Timeline of Chancellor Wiley’s tenure
Wiley becomes chancellor
Jan. 1, 2001
John D. Wiley, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, begins his tenure as chancellor. He becomes UW-Madison’s university's 27th leader, succeeding David Ward.
Wiley sets priorities
January 2001
Chancellor Wiley identifies his near-term priorities, which include diversity and student issues; the state budget; and strengthening relationships with the campus community, and with government and business leaders across the state and nation.
NCAA compliance reviewed
April 2001
Chancellor Wiley announces that UW-Madison will impose significant penalties and change internal procedures to ensure compliance with NCAA regulations, following findings that the Athletics Department may have inadvertently violated NCAA rules prohibiting extra benefits to student-athletes.
Campus discusses 9/11
October 2001
Chancellor Wiley holds listening sessions about how the campus community is handling the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “These are opportunities for people to come forward, talk about their experiences and offer solutions,” he says.
Program expands access
October 2001
Following a spring launch, a pilot Connections Program created to meet the demand for an undergraduate degree from UW–Madison is expanded to all 13 UW Colleges, offering select applicants “dual admission” to UW–Madison and the colleges.
Strategic plan unveiled
November 2001
Chancellor Wiley unveils a new strategic plan for UW-Madison, building upon a study completed in 1999 that was used for the university’s 10-year reaccreditation. The plan identifies five priorities: promote research, advance learning, accelerate internationalization, amplify the Wisconsin Idea and nurture human resources.
Community office opens
January 2002
The university opens a Community Partnerships Office for outreach programs in Madison’s South Park Street neighborhood, providing a resource center and a point of contact for information about the university.
PEOPLE students graduate
July 2002
A ceremony honors the first 24 graduates of the PEOPLE program who are enrolling at UW-Madison in the fall. Designed to increase diversity in the student body, the program helps selected students at Milwaukee and Racine public high schools prepare for college.
Access expands via Web
August 2002
For the first time, students can use a Web-based system for class enrollment and registration, and access their student records, as well as tuition and financial aid information online.
Coalition addresses high-risk drinking
September 2002
A campus and community effort to reduce the consequences of high-risk drinking receives a four-year grant renewal from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Known as the PACE Coalition, the project is working to change policies and support alternatives to high-risk drinking.
Office focuses on Wisconsin businesses
May 2003
A new Office of Corporate Relations opens to strengthen connections between UW-Madison and Wisconsin businesses. A task force convened by Chancellor Wiley recommended the office as a way to better serve companies that look to the university for help in solving challenges.
UW works with new visa rules
July 2003
UW-Madison prepares to assist international students and visiting faculty in light of new visa requirements designed to combat terrorism — procedures that may make it difficult for them to reach campus by the start of classes.
Fundraising campaign launched
October 2003
The University of Wisconsin Foundation launches the public phase of a $1.5 billion campaign, the campus’s most ambitious fundraising effort ever undertaken. “At no time in the university’s history has there been such extraordinary opportunity for achievement and progress,” says Chancellor Wiley.
East Campus plan unveiled
November 2003
The university unveils a new East Campus master plan, setting the course for a 15-year redevelopment of the eastern edge of UW–Madison’s campus. The proposed overhaul would include an arts-and-humanities district, new student housing, two classroom buildings and an expanded Elvehjem Museum of Art.
Health Sciences center opens
April 2004
The new Health Sciences Learning Center opens as an educational hub, allowing students in medicine, nursing and pharmacy to learn collaboratively and participate in joint projects. It also houses the new Ebling Library, uniting collections previously held in three campus locations.
Gift supports Education Building
May 2004
The university announces a $31 million gift that will allow renovation of the Education Building, a 104-year-old signature edifice on Bascom Hill. The project will include restoration of architectural features, which have been compromised over the years by age and sporadic remodeling projects.
Program welcomes sports fans
August 2004
UW–Madison begins Rolling Out the Red Carpet to build welcoming traditions for sports fans, in response to complaints about fan conduct during the 2003 football season. The effort focuses initially on football, hockey and basketball, and welcomes fans regardless of the team they support.
Research complex moves forward
November 2004
The UW System Board of Regents approves construction of a $133.9 million Interdisciplinary Research Complex as the final phase of the 1997 Healthstar initiative, created to address the health care research and instructional needs of the 21st century.
Capital budget approved
March 2005
Chancellor Wiley expresses gratitude for the state Building Commission’s adoption of a capital budget that funds the first phase of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the University Square project, a private-public partnership that will bring together student health care and financial services.
Groups examine sweatshop abuses
April 2005
Chancellor Wiley announces a collaboration between university administrators and the Labor Licensing Policy Committee to curb sweatshop abuses among companies that make products bearing the university’s name or logos. Products are made in approximately 3,300 factories in 47 countries worldwide.
Gift supports museum expansion
May 2005
A $20 million gift from alumni Simona and Jerome Chazen will fund more than half of the cost for a major expansion of the Elvehjem Museum of Art. To commemorate the gift, the name of the museum becomes the Chazen Museum of Art.
Cogen plant begins operations
August 2005
The $180 million West Campus Cogeneration Facility, one of the cleanest power plants in the Midwest, begins operating under a public-private partnership. Chancellor Wiley recommended the project in 2003 as a way for the university to work toward meeting long-term energy needs.
UW noted for societal impact
September 2005
UW–Madison is named the nation’s top research university in a new college guide by Washington Monthly that is outwardly focused on societal impact, emphasizing outcomes of university work such as public service, promoting social mobility and advancing the economy.
Controversy leads to policy review
September 2005
After a summer of controversy over university personnel matters, Chancellor Wiley says the campus community needs to do a better job of protecting those who report wrongdoing, evaluating workplace policies and providing sexual harassment awareness training.
20-year master plan shared
November 2005
A master plan that will guide the UW–Madison campus for 20 years is detailed by at a public meeting. More than a year in the making, the plan lays out ways to make the campus more livable, workable and sustainable.
Parameters set for licensed apparel
December 2005
UW–Madison is among the first U.S. universities to launch a pilot program requiring companies that produce officially licensed apparel products to purchase 25 percent of their goods from factories that allow a union, representative body or the right of free association for workers.
Gift supports research institutes
April 2006
The largest individual gift ever to benefit the university — $50 million from alumni John and Tashia Morgridge — paves the way for pioneering scientific collaboration at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. The donation will be matched by the state and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
UW, MATC sign agreement
April 2006
UW-Madison and its longstanding local partner, Madison Area Technical College, strengthen their relationship with a pilot agreement under which a qualified student can begin as a freshman at MATC and two years later, be guaranteed admission at UW-Madison.
Posse Scholars graduate
May 2006
The university’s Posse Scholars program sees its first four graduates receive their degrees. Launched in 2002, the program recruits students of diverse backgrounds who have extraordinary academic and leadership potential and provides them a supportive network of peers and campus mentors.
New residence hall opens
August 2006
Newell J. Smith Hall, the first major new residence hall on campus since Ogg Hall in 1965, opens to students. The building’s design includes features to help students succeed academically, including classrooms on the first floor, a tutoring office and numerous study spaces.
Plan reshapes LTE positions
October 2006
Chancellor Wiley announces that UW-Madison will adopt a detailed, multiyear plan that will reshape its use of limited-term employees (LTEs). The plan was brought forward by an advisory body composed of students, staff and LTEs.
Access named No. 1 challenge
November 2006
Chancellor Wiley tells the university’s Faculty Senate that access is the No. 1 challenge, noting that students must be encouraged to explore alternatives when starting their college careers, including UW-Madison’s Connections Program or another transfer program.
Grant trains future entrepreneurs
December 2006
Gov. Jim Doyle and Chancellor Wiley announce that the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has named UW-Madison one of its nine “Kauffman Campuses,” and has provided $5 million to help train students in the principles and practices of entrepreneurship.
Gift supports study abroad
February 2007
A gift from the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation supports yearlong study abroad for UW-Madison students. More than 150 university programs offer students the chance to study in other countries. UW-Madison ranks No. 11 nationally in the number of students taking advantage of the opportunity.
Center strengthens stem cell work
May 2007
To strengthen and sustain its leadership in two critical fields, UW-Madison establishes a Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. The new center will serve as a focal point for basic, pre-clinical and clinical research in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, an emerging multidisciplinary field.
Faculty retention funding OK’d
June 2007
Chancellor Wiley says a vote in the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee supporting a $10 million UW System faculty retention package will assist UW-Madison “to keep our very best and most productive faculty from being hired away.” The package later receives full legislative approval.
Federal grant funds energy studies
June 2007
UW-Madison’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center receives the largest formal grant in the university’s history, $125 million over five years, from the U.S. Department of Energy to support research aimed at converting cellulosic plant biomass into sources of energy.
Hall pairs housing, learning
August 2007
Ogg Hall, UW-Madison’s newest residence hall, opens to 615 students, carrying on the university’s tradition of blending academics with student housing. The new hall’s features include two classrooms, a technology learning center and an advising office.
Big Ten Network launched
August 2007
The Big Ten Network officially launches in prime time. Chancellor Wiley and Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez later announce a minimum revenue guarantee of more than $6.1 million from the network will support need-based student scholarships and campus libraries and keep UW athletics competitive.
Institute focuses on health research
September 2007
A new research entity, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, is formed to move health discoveries along a continuum from basic and clinical investigation to translation into practice, leading to practical improvements in the health of Wisconsin residents.
Largest academic building opens
September 2007
A new Microbial Sciences Building — the campus’s largest academic building — opens as part of the state’s BioStar program, providing students and researchers with a facility designed to spark exchanges of ideas aimed at answering biological questions of unprecedented complexity and importance.
State budget approved
October 2007
Chancellor Wiley applauds Gov. Jim Doyle and the state Legislature for concluding lengthy budget deliberations, noting that the budget includes “major victories for the university in student financial aid, faculty retention and the capital budget.”
Research enterprise ranked No. 2
November 2007
National Science Foundation statistics rank UW-Madison No. 2 in the country for science and engineering research expenditures, which totaled $832 million for fiscal year 2006. The new report also identifies UW-Madison as the leading U.S. university for research in the areas of education, business and the humanities.
Wiley shares plans to step down
December 2007
Chancellor Wiley announces plans to step down effective September 2008, following a nearly eight-year term as the university’s leader.