Not long ago, I had a meaningful conversation with a friend of CALS, Susan Crane. Susan and her husband, Bob Crane, raised their children on a Wisconsin dairy farm. Their three sons and two daughters — who are all CALS grads — continue to farm in our state.

In addition to her agriculture career, Susan worked as a registered nurse in her rural community, and she also funds a CALS scholarship in memory of her father, Norbert Kielpinski FISC’34. Traditionally, the scholarship has been limited to dairy science majors from rural Wisconsin, the original idea being that support for students in production agriculture would be the best way to help enrich rural communities with talent.

Recently, though, after considering further the full scope of how CALS prepares students to contribute to society — including rural communities — Susan had a change of heart about that scholarship. She spoke to me passionately about wanting to support any CALS students who might return to their rural hometowns for a wide variety of jobs in desperate need of skilled, educated workers. So, she opened the scholarship to a greater range of majors.

Here’s why I’m sharing this anecdote. At CALS, it’s true that we are synonymous with dairy and crops, with fields and fertilizer. We also have a strong reputation for preparing students to do excellent work in agriculture — and in the sciences that make farming more efficient, productive, and sustainable. We are more than fine with this. These activities represent our roots. They’re our mission, and they always will be. But other parts of what we do — and the societal contributions that stem from them — are not always readily associated with CALS.

Consider the “life sciences” part of our name. At CALS, we are world leaders (and have been for a long time) in basic research in bacteriology, microbiology, biochemistry, and genetics and genomics — work that has bearing on plants, animals, and humans. Those fields cut across most of our academic areas of focus, our 15 departments, 26 majors, and 47 graduate programs that explore biological, environmental, and social sciences.

Exposure to these broad areas preps our students for a wide variety of careers and post-graduate opportunities. One example is health care. Human health may not be top of mind when CALS is mentioned, but our college is a major pipeline to health fields. CALS students who major in many of the fields mentioned earlier, as well as global health, biology, and others, gain a solid health sciences foundation before moving on.

Based on recent data, nearly 20% of our graduates go into health care or public health fields. The top 10 job titles for our grads include medical assistant, clinical lab scientist, clinical research coordinator, and genetic counseling assistant. For those who continue their education, among the top 10 fields of study are nutrition, medicine, public health, dentistry, nursing, genetics, and physician assistant. And what do our rural communities need? More doctors, more nurses, more skilled professionals working on the front  lines of human health.

So, it seems “health care” should be just as synonymous with CALS as “cows” or “corn.” And we are more than fine with that too.

In this issue, you’ll get a close look at some of the exceptional training and experiences our health care bound students receive. A Purpose-Driven Path recounts the personal journey of one undergrad — from eager first-year student to genetics researcher and nursing assistant — who now has her sights set on a career in medicine and health policy. And, in Wayfinders in the Health Care World, you’ll learn how CALS students are helping Madison area residents navigate a complex medical system.

We expect great things from these students in the future, and you get to read about them here first.

This article was posted in Economic and Community Development, Health and Wellness, In Vivo, Spring 2026 and tagged health care, Rural Communities, undergraduate majors.