List of articles
2025 honorees
Congratulations to the 2025 IT Recognition Award winners! The 6th annual awards were presented on May 29, 2025, at the Pyle Center on the UW–Madison campus as part of the IT Professionals Conference.
Mary Evansen
- Title:
- Director
- Department:
- DoIT Communications
- Division:
- Division of Information Technology
- Award:
- Lifetime Achievement Award
José Medina-González
- Title:
- Departmental Assistant
- Department:
- Internal Operations
- Division:
- Division of Information Technology
- Award:
- Janet E. Plato Award for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Garrett Smith
- Title:
- Software Developer
- Department:
- Teaching & Research Application Development (TRAD)
- Division:
- Division of Information Technology
- Award:
- Unsung Hero Award
Lisa Jansen
- Title:
- IT Director
- Department:
- Media, Education Resources & Information Technology (MERIT)
- Division:
- School of Education
- Award:
- Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Porter
- Title:
- Technical Integration Engineer III
- Department:
- Institute on Aging
- Division:
- School of Medicine and Public Health
- Award:
- Unsung Hero Award
Ella Tschopik
- Title:
- IT Help Desk Supervisor
- Department:
- Media, Education Resources & Information Technology (MERIT)
- Division:
- School of Education
- Award:
- Ellen La Luzerne Award for Community Engagement
Jackson Kestner
- Title:
- Information Security Officer
- Department:
- Media, Education Resources & Information Technology (MERIT)
- Division:
- School of Education
- Award:
- Rising Star Award
Todd Shechter
- Title:
- Chief Technology Officer
- Division:
- Division of Information Technology
- Award:
- Organizational Impact Award
Weizhong Wang
- Title:
- Software Engineer/Developer
- Department:
- Web Platforms & Services
- Division:
- Division of Information Technology
- Award:
- Transformational Achievement Award
Active Directory Migrations Project Team
Division of Information Technology
Team members: Abrianna Barca, Tony Brzoskowski, Alison Caffrey, Crague Cook, Tomomi Imamura, Richie Markiewicz, Ben Pommerening, Joe Tarter, Tiffany Thayer, Max Yang
Team Achievement Award
About the awards
We work with excellent people who do awesome things. The IT Recognition Awards acknowledge and appreciate our UW–Madison information technology colleagues for their amazingness.
Below are the award categories and descriptions for the annual IT Recognition Awards. Visit our guide to writing an effective IT recognition award nomination for more details, including the scoring rubric the awards committee uses to determine the honorees.
Ellen La Luzerne Community Builder Award
This award recognizes an IT professional or initiative that excels in bringing people together through active volunteerism and professional service to the broader IT community.
Rising Star Award
This award recognizes a rising IT community member whose record reflects ongoing and exceptional growth in contribution to the profession.
Unsung Hero
This award recognizes a member of the IT community who is responsive and proactive, making a real difference to their co-workers by designing or implementing excellent technical solutions. Yet their contributions may be overlooked or receive little formal recognition.
Janet E. Plato Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award
This award recognizes and celebrates the exemplary leadership displayed by an IT staff member in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community.
Team Achievement Award
This award recognizes a single team of IT community members whose collective teamwork in creating or incorporating an information—or technical-based solution on one or more projects has significantly impacted the university.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award recognizes the continued contributions of a community member whose body of work throughout their career has significantly impacted the success of the university. Emeritus and retired staff are eligible for this award.
Transformational Achievement Award
This award recognizes an IT community member who made a significant impact in transforming the university through their efforts on a specific major IT project or initiative beyond community events. The Transformational Achievement Award differs from other awards in that it is to recognize a specific initiative, project, or service where creating or incorporating an information or technical solution was essential to success.
Past honorees
- Meet the winners of the 2025 IT Recognition Awards
- Watch the 2025 awards ceremony | Watch the 2025 awards ceremony with audio descriptions
- Meet the winners of the 2025 IT Recognition Awards – UW–Madison Information Technology
- Ellen La Luzerne Award for Community Engagement
- Ella Tschopik
Media, Education Resources & Information Technology (MERIT), School of Education - Janet E. Plato Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award
- José Medina-González
User Services, Division of Information Technology - Lifetime Achievement Award
- Lisa Jansen
Media, Education Resources & Information Technology (MERIT), School of Education - Lifetime Achievement Award
- Mary Evansen
Communications, Division of Information Technology - Rising Star Award
- Jackson Kestner
Media, Education Resources & Information Technology, School of Education - Team Achievement Award
- Active Directory Migrations Project Team
(Abrianna Barca, Tony Brzoskowski, Alison Caffrey, Crague Cook, Tomomi Imamura, Richie Markiewicz, Ben Pommerening, Joe Tarter, Tiffany Thayer, Max Yang)
Division of Information Technology - Transformational Achievement Award
- Weizhong Wang
Application Infrastructure Services, Division of Information Technology - Unsung Hero
- Garrett Smith
Teaching & Research Application Development (TRAD), Division of Information Technology - Unsung Hero
- Jim Porter
Institute on Aging, School of Medicine and Public Health