New chancellors chosen for UW-Madison and UW-Eau Claire

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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MADISON - The acting secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to become the next chancellor of Wisconsin’s flagship public university. UW President Kevin Reilly and a special Regents’ search committee today announced its recommended choice of Rebecca Blank to replace Biddy Martin as the head of the Madison campus.

Martin left two years ago to become the president of Amherst College in Massachusetts. Former Madison Chancellor David Ward has been filling in since then. The full Board of Regents is scheduled to act on Blank’s appointment April 5th. The panel will also set a salary, which is expected to be in the half-million-dollar range. Blank was among four finalists for the post – the others being John Hopkins’ dean Nicholas Jones, Michigan State provost Kim Wilcox, and University of Chicago Law School dean Michael Schill.

Blank was the dean of the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at Michigan for a decade, until joining the Commerce Department in 2009. She was first an undersecretary for economic affairs until she became the deputy secretary, and finally acting secretary. Republican Governor Scott Walker called Blank a great selection with quote, “excellent academic credentials – strong leadership experience – and a keen knowledge of economic issues.” If confirmed, Blank will start her new post in July.

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UW-Eau Claire did not have to look too far to find its next chancellor – only about 65 miles away in neighboring Minnesota. Winona State vice president James Schmidt was named today as the preferred choice of a special UW Regents’ committee. The full Board of Regents will be asked April fifth to confirm Schmidt as the replacement for Brian Levin-Stankevich, who left last spring to become the new president of Westminster College in Salt Lake City. Gilles Bousquet of UW-Madison has been filling in as the interim chancellor. Schmidt has been at Winona State since 1998, and has overseen government relations, campus development, marketing, and other areas. Eau Claire has over 11,000 students, with more than 80 degree programs.

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