Linda Schuler, a professor of comparative biosciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), is among this year’s winners of a Hilldale Award.
The Secretary of the Faculty annually recognizes four professors from UW–Madison for distinguished contributions to research, teaching and service with the Hilldale Awards.
One faculty member each from the arts and humanities, social sciences, physical sciences and biological sciences is selected from nominations by department chairs. The winners will be awarded $7,500 and recognized at the May 6 Faculty Senate meeting.
Schuler was a member of the first class of professors hired to inaugurate the SVM in 1983. Her research defined the genetic details of the hormonal control of milk production in dairy cows. That work led Schuler to discover that the milk-stimulating hormone prolactin can induce breast cancer, distinguishing her as a researcher eager to pursue leads toward the next problem.
Schuler has built up the school she helped found, serving on virtually all committees for upwards of 30 years. She has particularly focused on developing the careers and talents of new faculty, serving on the Dean’s Task Force for Mentoring since its inception and now as the associate chair for faculty development within her department. Her dedication to mentoring women was recognized with the Doris Slesinger Award for Mentoring in 2014.
As a founding member of her department, Schuler helped develop the veterinary physiology course that she has now overseen for more than three decades. And she has mentored more than 150 graduate students across seven graduate programs on campus.
“Simply put, Dr. Schuler is an exceptional scientist and mentor,” writes department chair Thaddeus Golos is his nominating letter. “She continues to be an inspiration to the students and faculty she has mentored over the last 35 years, likewise instilling in them the importance of mentoring and promoting a supportive environment where everyone can succeed.”
Eric Hamilton