After 50 years with UW, Musolf will retire

David Musolf has seen a whole lot of pomp and circumstance.

As secretary of the faculty for 19 years, his many duties include serving as organizer and lead marshal of UW–Madison’s winter and spring commencement ceremonies, making sure everything is organized and goes off without a hitch.

Many hours before each ceremony, he’s there. He estimates that he’s worked at 137 commencement ceremonies.

“I need to be there to make sure that every single piece is in place and ready to go, and that if any problems arise that they are quickly and efficiently addressed,” Musolf says.

But as thousands of students said goodbye to UW in May, Musolf himself is preparing to commence to other activities. He recently announced that he’d retire from his position although he will be around to help the next person transition into the role.

The phrase “institutional memory” was created with people like Musolf in mind. All told, he’s worked at the UW for 50 years.

His first job at the university came when he was just a high school sophomore. He counted chromosomes in potato root tips in professor Stanley Peloquin’s research lab. As a high school junior and senior, and throughout his undergraduate years, he worked supporting  research in the Laboratory of Neurophysiology with professor Wally Welker and a number of his faculty collaborators.

Even before that, the UW–Madison was an important part of his life. He grew up in University Heights and recalls crawling under the fence during football games at Camp Randall Stadium, swimming in Willow Beach, exploring museums and buying ice cream for a nickel at Babcock Hall.

Growing up in the shadow of the university, he always assumed he’d attend UW and he did, earning his bachelor of science as a zoology major in June 1966.  Graduation ceremonies in those years were held in the stadium.  He recalls being really uncomfortable sitting in the hot sun on that June day while he and thousands of other graduates filed in eight march lines across the stage.  No one’s name was read. 

“Our smaller ceremonies in the Kohl Center provide a much better experience for our graduates and their families and friends,” says Musolf. 

As an undergraduate, money was tight so he lived at home his first two years. That made him seek out campus activities so he could feel more part of campus life. Musolf was active in numerous student organizational activities including serving on committees for Memorial Union, Parents’ Day and Homecoming. As a senior, he was the student coordinator of campus tours.

Those were wonderful years, full of life-shaping experiences,” Musolf says.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, Musolf spent more than three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil, returning to the university in the fall of 1969 to study in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

The following year, he started his first academic staff position at the UW Computing Center where he held several different administrative positions before being hired as the assistant director of the Institute for Environmental Studies.

It’s in his role as secretary of the faculty that Musolf has really made his mark.

“I’ve got a great staff who have been critical to my role in the university,” Musolf says. “I couldn’t possibly have done my job without them.”

As secretary, Musolf serves as the primary liaison between the faculty and administration. 

“David is a person of great integrity. No one on campus is more committed to the ideals and traditions of this great university than David,” says Gary Sandefur, Dean of the College of Letters and Science. “He is also a fount of information on how to get things done and how to use our shared governance processes to accomplish important objectives for the university. I will miss working with him a great deal.”

One of his most critical roles is his work with the University Committee, the executive committee of the Faculty Senate.  For 19 years he has organized the UC’s weekly agendas, and provided valuable perspective and support as the committee addressed the multitude of issues and challenges facing the university.

“David is a unique individual, he sees the big picture but also has an eye for detail,” says William F. Tracy, professor and chair of the Department of Agronomy and former chair of the University Committee. “He has incredible institutional knowledge and cares deeply about UW–Madison and shared governance.  He will be very hard to replace.”

One of his other responsibilities has been organizing and facilitating the search and screen processes for the recruitment of UW–Madison deans, provosts and chancellors. In his time, he’s overseen more than 50 such academic leadership searches.

He also works closely with the Faculty Senate and the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities, and serves as a resource for faculty, department chairs and deans.

“One of the challenges I really like is putting pieces together, whether it’s with search committees or commencement to keep things organized and flowing to achieve a successful end result,” Musolf says.

Key to doing his job well has been building relationships with people across campus.

“The secretary of the faculty needs to keep track of what’s going on and understand how others see issues,” Musolf says.

His varied positions at the UW have all contributed in his current role.

“It has all helped me develop a comprehensive understanding of the many components of the university,” Musolf says.

Retiring from his position will undoubtedly be an adjustment. But it will give him more time to spend on his land north Lake Mills, pursuing his passion for broad scale landscape restoration.

“I was always a back-to-nature kind of kid,” Musolf says. 

So it’s fitting that he will now have more time to pursue that focus. His 190-acre farm is part of Madison Audubon Society’s Faville Grove Sanctuary, for which he serves as sanctuary manager. 

“At Faville Grove, we’re restoring and managing approximately 1,000 acres, including two properties owned by UW, providing critical habitat for grassland birds and other wildlife,” Musolf says. “Aldo Leopold and his graduate students worked and studied at Faville Grove in the 1930s and ‘40s and it’s an honor to be helping to restore and protect ecosystems that Leopold admired and respected.”

While Musolf will soon leave UW employment, his experiences and connections will stay with him.

“I’ll miss my daily interactions with so many wonderful people, and even the challenges,” Musolf says. “I am thankful for everything the university has offered and done for me, and I look forward to my transition to emeritus status.”