Chancellor Ward's legacy

David Ward has led many significant advances in university education and research, from expanding the student learning environment to investing in the physical campus to dissolving traditional boundaries between academic programs.

Here is a glimpse of some of the many examples of progress at the university under Ward's leadership. Among other initiatives, he is credited for:

Substantially enhancing undergraduate education. The university has substantially improved undergraduate education in the past decade, according to an independent accreditation review last year by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Efforts have reaped practical benefits for students: For example, the university launched a new computer sciences degree program that will help graduates take advantage of an incredible demand for computer expertise.

More broadly, Ward has overseen creation of the Bradley and Chadbourne learning communities, which seek to increase student-faculty interactions and incorporate into the residential environment discussion of ideas that are taught in the classroom.

The chancellor has also overseen creation and expansion of a cross-college advising service to help students develop and refine educational and career goals, supply information on academic programs in all relevant schools and colleges, and offer advising services at times and in places convenient for students.

On the national level, Ward has served on the 25-member Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities, a group dedicated to ensuring that learning is the focus of the university experience.

Launching partnerships to build new facilities at unprecedented rate. The new $317 million "BioStar" to build state-of-the-art research centers is only the latest in a series of public-private partnerships that have helped the university build new facilities at an unprecedented rate throughout the 1990s. Those partnerships have resulted in the construction of numerous new campus buildings for research and instruction, including the Biotechnology Building, the Pharmacy Building and the Chemistry Building. And, as Ward has redefined how the university funds essential needs on campus, resulting improvements are helping to recruit and retain the nation's top faculty.

Strengthening the university's "margin of excellence" in faculty and staff. Ward also created and implemented the university's innovative interdisciplinary teaching and research initiative, known as the cluster hiring program. To date, UW-Madison has hired 34 new faculty members in emerging areas of knowledge, such as genomics, international public affairs and religious studies. Overall, the university plans to hire 100 to 150 new professors during the next four years through cluster hiring spanning the biological, physical and social sciences, and the humanities. This program is in addition to filling positions that open up due to normal turnover.

Increasing collaboration between programs. Collaboration and communication on and off campus are the hallmarks of a new Humanities Center at the university, which is acting as a clearinghouse for activities and issues in 23 programs encompassing history, philosophy, language, literature, the arts and culture. Ward sees the new center as an excellent means of fostering interaction among scholars. "It will be a key element in the movement to break down barriers that may exist, sometimes artificially,between disciplines," he says.

Enhancing technology transfer. Ward is a national leader in the field of technology transfer. He created the university's Technology Transfer Council in 1995, and has shepherded the rapid growth of the institution's nationally recognized University Research Park, which houses 86 companies that collectively employ more than 2,600 people. The chancellor is recognized for spearheading the successful public-private partnerships between Wisconsin and the university's alumni and donors for the campus's capital and operating budgets.

Attracting more private support and improved state/federal funding. During Ward's tenure as chancellor, the university raised $739 million in private funds, which places UW-Madison No. 1 in private support among public universities, according to the most recent figures.

Federal authorities also have recognized the university's excellence, recently bypassing Harvard, Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley to locate the National Science Foundation's $10 million national science education institute on this campus. As a result, Wisconsin elementary schools, high schools and colleges have become the first to benefit from the effort to retool the nation's science and math education.

On the state level, lawmakers and the governor approved the first phase of the Madison Initiative, a four-year investment plan to enable UW-Madison to continue providing students with an outstanding education and to help Wisconsin maintain its competitiveness in the global economy. The overall plan calls for $57 million in new funds from the state and students, to be matched with $40 million in private support, for an overall investment of $97 million. The Wisconsin Legislature approved the first $29.2 million for the Madison Initiative in the current state budget, and the university will seek the remaining $28 million in public funding in the 2001-03 state budget.

Emphasizing strategic planning. Building on earlier efforts to build a forward-looking campuswide vision for the university, Ward in 1995 delivered a "Vision for the Future," a strategic plan that laid the groundwork for dialogue and priority-setting in the learning experience, research and other important areas.

Expanding diversity. The university stepped up recruitment of students of color in Milwaukee with assistance from the school district and potential future employers through the Pre-College Enrollment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence, or PEOPLE, which prepares students for admission to Wisconsin's flagship university. Ward also led efforts including the Madison Commitment in 1993, which updated the 1988 Madison Plan by emphasizing broader application and accountability in campus diversity programs. Most recently, the university finalized its next 10-year diversity blueprint as part of Plan 2008, the UW System initiative to increase the number of students, faculty and staff of color on all UW System campuses.

Improving and expanding international education. Study-abroad programs have flourished during Ward's tenure, and the chancellor has pursued many formal education and research partnerships. In 1996, he dedicated the International Institute, a joint program established this year by the College of Letters and Science and the Office of International Studies and Programs. Ward's Asian Partnership Initiative, which grew out of the chancellor's 1995 visit to Thailand and Taiwan, created campuswide partnerships with Asian universities and government agencies. Ward also traveled to Vietnam in 1995, leading the academic component of a U.S. academic and trade delegation. The university also brings the world to Madison: It boasts the fourth largest international student population in the U.S. - 10 percent of students come from other countries.

Preserving an open atmosphere. Ward has been a stalwart advocate of open debate on campus during visits by a number of speakers expressing controversial views. An ad hoc committee created by Ward developed guidelines to help campus organizations plan and carry out public events.

Keeping technology on the cutting edge for students and staff alike. Ward chaired the board of trustees for a nonprofit corporation, which includes leading U.S. research universities, in developing Internet2, a new family of advanced Internet applications in research and education. Internet2 is a collaborative project undertaken by more than 110 U.S. research universities that are examining emerging academic requirements in research, teaching and learning.

Reinvigorating the "Wisconsin Idea." Ward established a full-time community relations post to "create more coherent connections between the university, city, county and other university neighbors and partners." During the sesquicentennial, the university took its show "on the road" to communities around the state, sharing expertise and knowledge with thousands of adults and schoolchildren.