UW-Eau Claire’s Dr. Elizabeth Glogowski earns national award for research mentoring

Dr. Elizabeth Glogowski, professor of materials science and biomedical engineering, has been awarded the CUR 2026 Engineering Division Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award. Glogowski, who joined the UW-Eau Claire faculty in 2011, has built a 15-year record of sustained excellence across research, student development and inclusive mentorship of more than 90 students in polymer science and collaborative Mayo Clinic research efforts.

Dr. Michael J. Carney, interim chancellor,  is pleased to congratulate Glogowski on this national distinction for her work with Blugolds.

“Dr. Glogowski is a shining example of excellence when it comes to mentoring research students,” Carney says. “Her work with our biomedical innovator students and the groundbreaking research she has championed over the years has reinforced UW-Eau Claire’s distinction as a leader in undergraduate research. This national honor is a testament to Dr. Glogowski’s unwavering commitment to engage Blugolds in clinically relevant research that is helping to transform medicine.”

Glogowski is humbled by this recognition and proud of the research program she has been able to build alongside students, colleagues and her own mentors as a teacher and researcher.

“When I think about this award, it’s all about the relationships I’ve been able to create,” Glogowski says. “Working with students at all levels is so rewarding — they come in terrified and unsure, and I get to watch them grow and become the person and scientist they want to be.”

Glogowski says another important element of her research program is the culture of peer mentoring that it propagates, one in which students build reliance on one another along with reliance on teachers like herself.

“I’m obviously a first resource for my students, most of whom were not even born when I began this type of materials research," Glogowski says. "But it's more exciting to see the student teams seek out each other’s expertise and different ways of approaching a problem. Peer mentoring is a cornerstone of my research program because it importantly mirrors the communication flow in a lab of professional scientists,” Glogowski says. 

Glogowski says she owes part of this recognition to working at UW-Eau Claire, a campus that highly values not only undergraduate research, but also partnerships and collaborations.

“I’ve been able to say yes to new research projects that might not have happened elsewhere,” she says.

That effective campus research culture has clearly been noticed nationally, as Glogowski’s award from CUR is the third for UW-Eau Claire in this 2025-26 academic year. The other CUR awardees were:

• Dr. Sanchita Hati, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who received the 2026 Outstanding Mentorship Award from CUR's Chemistry Division.
• Dr. Rahul Gomes, interim chair of computer science and current Ramsey Mayo Research Professor, who received the 2026 CUR Mid-Career Faculty Mentor Award from the Mathematical, Computing and Statistical Sciences Division.

A transformational career with a shining record

Over her 15-year career, Glogowski’s research has largely focused on synthesizing and characterizing polymers and other soft matter for applications ranging from architectural coatings to injectable biologic foams.

“I started synthesizing new polymers when I was an undergraduate researcher in 2000, and have loved working with polymers ever since,” she says.

“When I started as a faculty member at UWEC in 2011, I designed my research program around polymer synthesis, to see what new polymer structures my students and I could make in the lab.”

The nomination materials for Glogowski’s CUR award were submitted by someone very familiar with her research program and scholarship — Dr. Douglas Dunham, professor and former chair of materials science and biomedical engineering.

Dunham made an excellent case for Glogowski as someone more than qualified for this award. Some of the most significant career highlights and milestones he spotlighted include:

• More than $1.2 million in external research funding from federal, state and industry sources including major National Science Foundation grants in a variety of categories.
• Recognition as a Regent Scholar, Carl E. Gulbrandsen Innovator of the Year, and recipient of UW-Eau Claire’s Excellence in Mentoring in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award and the first Ramsey Research Professor endowed professorship.
• Long record of peer-reviewed publications, many co-authored with undergraduates.
• Undergraduate research teams that have filed multiple patent applications including filings in 2023 and 2024 and a granted patent in 2022, all of which included significant contributions from undergraduate students.
• An inclusive lab program that actively recruits students from underrepresented groups in engineering, such as women, first-generation students and students from diverse backgrounds.
• Wide dissemination of Glogowski’s student research findings, including 29 national poster presentations, 93 regional and campus presentations and invited presentations at Mayo Clinic Academic Grand Rounds.
• Ten alumni who have completed or are pursuing Ph.D.s, 15 alumni completed or pursuing master’s degrees, six who have entered professional schools and dozens who have successful STEM industry careers.

Dunham, who is interim director of strategic partnerships and program development at UW-Eau Claire, knows Glogowski is an exceptional motivator of students whose approach to mentoring students drives remarkable outcomes.

“Dr. Glogowski exemplifies the teacher-scholar model,” Dunham says. “Her record speaks for itself, and her impact on students is profound, far-reaching and deeply deserving of national recognition.”

Current and former students who have the chance to share their thoughts about Glogowski most often refer to her ability to not only mentor in the methods of scientific research, but also in the paths to personal and academic growth.

“Dr. G. always encouraged us to say yes to new opportunities, and not be afraid to try something new, even when we are not certain we know how. That is a lesson to carry into my biomedical industry career. After all, saying yes to research with Dr. G got me interested in a biomedical engineering career in the first place,” says Kira Haus, a 2024 biomedical engineering graduate currently working in medical device manufacturing in Minnesota.

For Elizabeth Stubbs, one of Glogowski’s earliest mentees at UW-Eau Claire, the experiences and exposure to polymer science in Glogowski’s courses and lab led to a Ph.D. and successful career in the field.

“When I joined Liz’s lab in 2013, I had only general chemistry laboratory experience. Nonetheless, she trusted me with meaningful research responsibilities while providing intentional mentorship,” the 2016 materials science graduate says.

“Over 3 1/2 years, Liz developed my technical skills in polymer synthesis, experimental design and data analysis, while emphasizing communication, independence and collaboration. After earning an M.S. and Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering, I now lead an industrial polymer research laboratory. This outcome reflects Liz’s ability to consistently prepare undergraduates for advanced study and technical careers through authentic research mentorship.”

Grateful and looking forward to the future

As she thinks about what might be next for her undergraduate research program, Glogowski also reflects on her tenure at UW-Eau Claire and the leaders and mentors she credits with her own success as a student research mentor.

“I’ve benefitted from wonderful department leadership like Doug Dunham, fellow faculty like Marc Mc Ellistrem, who answered all my questions for years, and I even had the chance to share my first lab space with Mike Carney, who taught me the basics of setting up a lab, and much more,” Glogowski says. “To watch the chancellor’s career transform and see him take on new roles and risks — and keep seeking new challenges has continued to influence me. He’s been a tremendous role model.”

Glogowski plans to keep taking her own advice, which is to say yes when presented with new opportunities.

“I want to work with more great people, people who are passionate about what they do, and who see a problem that needs to be solved and say ‘let’s solve that,’” Glogowski says.

“What’s the worst that can happen, you know? Like we say in our lab — we might be jumping into the deep end, but we’re all in the deep end together.”