Former UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced Monday she is stepping down from her new job as Northwestern University’s next president and instead will receive treatment in Madison for an aggressive form of cancer.
Blank, an economist, previously was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. Morton Schapiro will remain in the job until a successor is appointed.
Blank recently concluded an eight-year tenure as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May, and had been set to succeed to succeed President Morton Schapiro as the president of Northwestern University. She was selected by the board of trustees in October.
Blank, a former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said in a Monday statement she plans to return to the Madison area for cancer treatment and will spend the coming weeks and months focusing on her health and family.
Before being named president of Northwestern, she spent eight years as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She and her family will return to Madison for her treatment.
In a news release, the school said that Blank, who concluded her eight-year tenure as chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May, will return to the Madison area for cancer treatment.
John Karl Scholz issued a statement following the Big Ten’s announcement Thursday night.
“The University of Wisconsin–Madison is pleased to support the planned expansion of the Big Ten Conference with the inclusion of the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). “This expansion helps solidify the Big Ten Conference as the one, true national powerhouse conference, with member universities, teams and fans stretching from coast to coast.
Noted: Jennifer L. Mnookin, dean of the School of Law and Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been appointed chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
In the spring of 2013, just before she was confirmed as the next UW-Madison chancellor by the Board of Regents, Rebecca Blank was criticized by some Republican state legislators for her “radical policies.”
Jennifer L. Mnookin, dean of the School of Law and Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been appointed chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
In an interview before her departure to become president of Northwestern University this fall, Blank took aim at state regulations that prevent the UW System’s flagship campus from issuing its own bonds for new buildings and which add time and expense to routine maintenance.
Jay Rothman started the tight-rope-walking job of leading the University of Wisconsin System this week by defending the incoming UW-Madison chancellor while also not calling out Republicans for criticizing her.
Letter to the editor: Why would Vos make negative comments without even meeting and having a discussion with Mnookin? I heard her respond with grace and politeness — that she is excited about coming to Madison and “looks forward” to meeting all of the state legislators.
The consequential issues that will land on incoming UW-Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s desk when she takes over in August involve more than academics … Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and members of his senior leadership team help facilitate the introduction of new university leaders to the group, the conference said in a statement in response to questions.
Welcome to Wisconsin: Legislative leaders immediately slammed the newly named chancellor for the university’s flagship campus for being too liberal.
Diana Hess, dean of the UW-Madison School of Education, will become interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs on June 1, when Provost John Karl Scholz takes over as the interim chancellor, UW said on Tuesday.
It was one in a series of heartfelt goodbyes. Rebecca Blank stood at the entrance in a roped-off lobby area of the Discovery Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus at what was billed as a “community leadership reception” earlier this month. The chancellor, in the final days of her nine years in Madison, greeted each of the few dozen arriving attendees to wish her, per the invitation, a “fond farewell” as she leaves to become president of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Editorial: The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, a diverse body made up appointees from current Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and defeated former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, united across lines of partisanship and ideology to unanimously select Dr. Jennifer L. Mnookin to serve as the 30th chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Letter to the editor: It’s kind of ironic that the Republicans decrying Jennifer Mnookin being named chancellor of UW-Madison are all claiming to want a chancellor who believes in free speech, given that it is Mnookin’s speech, and her free expression of her beliefs, that are the stated basis for their opposition.
Welcome to Wisconsin, Jennifer Mnookin. There was a time when we actually gave someone hired to take an important job like leading the campus of our world-class university a chance to prove herself. But the state with the historic motto “Forward” hasn’t been like that for the past decade or so.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor-designate Jennifer Mnookin said Tuesday that helping students of all races and ethnicities feel like they belong on campus will be one of her top priorities.
Jennifer Mnookin, the dean of the University of California, Los Angeles law school, will become the next chancellor of Wisconsin’s flagship university this summer.
The UW System Board of Regents unanimously voted Monday for Mnookin, 54, to take the top post at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A day after being pilloried by Republicans, incoming University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said she couldn’t be more excited for the “opportunity of a lifetime” and looks forward to working with the GOP-led Legislature.
Former four-term Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, given the chance to defend the incoming University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor who has been criticized by Republican leaders, offered a lukewarm reaction to the hire.
Departing UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank said Wednesday she has tested positive for COVID-19 and has mild symptoms.
New University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin on Tuesday deflected questions during her first news conference about GOP critics who have painted her as an unabashed liberal and threatened to restrict funding if regents stand by the decision to hire her.
Professors and Board of Regents Vice President Karen Walsh spoke out in support of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s next chancellor, Jennifer Mnookin, after some state Republicans criticized the hire.
Incoming UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said Tuesday she looks forward to “getting to know everybody,” including Republican lawmakers who took aim at her appointment almost immediately after it was announced.
“I deeply admire UW-Madison’s dual commitment to educational access and research excellence, as well as its mission to serve and to contribute to the state as a whole,” Mnookin said in a statement. With 17 years of experience at UCLA and six at the University of Virginia, Mnookin is no stranger to working at public universities. In a forum in early May, she said the Wisconsin Idea can serve as a national and global model for public universities.
As Madison-area Democrats cheered the selection of UCLA Law School Dean Jennifer Mnookin as the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s next chancellor, one of the state’s top Republicans urged the Board of Regents to reconsider its choice.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has selected Jennifer Mnookin as the next chancellor to lead UW-Madison. Mnookin, law school dean at UCLA, was unanimously approved as UW-Madison’s 30th chancellor, the regents announced in a Monday news release. Her appointment will take effect Aug. 4.
Jennifer Mnookin has been named as the next chancellor to lead UW-Madison. She will be the university’s 30th chancellor. Her appointment takes effect Aug. 4.
Jennifer Mnookin was picked to succeed outgoing Chancellor Rebecca Blank, the regents said. Mnookin holds a law degree from Yale and has served as dean of the School of Law at UCLA since 2015. She also has served as a law professor at the University of Virginia.
After years of the COVID-19 pandemic’s shuttering of dear traditions, UW-Madison had its first proper spring commencement in three years on Saturday. As the smiling faces of friends and families packed the stands at Camp Randall, the theme of change, for students and the university, ran through the words of speakers and the audience of 42,000 people.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank says she will miss the Memorial Union Terrace, Badgers game days and Bucky. What she won’t miss, she told reporters Wednesday, are the hurdles in leading “one of the more constrained and regulated universities in the country.”
Rebecca Blank isn’t sure what’s coming next in college athletics but as she prepares to leave her job as UW-Madison chancellor she said there will be challenges for her successor.
Outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said a recent campus survey which found that students in marginalized groups feel less safe than majority groups on campus represents “unfinished business” for her successor.
On the cusp of leaving the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chancellor Rebecca Blank used a final news conference Wednesday to take somewhat of a victory lap, saying she is leaving the university on strong financial footing and in a much better place.
But she also took the opportunity to highlight “unfinished agenda” items, such as increasing diversity and students’ sense of belonging on campus.
Provost John Karl Scholz sees a bright future ahead for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. One of five finalists for UW-Madison chancellor, Scholz spoke in a public forum Friday, outlining three strategies to help the university achieve success: engaging with stakeholders, expanding campus resources and listening to the community.
UW-Madison chancellor finalist John Karl Scholz said it’s going to take a three-pronged effort to address the challenges the university faces, such as the need for additional resources and the increasingly polarized view of the value of higher education.
University of Pittsburgh provost Ann Cudd sees higher education’s potential to inspire people and create knowledge that benefits the world.
UW-Madison leaders hoping to convince a sometimes skeptical public and their elected representatives of the value of higher education need to come prepared with a few key arguments and stay on message, one of the five finalists for the university’s chancellorship said during a public forum Thursday.
UW-Madison chancellor finalist Ann Cudd is troubled by the statistics that show a large swath of the public believe leading research universities are headed in the wrong direction. “Top research universities need to both ensure and better communicate that most of their students actually graduate on time and their return on investment is, financially and socially, very highly beneficial,” she said.
Jennifer Mnookin, dean of the UCLA School of Law, says the Wisconsin Idea can serve as a national and global model for public universities. One of five finalists for University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor, Mnookin said the university’s tenet of education extending beyond the classroom has even benefitted her own family.
In a public forum at the Memorial Union on Monday, Reed spoke about how he’d approach the chancellor position. Drawing from his experiences in academia and the corporate world, he said he would use the opportunity to help UW-Madison “define the future of higher education.”
Mnookin, who is one of five finalists vying to become the next UW-Madison chancellor, said she donated a kidney to her father in late 2020. The organ made its way from Los Angeles, where Mnookin leads the University of California Los Angeles law school, to her dad in Boston thanks to a solution developed at UW-Madison that extends the time that an organ can be safely stored outside of a body
As a computer science professor, Daniel Reed often turns to data when arguing about the value of a college degree. But sometimes, he said, those who need convincing don’t want more data points or details. The UW-Madison chancellor finalist said one of the more successful models in advocating for the university is relying on the campus community — the students learning in class, the faculty making life-changing discoveries — to tell that story.
Five finalists have been named in the search for the next University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank, the second-longest serving leader of the state’s flagship university, will step down in at the end of May to become the president of Northwestern University in Illinois.
The finalists include Ann Cudd, a University of Pittsburgh provost, senior vice chancellor and professor; Marie Miranda, a University of Notre Dame professor and former provost; Jennifer Mnookin, law school dean and professor at University of California, Los Angeles; Daniel Reed, a University of Utah professor and former provost and John Karl Scholz, a UW-Madison provost and professor.
The list released Wednesday — comprising two men and three women — includes no politicians and just one candidate with known ties to the university. Another candidate spent several years working in a leadership position at a large corporation but, like the others, has spent most of his career in academia.
Five academics have been named finalists for the role of University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor, the UW System announced Wednesday.
Outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said after being in “deep trouble” in 2015, the university today is in “very strong shape” when it comes to attracting and retaining faculty.
Rebecca Blank has been the chancellor of UW Madison since 2013, steering the university through the pandemic, an imposed tuition freeze, and growing awareness of social justice issues. We have an exit interview with the chancellor as she leaves to become the president of Northwestern University.
More than 75 people attended a reception to honor outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank hosted by legislators at the Wisconsin State Capitol Tuesday afternoon.
Outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank cited lagging state support, a lack of administrative autonomy and increasing political divisions as major challenges facing Wisconsin’s flagship university during a fiery speech to the UW Board of Regents Thursday.
The University of Wisconsin System Board on Thursday approved 2% raises for the system president and all chancellors, adding a total of $87,250 to the base salaries of the group of 14 college leaders this year.
The UW Board of Regents approved 2% raises for chancellors and the University of Wisconsin System president in a closed-door meeting on Thursday. The $87,250 in leadership raises range from $12,123 for UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank to $4,669 for UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow. Raises for chancellors do not require legislative approval.
In her farewell address to the UW Board of Regents Thursday, Rebecca Blank also took aim at state involvement in campus building projects, criticized some “one-size-fits-all” University of Wisconsin System policies and again called for raising in-state undergraduate tuition.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s outgoing chancellor is warning regents that the state’s bitter political polarization is the greatest threat to the school’s existence.
Jerome Chazen, a UW-Madison graduate who went on to co-found Liz Claiborne Inc., and donated $25 million to fund the expansion of the campus art museum named after him and his wife, died Sunday at age 94. “Jerry was deeply devoted to the arts and to education,” UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a press release, adding that Chazen was someone who found great joy in introducing new audiences to the art world.
