Johnson honored for community building

On April 29, 2026, Grainger Dean Devesh Ranjan hosted a celebration at which he recognized engineering faculty and staff for outstanding daily work that shapes the heart of our college.

Beth Johnson, the student experience manager in academic affairs, earned the esteemed Staff of the Year Award.

Almost everything Johnson undertakes in our college is designed to build meaningful engagement and sustain a sense of community—from the time prospective engineering undergraduates make their first contact with UW-Madison to the moment we celebrate our students’ graduation.

Throughout the academic year, she creates connections across the college and the UW-Madison that enable her to flawlessly plan and execute major high-impact, memorable experiences like our new student welcome, admitted student events, weekly prospective student programs, and the college’s graduate recognition celebration.

Johnson has transformed the way our college engages with prospective students and their families—in particular, adding engineering student ambassadors, enhancing our college tour, and reimagining our prospective student presentations overall to demonstrate, authentically, what makes our Badger engineering experience unique. Says a colleague: “Her career reflects not only exceptional performance and leadership, but also an unwavering commitment to advancing the college mission. … She consistently goes above and beyond, not only exceeding expectations, but redefining them.”