A former University of Wisconsin professor sought to atone for her transgressions by pleading guilty to charges in federal court last week.

Elizabeth Goodwin, a former UW Associate Professor in the genetics department, pled guilty to one count of making a false statement to the federal government, according to her attorney Dean Strang.

Goodwin is facing a maximum of one year in jail, up to a $100,000 fine and up to three years of probation.

In addition, Goodwin signed an agreement prohibiting her from federal grant eligibility and from participating on federal grant advisory panels for three years.

The misconduct happened in 2005 when Goodwin manipulated data on a research grant application, said UW spokesperson Terry Devitt. At the time, her lab was studying the genetic mutations and sequencing of asexual worms.

A few graduate students working in Goodwin’s lab came forward to report the crime, according to Bill Mellon, an associate dean at UW.

UW launched an investigation by setting up a committee to examine the allegations according to Faculty Policies and Procedures, Mellon said.

The committee found irregularities in Goodwin’s data meant to “enhance the grant application,” Devitt said. Goodwin resigned in 2006.

As a result of Goodwin’s misconduct, UW formalized one policy change pertinent to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who bring forward allegations against their supervising professors, Mellon said.

In Goodwin’s case, both the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the School of Medicine and Public Health were involved in the investigation, because Goodwin had a split appointment between the two colleges.

Because the students in Goodwin’s lab brought the misconduct to the university’s attention, CALS and the School of Medicine paid their salaries since UW stopped their research and along with it, their form of income.

Mellon said this practice has since been formalized so students do not feel pressure to stay quiet for the sake of financial security.

“The school or college is obligated to make sure they are financially OK because…you don’t want the grad students or post-docs to suffer financially by bringing an allegation forward,” Mellon said.

Goodwin, who herself was a post-doctoral fellow at UW, came back to Madison in 2000 after being a faculty member at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Strang said Goodwin is not currently conducting research, but is working in private industry and wants to put the past behind her.

“This was the lowest moment in her life, for reasons both personal and professional, and she wants to atone and be forgiven and move on,” he said.

Goodwin will be sentenced Sept. 3 at the U.S. District Court in Madison.