Professors Seth Pollak, Karen Schloss, and Kristin Shutts are among the forty-two UW–Madison faculty to be awarded fellowships from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) for 2026-2027. The awardees span the four research divisions on campus: arts and humanities, physical sciences, social sciences and biological sciences.
“WARF Named Professorships, Kellett Fellowships, and Romnes awards represent some of the most meaningful investments in the people who drive discovery at UW–Madison,” says Dorota Brzezinska, vice chancellor for research. “These prestigious honors provide researchers with the recognition, flexibility, and support needed to pursue bold ideas, advance groundbreaking scholarship and address society’s most pressing challenges. Just as importantly, they affirm the university’s commitment to fostering excellence and empowering faculty to lead in their fields, inspire the next generation of scholars, and extend the Wisconsin Idea through research that benefits the world.”
The awards are possible due to the research efforts of UW–Madison faculty and staff. Technology that arises from these efforts is licensed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the income from successful licenses is returned to the OVCR, where it’s used to fund research activities and awards throughout the divisions on campus.
Seth Pollak, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Professor of Psychology, is the Vaughan Bascom Professor of Psychology and an investigator at the Waisman Center. He is one of eight faculty members who were awarded a WARF Named Professorship, which comes with $100,000 and honors faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge, primarily through their research endeavors, but also because of their teaching and service activities. Award recipients choose the names associated with their professorships.
Pollak’s research seeks to understand how children’s social experiences shape emotional, cognitive, and biological development, with a particular focus on the ways that environmental influences affect learning, mental health, and well-being. His research explores how children adapt to different life circumstances and how early experiences become embedded in developing brain and behavioral systems. Pollak joined the UW–Madison faculty in 1997. Over the course of his career, he has worked with colleagues across disciplines to advance knowledge about child development and to inform efforts that support children and families. Through research, teaching, and mentorship, he remains committed to understanding the factors that promote healthy development across childhood.
Karen Schloss, associate professor and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology, is an investigator in the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. She is one of eighteen faculty members honored with H.I. Romnes Fellowships which recognize faculty with exceptional research contributions within their first six years from promotion to a tenured position. The award is named in recognition of the late WARF trustees president H.I. Romnes and comes with $60,000 that may be spent over five years.
Schloss’s research on visualization psychology investigates how people interpret information represented in visualizations, such as graphs, maps, diagrams, and signs, to make visual communication more effective and efficient. Her lab is funded by the National Science Foundation, including an NSF CAREER award, and she was recognized by the Steve Yantis Early Career Award from the Psychonomic Society. She has served in leadership roles in several professional societies, including her current role on the Board of Directors of the Vision Sciences Society.
Kristin Shutts, professor of psychology and Waisman Center investigator, studies and teaches courses focused on children’s social cognitive development. Shutts is one of sixteen faculty honored with Kellett Mid-Career Awards which support those promoted to tenured positions seven to 20 years ago and who have made key research contributions in their fields. The award, named for the late William R. Kellett, a former president of the WARF board of trustees and president of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, provides support and encouragement to faculty at a critical stage of their careers and comes with $75,000 to be spent over five years.
Her research program examines children’s thinking about social groups, including the development of social attitudes. She is President of the Cognitive Development Society and Vice Chair of the Madison Children’s Museum Board of Directors.
A complete list of all awardees can be found here.