Biddy Martin has accepted the offer for the UW-Madison chancellorship. Not to toot our own horn too much... but we did say there was a seventy to eighty percent chance of this happening. UPDATE: David Skorton has issued the following statement to the press: "On a personal note, I am delighted for Biddy and I look forward to continuing our partnership at the national level. "Turning to the future, I will soon begin a process to identify suitable candidates for consideration as the next provost of Cornell University. I will share with the community additional information on the search process after I have conferred with my colleagues on the faculty and others across campus.""Provost Biddy Martin's appointment to be the next chancellor of her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a source of great pride for the entire Cornell community and a great day for Wisconsin. Biddy Martin will bring to her new responsibilities a deep academic sensibility and wealth of experience dealing with the many issues and constituencies that play such a critical role in the life of a university. We will greatly miss her intellect, leadership and friendship.
And the University of Wisconsin has issued a statement of their own:
“In her years at Cornell, Dr. Martin has established a reputation for strong, effective and strategic leadership,” said Reilly. “As the provost of New York’s land-grant research university, she has wide-ranging experience with all of the roles UW-Madison must play in the life of this state, the nation and the world. She is someone who appreciates fully the importance of education to the future of American society, and conveys that message to others with a high degree of passion and credibility.”“I am thrilled to be recommended as the next chancellor of UW-Madison, one of the world's truly great public universities and my graduate alma mater,” said Martin. “I am grateful to the Regents, President Reilly and the search committee for this opportunity, and humbled that they would entrust me with this tremendous responsibility. It is a real honor to be selected from such a strong pool of candidates, and a privilege to join Wisconsin’s corps of respected campus chancellors.”
“I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students at UW-Madison to uphold the traditions and values of this great university,” said Martin. “Together with my graduate education at the UW, my 24 years at Cornell have prepared me well for this new path, and I am deeply grateful to all my Cornell colleagues who have supported me along the way.”
“Now, more than ever, Wisconsin people need their public university to be an economic engine. UW-Madison has been that engine, and I’m convinced that it will continue to fuel the state’s economic growth under Dr. Martin’s leadership,” said Regent David G. Walsh, chair of the regents’ special committee and a UW-Madison alumnus. “It’s gratifying to welcome back a UW alumna, and give her the opportunity to apply her considerable expertise to our great university.”
Of course, relative to Upstate New York, Wisconsin's economy is a bona fide success story.
We've been hearing from a lot of readers lately on this exciting career opportunity for Biddy. And we love to hear from you. Whether or not you are a student, alumnus, faculty, or staff, please feel free to get in touch with us. Are you sad to see Biddy go? Happy for Biddy's career? Or excited for future change at Cornell?
