A former assistant professor can move forward with a federal lawsuit claiming he was discriminated against when he was denied tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a judge ruled Thursday.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to allow the case to proceed to trial, and we look forward to a fair and just resolution based on the full presentation of the facts,” Ahmed Mahmoud said in a statement with his attorneys following the decision.
Mahmoud started working at UW-Madison’s Cell and Regenerative Biology department in 2017. He received awards from the universityand its licensing and patenting organization for his research, which focused on developmental, stem cell and regenerative biology.
Then in 2024, Mahmoud filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Wisconsin against the UW system’s Board of Regents, which oversees UW-Madison, and Deneen Wellik, who chaired the UW-Madison committee that denied Mahmoud tenure.