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Biddy Martin named next chancellor at UW-Madison

Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin sees the challenges facing higher education, but beyond those tests she sees a future rich in opportunity and promise, especially at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Martin, who was named by the Board of Regents to become the campus’s next chancellor, sees a bright future for the campus as the demands of the 21st century call for educational excellence and innovation.

“Despite all of the problems and challenges, there is an emerging knowledge economy across the globe,” she says. “Higher education has never been more important. The numbers make it apparent how absolutely critical UW-Madison is to the economic well-being of the state of Wisconsin.”

Martin, who has served as provost at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. since 2000, says UW-Madison plays a key role in educating students for a changing economy, building ties to state residents, and as an engine for the state’s economy.

“Our public mission makes access and affordability of higher education, the quality of the faculty, and their contributions to the state, nation and world that much more essential,” she says. “As a research institution, UW-Madison is poised to provide solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges while preserving, reinterpreting and invigorating the core of human knowledge.”

If approved by the full Board of Regents in early June, Martin would succeed Chancellor John D. Wiley, who announced last December that he is stepping down in September.

The university’s ability to compete for and retain some of the most talented teachers and researchers is critical to its mission, she says.

“Faculty salaries will be a very high priority for me and I hope to be able to start working immediately with UW System, the governor, the Legislature and the UW Foundation and alumni to develop a plan,” she says.

“It’s not just Wisconsin that faces retention issues. We are facing extraordinary competition for the best faculty over the next 10 to 20 years, because of the now-retiring bulge of faculty that were hired in the 1960s and 1970s,” Martin says. “All institutions are going to face much stronger competition for their best scholars and scientists. It’s critical to get ourselves in a position where faculty are appropriately rewarded and supported to meet this problem head-on and from a position of strength.”

Gov. Jim Doyle expressed his enthusiasm for the choice.

“Through wise and dedicated leadership, the University of Wisconsin has grown to become our country's largest public research institution, and I welcome Dr. Martin to a role that is so vital to our state,” Doyle says. "I am confident that she will use her expertise to carry UW-Madison, her alma mater, forward.”

William Cronon, a UW-Madison professor of history, geography and environmental studies who sat on the 23-member search-and-screen committee, says Martin is well-prepared to lead the 41,000-student university.

“All the evidence from Cornell University indicates that Dr. Martin has been a very wise and visionary leader of that institution. She brings a breadth of understanding that ranges from the natural sciences to the arts and humanities, and is someone I hope will lead this institution into the next decade and what we need to accomplish in the 21st century,” Cronon says.

Jay Smith , a business executive and former president of the Board of Regents who also served on the search and screen panel, agreed.

“Dr. Martin is a veteran administrator who brings extraordinary experience to the chancellor's position,” Smith says. “I believe she will exercise great respect for our legacies, while pushing hard for continuous improvement. She will energize our constituents as well as the university community.”

Prior to becoming Cornell’s provost, Martin spent four years as senior associate dean in Cornell’s Colleges of Arts and Sciences. A professor of German studies and women’s studies, she served as the chair of German studies from 1994-97.

Martin knows the Madison campus well, having received her doctorate in German literature at UW-Madison in 1985.

Martin also points out the importance of expanding interdisciplinary study across the campus, traditionally a strength on the UW-Madison campus. It’s that sort of work that has led to the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the Morgridge Research Institute, which will bring faculty together to solve complex problems in the biosciences.

“They are indicative of the extraordinary strength in the life sciences at Wisconsin,” Martin says.

“In addition, cluster hiring across a range of disciplines at Wisconsin has become a model for other institutions across the country,” she adds. “One of the real attractions of Wisconsin is its interdisciplinary work. I’d want to work with the faculty to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration and lower barriers to cross-disciplinary work. It will also be a high priority to promote liberal arts education and scholarship in the humanities and arts.”

UW-Madison’s role in economic development is one that Martin sees as a vital linkage between the state and the university. She hopes to build on UW-Madison’s successes in promoting technology transfer, innovation, entrepreneurship and spurring job growth for the entire state.

“The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the success of the University Research Park are the envy of the rest of the universities in the country,” Martin says. “But economic development is more than just tech transfer and start-ups. It involves having the university serve as a forum that brings business leaders, scholars and scientists together to provide context for ways to enhance local, regional and state economies.”

In addition to building on the teaching excellence and high quality of research — which at UW-Madison is a $900 million annual enterprise — Martin sees the traditional value of the Wisconsin Idea, that the boundaries of the campus are the boundaries of the state, and beyond.

“It’s an essential component of the university’s mission and the possibilities are exciting, especially in an economy where lifelong learning, continuing education and even retraining are so vital,” she says.

Martin will be coming to a campus and state that has enjoyed a major turnaround in its athletic fortunes since the late 1980s. She is looking forward to the chance to help build on the Badgers’ on-the-field and classroom excellence.

“Big Ten athletics is in a class by itself,” she says. “UW Athletics is an enormous source of pride for the entire state. It will be important to ensure that the athletics department be run and managed well, that it continues to support student-athletes and works hard to graduate them.”

In recent years, as state budgets have been pinched, diversifying the university’s funding base and raising money from donors has become increasingly important.

Martin says she embraces the chance to spend significant time working with the many supporters of UW-Madison to ensure that it continues to thrive.

“Fundraising is about relationship building and helping alums and potential donors understand what the university has to offer, and the great work that students and faculty do at UW-Madison,” she says.

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File last updated: May 28, 2008

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© 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System