Pending approval by the UW System Board of Regents, James Thomson will be promoted from assistant professor to full professor with tenure, UW-Madison Provost Peter Spear announced Wednesday.
The university is considering this promotion in an attempt to prevent Thomson from continuing his work with human embryonic stem cells elsewhere. Thomson gained notoriety by being the first person to isolate human embryonic stem cells, which have the capacity to differentiate into any cell type in the body with potential to treat diseases like Parkinson's and diabetes.
Thomson's promotion has been approved by the Department of Anatomy's executive committee and the Medical School's biological sciences committee, both unanimously, as well as by Spear and UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley.
Thomson currently earns $113,862 annually.
