In the fall of 2013, Banholzer joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison following a 30-year career in industrial research. At UW–Madison, Banholzer has appointments in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and the Chemistry Department. At UW–Madison, his interest is developing unique materials to educate students on industrial chemistry, including business aspects. He retired from Dow Chemical, where he was an Executive Vice President leading Dow’s Venture Capital, New Business Development, and Licensing activities, and served as Dow’s Chief Technology Officer. In addition, he served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Dow Corning Corporation, chairing the Corporate Responsibility Committee.  Banholzer also served on the Dow AgroScience’s Members Committee and the Dow Foundation Board of Directors.

In addition to his work at UW–Madison, Banholzer is a member of the Board of Directors for Wilsonart,  Composite Panel Systems, and Pyran.  He was formally a board member for Jeldwen, where he served on the compensation and audit committees.