Yes, and if we zoom down to a microscopic level, the story gets even better. Warren Weaver 1916, MS1917, PhD1921 wasn’t a biologist — he was a mathematician, a machine-translation pioneer (decades before Google Translate), an Alice in Wonderland aficionado, and a science administrator. After earning three degrees from UW–Madison and chairing its mathematics department, Weaver went on to lead the Rockefeller Foundation’s natural sciences program. He was a champion of bold, early-stage research and encouraged scientists to work across disciplines to tackle life’s biggest questions. Looking for a name to describe this emerging approach, he coined the term molecular biology in 1938. Decades later, another Badger helped fulfill Weaver’s vision when UW professor Howard Temin won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering reverse transcriptase, one of molecular biology’s landmark achievements. Today, the field underpins everything from genetic engineering and cancer research to modern vaccines and molecular farming. Turns out, scientific breakthroughs are in Badgers’ genes.

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