School’s out for summer, now that Alumni College 2026 has come to a close. From May 29 to June 1, Wisconsin Alumni Association members gathered in Wisconsin’s Northwoods to learn about the biggest topics of the day from leading UW experts. Here are just a few fascinating tidbits from the presenters’ reading lists.
An individual’s degree of food security can influence the correlation between their gut microbiome and their risk of cognitive impairment.
Presenter: Nasia Safdar MS’02, PhD’09, Dr. Dennis G. Maki Endowed Faculty Fellow, Division of Infectious Disease; associate dean for clinical trials, School of Medicine and Public Health
Session: “Outrunning Our Own Medicines: Antibiotic Resistance and the Future of Care”
Renewables-based energy is projected to overtake coal-based energy in the next year, thanks in large part to the rapid growth of solar energy.
Presenter: Gregory Nemet, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Salzwedel Distinguished Faculty Chair, La Follette School of Public Affairs
Session: “How Solar Energy Became Cheap: Pathway to a Solar-Centric Economy”
“Political trust [in the American government] leads to swings in the ideological leanings of the American public. When trust is low, Americans become more conservative. When trust is high, they become more liberal.”
Presenter: Michael Wagner, William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea; director, Center for Communication and Civic Renewal, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Session: “Battleground: How News, Conversation, and Social Media Affect Democracy in Wisconsin”
Diverting at least 20 percent of individuals arrested for opioid offenses to treatment programs instead of jail can lead to better public health outcomes for the entire community.
Presenter: Laura Albert, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and development; professor of industrial and systems engineering, College of Engineering
Session: “Every Second Counts: How Engineering Is Optimizing Public Safety”
