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THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN- MADISON AND THE UW FOUNDATION SUMMER 2008 Front Page News Grads bow at commencement Approximately 5,000 students received their degrees at five spring commencement ceremonies the weekend of May 16-18. Chancellor John Wiley observed in his Cornell provost named new chancellor address that the weekend also marked a commencement Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin (‘85 PhD L&S) will become for him. After seven years, he will step down from his the 29th leader of the University of Wisconsin-Madison post on September 1. Wiley called this year’s graduates this fall. She was recommended by a special board of “emissaries of the Wisconsin Idea” and urged them to regents committee and was approved by the full board contribute to making the world a better place. on June 5. She will assume her duties on September 1. This year’s commencement speakers were Shirley Abra- Martin has served as provost at Cornell University, hamson (‘62 JD Law), chief justice of the Wisconsin Su- Ithaca, New York, since 2000. Prior to that, she spent preme Court, and Kay Koplovitz (‘67 BS L&S), founder four years as senior associate dean in Cornell’s College of cable television’s USA Network and the first woman of Arts and Sciences. A professor of German studies and network president in television history. women’s studies, she served as chair of German studies from 1994-97. Two alumni received honorary degrees at the May 16 ceremony. John W. Rowe (‘67 BS L&S, ‘70 JD Law), a The 57-year-old Martin is a native of Virginia and did successful builder of utilities companies, was awarded her undergraduate work in her home state at the College a Doctor of Human Letters and Science degree.John E. of William and Mary. She earned her master’s degree at Ahern (‘58 BS L&S), head of a Wisconsin mechanical and Middlebury College and attended the UW-Madison for fire protection contracting company, received a Doctor of her doctorate. Science degree. View photographs and webcasts of the ceremonies at www.news.wisc.edu/commencement/. Martin sees a bright future for the campus as the de- mands of the 21st century call for educational excel- Board of Regent actions lence and innovation. “Despite all of the problems and Meeting in Milwaukee the first week in June, the regents challenges, there is an emerging knowledge economy also conducted their annual perfomance review of UW across the globe. Higher education has never been more System President Kevin Reilly. Reilly received a salary important,” she said. “The numbers make it apparent increase of $72,729. His new salary of $414,593 is just how absolutely critical UW-Madison is to the economic below the median of $421,500 for peers at comparable well-being of the state of Wisconsin.” institutions. However, he pledged to keep only the same 3 percent salary increase that UW System non- Martin also said she is “thrilled to have this opportunity represented employees will receive in fiscal year 2008-09. to return to a place where I have such significant and He and his wife, Kate Reilly, will donate the remaining emotional connections.” $70,000 to the Reilly Family Scholarship Fund at the UW Foundation. The Reillys established this endowment in To learn more about Chancellor Martin, visit 2007 to provide grants to students at all 26 UW System www.chancellorsearch.wisc.edu. campuses. Page 2 Digest The board approved a tuition increase of 5.5 percent. Despite the increase, tuition at the UW-Madison remains Health & Biotech News the second lowest in the Big Ten. Undergraduate tuition Clinical doctorate in nursing slated will rise $348 to $6,678. Tuition plus mandatory fees for The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) will become part in-state students will be $7,564 for the 2008-09 academic of the UW-Madison School of Nursing’s curriculum year. This is the second consecutive 5.5 percent annual in the fall of 2009 or 2010. The school will join the UW increase. Of that, 3 percent will help pay for the state System schools of pharmacy, audiology and physical program that provides free tuition for veterans who therapy in offering a doctorate. enroll in the UW System. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has The board also approved a differential tuition plan for pushed for schools nationwide to phase in the DNP as students in the College of Engineering. Beginning in fall the standard for advanced practice nursing by the year 2008, engineering students will pay an additional $600 in 2015. Currently, there are 57 existing DNP programs, tuition. This will increase by an additional $400 in each with more than 140 programs under development. It is of the next two years for a total differential of $1,400. expected that within the decade, all nursing programs The UW-Madison is the only public Big Ten school that in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Big does not have a differential for engineering students. Ten’s academic arm, will offer the DNP. The increased revenue will be allocated to hiring two dozen more engineering faculty and staff, updating Both the UW-Madison and the UW-Milwaukee have equipment and adding more lab classes. Dean Paul been granted entitlement to plan their programs by the Peercy stressed that additional need-based financial aid board of regents. The UW-Madison is finalizing details will be made available to students. of its program. The current master’s program, with the exception of the MS/MPH option, will be phased into Wiley heads to WID the DNP and will be similar to the post-master’s degree John Wiley has been named interim director of the option, allowing students who have a master’s degree to Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, the public half of the specialize in another clinical area. interdisciplinary research center now under construction in the block bounded by University and Randall av- The DNP and PhD programs prepare nurses for dif- enues and Johnson Street. The private half of the center ferent roles. The DNP provides academic preparation is the Morgridge Institute for Research. The twin in- for advanced nursing practice and leadership; the PhD stitutes are scheduled to open in 2010. UW-Madison program prepares students for research careers. Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader made the announcement. Biochemist named Searle Scholar Doug Weibel, assistant professor of biochemistry, Wiley will assume his new post November 1, taking over College of Letters and Science, won the prestigious from Marsha Mailick Seltzer (‘72 BA L&S), who has Searle Scholar Award, a prize recognizing the academic guided the development of the Institute for Discovery excellence of young faculty in medicine, chemistry and for almost two years in addition to her duties as director the biological sciences. He is one of 15 Searle Scholars the Waisman Center. nationwide named this year and the first UW-Madison recipient since 1997. Wiley also will be a professor in the Department of Edu- cational Leadership and Policy Analysis and the LaFol- The award, one of the top monetary prizes in the bio- lette School of Public Affairs. He will continue research medical sciences, provides $300,000 over the next three on policy-related matters, including the finance and eco- years in research funding. nomics of higher education. In addition, he will have a zero-dollar appointment as senior scholar at the Wisconsin Weibel’s research is unusual because he has developed a Center for the Advancement of Post-secondary Education. Digest Page 3 broad program that integrates several areas of his exper- study, conducted by researchers from academia and tise. His interdisciplinary research fuses techniques from industry, extends those findings, showing that resvera- chemistry, materials sciences, engineering and microbi- trol in low doses and beginning in middle age can elicit ology. He is trying to unlock the fundamental mysteries many of the same benefits as a reduced calorie diet. of cells using bacterium E. coli as a model. Weibel said he plans to use the money to investigate the changes in “Reveratrol is active in much lower doses than previ- gene expression that occur as bacteria move from liquid ously thought and mimics a significant fraction of the to solid surfaces. This may help explain how infection- profile of caloric restriction at the gene expression level,” causing bacteria latch onto surfaces in high-flow envi- said Tomas Prolla, a senior author and professor of ronments, such as bladders and catheter tubes. genetics, SMPH and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Weibel earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Utah and his master’s and doctoral In short, a glass of wine or food supplements that con- degrees from Cornell University. He was a postdoctoral tain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to repre- researcher at Harvard University before joining the UW- sent “a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac Madison faculty in 2006. aging,” the authors noted. Stay young at heart. Drink wine. Around Campus Despite a diet loaded with saturated fats, the French are a heart-healthy people. The answer to this paradox may Microsoft comes to Madison be found in red wine, or more specifically in resveratrol, Microsoft, the world’s largest computer software com- a natural constituent of grapes, pomegranates, red wine pany, is opening an advanced development laboratory and other foods, according to a new study by an interna- in Madison as part of an academic partnership with the tional team of researchers. UW-Madison. The lab will help expand on a 20-year research and alumni relationship between the company Writing in the June 3 open-access journal Public Library and the University’s computer science department.