While many Cornell students, faculty and staff have offered both praise for Provost Biddy Martin as she prepares to assume the position of University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor in September and lamentation in the wake of her absence at Cornell, the chancellor-elect has become the brunt of harsh criticism amidst a highly publicized battle between members of Wisconsinâ??s state legislature.
On May 30, the National Review Online ran a blog post questioning if Martin â?? who the author described as an â??obscure, self-indulged, theory-laden, post-modern scholarâ? â?? has what it takes to be chancellor of UW-Madison. Soon after the post was published, Rep. Steven Nass (R-Whitewater) circulated it among senate and assembly Republicans, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.