CDIS Distinguished Achievement Awards
On November 1st, 2024, the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) celebrated its inaugural award ceremony, honoring outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to the fields of computer science, data, and information sciences. The recipients of these awards exemplify excellence in research, innovation, and leadership, setting inspiring examples for students, alumni, and community members. Learn more about the inaugural CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award winners.
Agrawal earned his MS and Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983. He is driven by the desire to make the world better through scientific breakthroughs and by building practical working systems. Agrawal is currently the President and Founder of the Data Insights Laboratories. He is also the President of the Professor Ram Kumar Memorial Foundation.
He is a prolific researcher whose work has been featured by NBC, New York Times, and other organizations. He has been granted 83 patents and has published more than 200 research papers. He has written the first and second most cited papers in the fields of databases and data mining. IBM’s data mining product, Intelligent Miner, grew straight out of Agrawal’s research.
Michele Besant (MA ’93, PhD ’99) was named the Information School’s 2023 Distinguished Alumna. Besant served the iSchool in three different capacities at different stages of her career: as an MA student (1993) and PhD graduate (1999), as the Director of the iSchool Laboratory Library, and finally as Associate Director of the iSchool. Besant fostered an inclusive and welcoming environment and provided leadership in developing community with diverse stakeholders in the department as well as on campus and in the greater community. Additionally, Besant was foundational in the development of the Tribal Libraries, Archives and Museums program, Jail Library Group and Allied Drive Story Time.
Dr. Lynn Silipigni Connaway (PhD’92), Director of Library Trends and User Research at OCLC was named the University of Wisconsin – Madison Information School’s 2020 Distinguished Alumna. At OCLC, Dr. Connaway’s more recent projects include leading the research phase of an IMLS-funded project with the Public Library Association called Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with Their Communities. This project identifies how public libraries are collaborating with other community agencies to address the opioid crisis. Dr. Connaway interviewed those who were affected by the opioid crisis and explored how public libraries helped them by providing information to access and services.
By earning a doctoral degree at the iSchool, Dr. Connaway believes her education opened doors and provided opportunities she had never imagined. When asked to recount her time in Madison, she shared experiences that prepared her for a career as an assistant professor, researcher, and lifelong learner.
Patrick Losinski (MA’83) was named the Information School’s 2021 Distinguished Alumnus. Losinski grew up in Stevens Point, WI and attended UW-Stevens Point and served as the CEO of the Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio. His work with the Urban Libraries Council and the International Federation of Library Associations led to global travel with his family, enriching our lives with greater cultural appreciation.
Now retired, as the CEO of an urban public library, he experienced a variety of work including: strategy, finance, personnel, public relations, information technology, fundraising, new building design, community relations, government relations, collections, history, children’s programming, security, and more. Losinski says he didn’t understand how satisfying librarianship would be when he started, but is very grateful for all of the experiences afforded to him during his career. He says the award has provided him with the opportunity for deep reflection on his time in libraries that all began thanks to UW-Madison.
Trailblazing technologist and UW–Madison alumnus Brian Pinkerton ’86 has dedicated his career to advancing how we connect with information. From pioneering the first Internet search engine to leading teams at Amazon, Apple, and Roku, Pinkerton’s work has left an indelible mark on the technology landscape.
Over three decades, most of Pinkerton’s career has been dedicated to search. After creating WebCrawler, he went on to serve as director of search at Technorati, chief architect at Lucid Imagination, vice president of search at Amazon, chief technology officer at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and chief architect of Siri at Apple. His current role as senior vice president of advanced development at Roku underscores his commitment to cutting-edge innovation in consumer technology.
Louise Robbins is a former director and professor emerita of the UW–Madison School of Library and Information Studies. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Robbins profoundly shaped the trajectory of the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS), creating transformative partnerships with departments across campus, building relationships with Native American communities across Wisconsin, and leaving an indelible mark on colleagues, students, and institutions. An unwavering advocate for intellectual freedom, access to information for marginalized communities, and the vital role of libraries in society, Robbins has advanced her field in ways that continue to reverberate long after her retirement in 2011.
Brent Seales MS’88, PhD’91 has dedicated his life to solving one of history’s greatest challenges: recovering ancient “lost” texts rendered unreadable by nature and time. Seales is now a celebrated professor of computer science at the University of Kentucky. The inventor of the revolutionary “virtual unwrapping” technique, his work uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to restore texts previously thought to be lost, with an emphasis on those central to Biblical scholarship and the formation of the ancient world.
Wing Hung Wong PhD ‘80 is one of the world’s premier scholars in statistics and bioinformatics. He has served on the faculty at Stanford University since 2004, where he remains a Professor of Statistics and Biomedical Data Science and holds the Stephen R. Pierce Family Goldman Sachs Professorship in Science & Human Health.
Wong’s innovative approaches in bioinformatics, including statistical methods for analyzing gene expression and gene regulatory networks, have profoundly influenced the field. His work has been cited thousands of times, underscoring his legacy as a driving force in propelling the research enterprise forward in these areas.
While she was unable to attend the event, we also recognize Karen Brown (MA’77) , the 2022 iSchool Distinguished Alumni Award winner, as part of our community of CDIS Distinguished Achievement Award recipients. Brown serves as Professor Emerita in the School of Information Studies at Dominican University.
In her professional practice, Dr. Brown works to tie research, theory, and practice together. Two projects in particular stood out to her as being the most meaningful: Assessment in Action, with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and CARLI Counts, with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, which both used action research as a means to investigate the impact of academic libraries on student learning and success. In addition, Dr. Brown credited her teaching experience at Dominican University, where she was a faculty member for 20 years, with providing plenty of opportunities for bridging theory and practice.