Timothy J. Donohue

Timothy J. Donohue is the Ira L. Baldwin Professor of Bacteriology and UW Foundation Chairman Fetzer-Bascom Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He leads the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and serves as Interim Director of the Wisconsin Energy Institute. His research focuses on microbial systems for converting renewable resources into biofuels and chemicals, integrating genomic, metabolic, and computational approaches.

Education: B.S. in Life Sciences (Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 1975), M.S. and Ph.D. in Microbiology (Pennsylvania State University, 1977–1980), followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Research interests include microbial metabolic pathways, lignocellulosic biomass conversion, and engineering bacteria like Novosphingobium aromaticivorans for bioproduct synthesis. Key contributions involve CRISPR-based tools, metabolic modeling, and understanding cell envelope dynamics. Over 150 publications span topics from lignin degradation to synthetic biology.

Awards include AAAS Fellow (2009), American Academy of Microbiology Fellowship (2000), and the Promega Biotechnology Research Award (2018). He advises on grants and collaborates with industry and academic partners to advance bioenergy solutions.

Labs/Teams: Directs the Donohue Lab, focusing on microbial systems biology. Collaborates with the Wisconsin Energy Institute and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center to bridge fundamental research with industrial applications.