News releases

04/05/12

To: Editors, news directors

From: Greg Bump, (608) 890-2166, gbump@wisc.edu

Re: BLANK CONFIRMED AS UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON CHANCELLOR

Rebecca M. Blank has been confirmed as the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison today, Friday, April 5.

Blank, an economist who currently serves as the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, was appointed by a unanimous vote of the UW System Board of Regents who are meeting at UW-LaCrosse. She will begin her appointment in mid-to-late July, succeeding David Ward, who has served as interim chancellor for the past two years.

Blank grew up in Roseville, Minn. and earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earning a Ph.D. in economics.

Blank has held teaching positions at MIT, Princeton University, Northwestern University and the University of Michigan, where she also served as dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy from 1999-2007. Before joining Commerce in 2009, Blank was a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C

For questions about the appointment and Regents reaction, contact David Giroux at UW System, (608) 262-4464 or (608) 235-5359 (cell).

For complete information and a video greeting from Blank, visit http://chancellorsearch.wisc.edu

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