the Lowell E. Noland Zoology Building.

Sabrina Imbler

Defector staff writer Sabrina Imbler tours the UW Zoological Museum during a Science Journalist residency in 2023.

Imbler interacts with a tarantula (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) crawling on their hands as NSF graduate research fellow Emily Setton (left) and Director of Media Relations in University Communications Kelly Tyrrell (center) watch.

Sabrina Imbler

Imbler interacts with a tarantula during a Department of Integrative Biology lab tour.

Pete Williams

NBC News’ Pete Williams talks with Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW–Madison.

Pete Williams

NBC News’ Pete Williams talks with Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW–Madison.

Pete Williams

NBC News’ Pete Williams talks with Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW–Madison.

Ramtin Arablouei (left) and Rund Abdelfatah, co-hosts and co-producers of NPR’s podcast “Throughline” and UW–Madison’s fall Journalists in Residence engage in a public panel discussion during a Diversity Forum event held at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Nov. 14, 2022. Not pictured is panelist Kacie Lucchini Butcher and moderator Christy Clark-Pujara. The museum is currently hosting the the public exhibit: Sifting & Reckoning: UW–Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

NPR’s Throughline

Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah, co-hosts/co-producers of Throughline, join a panel at the 2022 Diversity Forum.

From left to right, Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah, co-hosts and co-producers of NPR’s podcast “Throughline” and UW–Madison’s fall Journalists in Residence, and Kacie Lucchini Butcher, director of UW–Madison’s Public History Project, engage in a public panel discussion moderated by Christy Clark-Pujara (at far left), a professor of history in UW–Madison’s Department of Afro-American Studies, during a Diversity Forum event held at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Nov. 14, 2022. The museum is currently hosting the the public exhibit: Sifting & Reckoning: UW–Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

NPR's Throughline

Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah, co-hosts/co-producers of Throughline, join a panel at the 2022 Diversity Forum.

From left to right, Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah (speaking), co-hosts and co-producers of NPR’s podcast “Throughline” and UW–Madison’s fall Journalists in Residence, and Kacie Lucchini Butcher, director of UW–Madison’s Public History Project, engage in a public panel discussion moderated by Christy Clark-Pujara (at far right), a professor of history in UW–Madison’s Department of Afro-American Studies, during a Diversity Forum event held at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Nov. 14, 2022. The museum is currently hosting the the public exhibit: Sifting & Reckoning: UW–Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

NPR's Throughline

Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah, co-hosts/co-producers of Throughline, join a panel at the 2022 Diversity Forum.

Nate Silver

Days ahead of Wisconsin midterm elections, Nate Silver speaks in Shannon Hall in the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Nate Silver

Silver gestures as he answers audience questions posed to him by Susan Webb Yackee in Shannon Hall.

Nate Silver

Silver speaks to students during a visit to Contemporary Public Policy Issues class, Public Affairs & Public Policy 200.

Latif Nasser

Latif Nasser, Science Journalist in Residence, laughs with his Radiolab executive editor Soren Wheeler.

Latif Nasser

Nasser answers student questions about communicating science questions with changing answers in Life Sciences Communication 360.

Leandro Teixeira (standing), associate professor of pathobiological sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine, describes his research to Latif Nasser (right), science journalist and Radiolab co-host, as Nasser looks at an eyeball specimen of a giant blue whale while visiting the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin (COPLOW) at the Veterinary Medicine Building at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Oct. 14, 2022

Latif Nasser

Leandro Teixeira, associate professor associate in the School of Veterinary Medicine, describes his research to Nasser.

This is a brilliant program and I'm delighted to have been part of it. Madison is an inspirational place, full of smart and engaged students. The researchers here are doing some of the most important science and other scholarship in the world, and the Writer in Residence program is a great way to help share that work.
Laura Helmuth, Science Journalist in Resident

About the Program

Program Details

Journalists in Residence come to campus for four to six days. A typical schedule may include a Sunday arrival with a Friday departure.
The Journalist in Residence programs are offered during the fall and spring semesters. The exact timing of the visit is determined by the journalist in consultation with UW–Madison program organizers.
Schedules vary from day to day, and typically include visits to classrooms, one-on-one meetings with students, talks with faculty and staff, luncheons and dinners, interviews with local journalists, and informal meetings with campus communicators. At least one public talk is scheduled during the week.
Time is built in for those journalists wishing to explore campus or meet with faculty and staff experts.
UW–Madison arranges travel and lodging and covers all meal expenses during the visit.
Journalists in Residence are provided an on-campus office during their stay.
A honorarium is provided to the Journalist in Residence.

Expectations

Attend and actively engage with students during scheduled classroom visits. A schedule will be provided prior to your arrival.
Participate in lectures, meetings, meals, social activities, and other events recommended by program organizers. Typically, one public lecture, presentation, or panel discussion is scheduled during the week.

Selection Process

All Journalists in Residence are hand-selected by university faculty and staff. For additional information, please reach out to individual program contacts or contact the Office of Strategic Communication.

Residency programs

Center for Journalism Ethics Journalist in Residence

The Center for Journalism Ethics, housed in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, provides an international hub for the examination of the role of professional and personal ethics in the pursuit of fair, accurate, and principled journalism. The Center’s Journalist in Residence program brings nationally renowned journalists to campus to promote engagement with UW–Madison students and the public.

Previous Center for Journalism Ethics Journalists in Residence:

Aneri Pattani, KFF Health News – Fall 2023
Pete Williams, NBC News – Fall 2022
Keri Blakinger, The Marshall Project – Fall 2021
Byron Pitts, ABC News – Spring 2021 (virtual)
Wesley Lowery, CBS News – Fall 2020 (virtual)
Caitlin Dickerson, New York Times – Fall 2019
David Folkenflik, NPR – Fall 2018
Sarah Kliff, Vox – Fall 2017
Molly Ball, The Atlantic – Fall 2016

Primary Program Contact:
Kathleen Bartzen Culver
Director, Center for Journalism Ethics
ethics@journalism.wisc.edu
608-575-4082

Public Affairs Journalist in Residence

The Public Affairs Journalist in Residence program hosts reporters with an in-depth approach to understanding the politics and implementation of issues such as poverty, health care, criminal justice, and immigration. The program is co-sponsored by the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Office of Strategic Communication.

Prior Public Affairs Journalists in Residence:

Ezra Klein, New York Times – Spring 2024
Tamra Keith, NPR – Spring 2023
Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight – Fall 2022
Catherine Rampell, Washington Post – Spring 2022
David Brooks, New York Times – Fall 2021
Amy Westervelt, Critical Frequency podcast network – Spring 2021 (virtual)
Maggie Haberman, New York Times – Fall 2020 (virtual)
Clare Malone, FiveThirtyEight – Fall 2019
Ayesha Rascoe, NPR – Spring 2019
Eric Lipton, New York Times – Fall 2018
Matthew Yglesias, Vox Media – Spring 2018
Sarah Stillman, New Yorker – Fall 2017
Yamiche Alcindor, New York Times – Spring 2017
David Weigel, Washington Post – Fall 2016
Jamelle Bouie, chief political correspondent, Slate – Spring 2016
Andy Katz, ESPN – Fall 2015
Robert Leger, Arizona Republic – Spring 2014
Riva Froymovich, Economist – Fall 2013
Carrie Johnson, National Public Radio – Spring 2013
Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief and national political reporter – Fall 2012
Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post – Spring 2012
Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times – Fall 2011
Lowell Bergman, Producer and Correspondent, Frontline – Spring 2011
Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post – Fall 2010

Primary Program Contact:
Lauren Weitkamp
608-263-7657
weitkamp@lafollette.wisc.edu

Science Journalist in Residence

The UW–Madison Science Journalist in Residence program was founded in 1986 and is hosted by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Office of Strategic Communication. It is now part of the Sharon Dunwoody Journalist in Residence program at UW–Madison. The late Dunwoody, a professor of journalism at UW–Madison, co-founded the Science Journalist in Residence program with Terry Devitt, emeritus director of research communications.

Prior Science Journalists in Residence:

Isabelle “Izzy” Ross, Interlochen Public Radio in Michigan – Fall 2024
Kallie Moore, PBS Digital Studios channel “Eons” co-host – Spring 2024
Ben Goldfarb, environmental journalist – Fall 2023
Sabrina Imbler, Defector – Spring 2023
Latif Nasser, Radiolab – Fall 2022
Caroline Chen, Propublica – Fall 2021 (virtual)
Michelle Nijhuis, journalist and editor – Spring 2021 (virtual)
Kendra Pierre-Louis, Gimlet Media – Fall 2020 (virtual)
Apoorva Mandavilli, Spectrum – Spring 2019
Christie Aschwanden, journalist, author, and editor – Fall 2019
Laura Helmuth, Washington Post – Fall 2018
Justin Gillis, author, formerly New York Times – Spring 2018
Ed Yong, the Atlantic; Liz Neeley, Story Collider – Fall 2017
Erik Vance, Author, Freelance (National Geographic, New York Times, Nature, Scientific American, Harper’s) – Spring 2017
Nadia Drake, National Geographic – Fall 2016
Alexandra Witze, Nature Magazine – Spring 2016
Soren Wheeler, Radio Lab – Fall 2015
Dan Vergano, BuzzFeed News – Spring 2015
Mark Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Fall 2014
Florence Williams, Freelance Writer and Author – Spring 2014
Maryn McKenna, Scientific American, Freelance – Spring 2013
Siri Carpenter, Discover Magazine – Fall 2013
David Dobbs, Freelance Writer and Author – Fall 2012

Primary Program Contact:
Kelly Tyrrell
608-262-9772
kelly.tyrrell@wisc.edu

Journalist in Residence

The Journalist in Residence program brings journalists to campus to meet with faculty, staff, and students, and to experience firsthand the state’s flagship university. This category includes several Wisconsin-based journalists.

Previous Journalists in Residence:

David Maraniss, Washington Post – Fall 2024
Ramtin Arablouei & Rund Abdelfatah, Throughline – Fall 2022
Craig Gilbert, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Fall 2018
Charlie Sykes, former radio host – Fall 2017
Toya Washington, WISN – Spring 2015
Joel Christopher, Gannett Wisconsin Media – Spring 2014

Primary Program Contact:
John Lucas
608-262-8287
jplucas@wisc.edu

Business Journalist in Residence

The Business Journalist in Residence program connects reporters focusing on business and the economy with students and faculty in the UW’s top-ranked business school. The program is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin School of Business and the Office of Strategic Communication.

Previous Business Journalists in Residence:

Lauren Weber, Wall Street Journal – Spring 2024
Jonathan O’Connell, Washington Post – Spring 2019
David Brancaccio, Marketplace – Spring 2018
Yuki Noguchi, NPR – Spring 2017
Jennifer Reingold, Fortune – Fall 2015
Jason Zweig, Wall Street Journal – Spring 2015
Jean Chatzky, NBC-Today Show – Fall 2014
Melanie Hicken, CNN Money – Spring 2014
Jenny Rooney, Forbes – Fall 2013

Primary Program Contact:
Typhaine Morrison
608-890-2989
typhaine.morrison@wisc.edu

Journalist in residence news and updates

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Contact Us

For general inquiries:

Office of Strategic Communication

165 Bascom Hall (Map)
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1380
contact.strategiccommunication@wisc.edu