Celebrating Jake Brunkard: This Year’s Outstanding Student Parent Support Award Recipient
Wa graduate student found out she was expecting her first child, she wasn’t sure how her research mentor, Jake Brunkard, would react. What she got was enthusiasm, flexibility, and an open door.
While the transition to parenthood in academia can feel daunting, Jake made it clear from the start that her goals and her family could thrive together. “Professor Brunkard responded with genuine, wholehearted support,” she said. “He didn’t just say he was open to it; he immediately started brainstorming with me and thinking through specific accommodations we could put in place.”
That response, and the mentorship philosophy behind it, is why Brunkard, associate professor of genetics in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Student Parent Support Award.
The award, presented annually by the Office of Child Care and Family Resources, recognizes a UW–Madison faculty or academic staff member who has gone above and beyond for parenting students. This year, it was easy to see why Brunkard stood out.
“The solution is to be as open as you can be”
For Brunkard, supporting a parenting student starts with communication.
“Communication is the part that matters the most,” he said. “Communicating early and often, and keeping those lines of dialogue open. Being uncomfortable about it or trying to pretend it’s not happening is not the solution. The solution is to be as open as you can be, and to give students enough space to share as much as they want about what’s going on.”
That approach is part of a larger mentorship philosophy. Brunkard is skeptical of the top-down model — the idea that everyone in a lab should work the same way, on the same schedule, to the same rhythm.
“People should work the way that they are most productive,” he said. “I care about whether people are learning and being productive. How they get there is not my business as much as that they do get there.”
A culture worth choosing
That philosophy had a real impact for his student’s career. After navigating pregnancy, parental leave, and her return to the lab, she passed her Preliminary Exam, earning her master’s degree and advancing to dissertator status.
“It is a milestone I am incredibly proud of,” she said, “and one I genuinely believe I could not have reached without Jake’s unwavering commitment to my success as both a scientist and a mother.”
Her experience at UW–Madison was no accident. “This is one of the reasons that I picked UW–Madison for graduate school — because of their culture of student support.”
That’s exactly the kind of environment OCCFR strives to cultivate. Student parents at UW–Madison are navigating many demands: coursework, research, family, and everything in between. Faculty like Jake Brunkard make that path a little less steep.
Congratulations, Jake, and thank you!
Learn more about the Outstanding Student Parent Support Award, including previous recipients and nominees.
