Tim Donohue, UW Foundation Fetzer-Bascom Professor of Bacteriology, has been awarded the 2018 Promega Biotechnology Research Award from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world’s oldest and largest life science organization. The award is supported by the Promega Corporation, an international bioscience corporation headquartered in Madison, Wis.

Donohue won for his “outstanding contributions to the application of biotechnology through fundamental microbiological research and development.” Past recipients of the award include Scripps Research Institute chemist and former UW–Madison faculty member Ben Shen (2015), Harvard University geneticist George Church (2009), University of Washington microbiologist Stanley Fields (2000), and Princeton University geneticist David Botstein (1998).

“Given the award’s history, the stature of past award winners, and the strong connections of Promega to the microbial sciences and the State of Wisconsin, I am deeply honored to be selected for this award,” says Donohue.

Donohue, who serves as director of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) and interim director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute, has been on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for more than 30 years. In his research, he analyzes pathways and networks that microbes use to grow, generate biomass, or produce alternative fuels from sunlight or other renewable sources of energy. Throughout his career, he has also served on federal research panels, editorial boards, and advisory committees, and led a number of cross-disciplinary research programs. Donohue is a former president of ASM and currently the acting secretary.