Susan Hagness receives International Union of Radio Science Impact Award

Susan Hagness, the Philip Dunham Reed and Maria Stuchly Professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the recipient of the United States National Committee for the International Union of Radio Science (USNC-URSI) Impact Award.

The award, presented every three years by USNC-URSI, the only organization in the U.S. representing applied electromagnetics, recognizes an individual or team whose radio science work has made a positive impact on the broader society in areas including diversity, inclusion, and outreach as well as applications of research with societal benefit.

Hagness was cited for her transformational advances in microwave diagnostic, imaging, and therapeutic technologies; time-domain computational electromagnetics; applied electromagnetics education; and for outstanding diversity, inclusion, and outreach leadership.

Hagness’s research focuses on electromagnetic interactions with tissue for medical applications. Her work spans applied research involving diagnostic and therapeutic technology development as well as basic research, such as the dielectric properties of breast tissue at microwave frequencies that establishes the physical basis for those technologies. Her group has developed non-ionizing sensing and imaging techniques and tools as well as new techniques for non-invasive microwave hyperthermia and minimally invasive ablation of tumors. Recently, she has expanded her work into electric-pulse delivery to enhance gene therapy.

Besides chairing the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hagness has also served as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs in the College of Engineering. She is a faculty affiliate of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Imaging and Radiation Sciences program at the UW-Madison Carbone Cancer Center.

She is a fellow of IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, among many awards and honors throughout her career. She has held a variety of appointed and elected leadership roles within professional societies and advisory boards, including the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science and the ASEE Engineering Research Council.

The USNC-URSI Impact Award was presented during the National Radio Science Meeting held in Boulder, Colorado, January 6-9, 2026.