Ward named acting chancellor at UW-Madison

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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MADISON - UW System president Kevin Reilly said he convinced former UW-Madison chancellor David Ward to return for a year, to try-and-cool down a contentious atmosphere. Ward was named yesterday as the acting chancellor of the state’s flagship university. He’ll take over July 18th after Biddy Martin leaves for Amherst College – and he’ll serve until a permanent chancellor is named, possibly next summer.

The 72-year-old Ward ran the Madison campus from 1993 until 2001, when he left to become the president of the American Council on Education. He served eight years in that post, and he still lives in Washington. That means he stayed out-of-the-fray during the recent controversy over Martin’s plan to separate Madison from the rest of the UW System. State legislators balked at that idea, but they did allow Madison and the other campuses to have at least some freedom from state bureaucratic rules. Ward says he’ll try to show how Madison can run more efficiently in using those newfound freedoms. And he says another of his biggest challenges will be to help the campus deal with $94-million in state aid cuts over the next two years.

UW leaders praised the selection of Ward, saying he’ll bring loads of experience at a time when the school really needs it. Ward says he won’t seek the chancellor’s job permanently. He says he’s too old for that.

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