The new Fellows are: evolutionary biologist Sean Carroll, conservationist Michael Dombeck, former Supreme Court justice Janine Geske, biochemist Laura Kiessling, mixed media artist Anne Kingsbury, art educator Barbara Brown Lee, and historian Kerry Trask.

The Fellows-men and women of extraordinary lifetime accomplishment in the sciences, arts and letters-will be formally inducted and celebrated in a ceremony on Sunday, November 2 at the Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center in Madison.

Fellows are named for their qualities of judgment, perceptiveness, and knowledge of how literature, art, and science contribute to the cultural life and welfare of the state. They also have a career marked by an unusually high order of discovery; technological accomplishments; creative productivity in literature, poetry, or the fine or practical arts; historical analysis; legal or judicial interpretation; or philosophical thinking.

Here are short biographies of each new Fellow:

Laura Kiessling
Laura Kiessling (pictured right), Hilldale professor of chemistry and Laurens Anderson professor of biochemistry at the UW-Madison, is co-founder of Quintessence Biosciences, a Madison-based company that is developing her technology into cures for a variety of diseases. She is noted for her insights into chemical and biological processes, her excellence as a teacher and mentor of young scientists, and her local and national leadership in the chemical and biological sciences. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of numerous awards, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, or "genius award." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently selected her for their series on Wisconsin's groundbreaking thinkers. Kiessling is also a member of the UWCCC Cancer Cell Biology research program.

Sean Carroll Evolutionary Biologist
Sean Carroll uses DNA to examine the origin of species. He is a professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the UW-Madison. His research focuses on the way new animal forms have evolved, and his studies of a wide variety of animal species have dramatically changed the face of evolutionary biology. He has authored two books on animal evolution and more than 100 scientific papers. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he has received numerous awards and was named one of America's most promising leaders under 40 by Time magazine.

Michael Dombeck Wisconsin native and scientist
Michael Dombeck is professor of global environmental management and UW System Fellow of global conservation at the College of Natural Resources at UW-Stevens Point. He is the only person in history to have led the nation's two largest land management agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The New York Times described him as the most conservation-minded chief of the Forest Service since Gifford Pinchot. Dombeck's legacy is one of steadfast stewardship for the land. For his lifelong career in public service, he received the highest award in federal service, the Presidential Rank - Distinguished Executive Award. He has authored and edited over 200 publications.

Janine Geske
Janine Geske, professor at Marquette University Law School, has served Wisconsin as Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, and Milwaukee County Executive. As founder of the Restorative Justice Institute at Marquette, she works in the prisons and the community with victims of crime and offenders. In her latest project, she assists with a federal Safe Streets Grant in Milwaukee. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, among them being named one of "The Best Lawyers in America" for her work in dispute resolution.

Anne Kingsbury Mixed media artist
Anne Kingsbury has managed Woodland Pattern Book Center since 1979. The Center is a community-based nonprofit literary arts center dedicated to contemporary literature and the arts. It has the largest collection of small press poetry for sale in the country. In her work she uses traditional female objects as her forms of expression: dolls, pincushions, potholders, tea cozies, quilts and journals. Her artwork has been featured in 14 publications and is included in the collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum and other noted museums. She has participated in more than 60 major national exhibitions.

Barbara Brown Lee Milwaukee native and Milwaukee Art Museum chief educator
Barbara Brown Lee has spent her life looking at art and interpreting it for others. Since 1963, she has served as the conduit between the museum and its patrons and has inspired tens of thousands of adults and children. Past museum director David Gordon called her "the Calatrava of museum educators." She has received many honors, including a Wisconsin Visual Arts Lifetime Achievement Award and a Wisconsin Outstanding Art Educator Award from the Wisconsin Art Education Association.

Kerry Trask
Kerry Trask, professor of history at UW-Manitowoc since 1972, has worked throughout Wisconsin to inform and educate people about their rich history and heritage through teaching continuing education courses; giving public lectures for the Wisconsin Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau, Wisconsin Book Festival, and Brown County Library Regional History Lecture Series; and participating in programs produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. He has consistently been one of the most popular and productive teachers and scholars in the UW Colleges. He has authored three books and many articles and has received numerous awards and honors.

The November 2 Fellows reception is sponsored by Johnson Bank of Madison. The Wisconsin Academy thanks them for their generous support.