Summer summary: Campus bustled with activity, change
Face it: The temptations of summer in Madison can be distracting.
Who can blame you if you ease up on reading the newspaper, watching TV news or following the world on Twitter? After all, the Memorial Union Terrace, Concerts on the Square, summer vacations and the Farmers’ Market all beckon.
For those who were able to turn off their cellphones and let their newspapers stack up, here’s a briefing on campus news from this summer.
Chancellor Biddy Martin announced in June that she was leaving UW–Madison after three years at the helm to become president of Amherst College. About two weeks later, UW System President Kevin Reilly named David Ward, who served as chancellor from 1993–2000, to serve as interim chancellor while a search for Martin’s successor is conducted.
“My main purpose will be to build on the substantial increase in fiscal and administrative flexibilities in the recently enacted budget,” said Ward, who headed the American Council on Education for seven years. “At the same time, I am also sensitive to the need to balance, refine and preserve the public, as well as the private, partnerships that drive the resources of comprehensive research universities.”
At the state Capitol, the university and UW System won new flexibilities that grant leeway in the areas of human resources, purchasing, travel, tuition and budget management in the 2011–13 state budget – which also included $250 million in cuts for the system.
Outside of Bascom Hall, change seemed to be the theme on campus for summer 2011.
Margaret Raymond, a law professor at the University of Iowa, was named to succeed Ken Davis as dean of the UW Law School. Jeffrey Russell, an engineering professor, was named vice provost for lifelong learning and dean of the Division of Continuing Studies. Business professor Francois Ortalo-Magne succeeded Michael Knetter as dean of the Wisconsin School of Business.
Three finalists were named for dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and Robin Douhitt, dean of the School of Human Ecology, announced she would step down in the summer of 2012.
A search for a vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate School was put on ice until the campus has a new chancellor, and current Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader has agreed to serve in the capacity of interim vice chancellor for research and remain as dean until a new team is in place.
Although the pace on campus slows, students and alumni continued to amaze with their achievements.
A team of UW–Madison food science graduate students won first place in a food product development contest for Pixie Dust, a drink mix made from freeze-dried fruit that can be mixed with water or milk.
Another group of students won a NASA contest for its Badger X-Loft, an inflatable fabric, carbon fiber and aluminum habitat for astronauts exploring an asteroid.
And the Teach For America program announced that UW–Madison this year ranks seventh nationally for the number of graduates in the program – 70, up from 56 last year.
The summer also brought sadness.
Maureen Grant, a veteran employee of UW Libraries, died in June in a fatal University Avenue accident involving a Madison Metro bus. Then, in July, campus electrician Brad Krause died as a result of an electrocution while working in an attic in the Humanities Building.
There was more. Much more. Does this place ever slow down?
Here’s just a sample:
The campus rolled out a Mobile UW app for Android phones … Johnson Controls provided funding for energy storage research and teaching at UW–Madison and UW–Milwaukee … We started a dual-degree program in neuroscience and law … The book “Enrique’s Journey” was chosen as this year’s selection for the Go Big Read program … A herd of goats helped clear vegetation from a construction site, with a “low carbon hoof-print” … UW-Milwaukee’s Bruce Maas was named chief information officer here … A team of stem cell researchers developed an “early retina in a dish” … The Wisconsin Alumni Association, on its 150th anniversary gave the campus the gift of new, branded street signs … The Wisconsin Idea will mark 100 years with the Year of the Wisconsin Idea in 2011–12.
The Wisconsin National Guard sent 58 soldiers to campus to learn farming techniques before their deployment to Afghanistan … The Student Orientation, Advising and Registration program made its headquarters in the new Union South … Wisconsin businesses helped UW–Madison physicists build a hollow aluminum sphere to hold in a vacuum a dynamo generating 200,000-degree Fahrenheit plasma … Mandatory furloughs ended, replaced by higher employee contributions for health insurance and pensions … Popular pup Braveheart made a stunning recovery at UW Veterinary Care and gained thousands of Facebook friends along the way … And thousands of Wisconsinites enjoyed UW–Madison Day at the Wisconsin State Fair, along with their chocolate-covered bacon on a stick.