University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (also known as University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a publicland-grantresearch university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in , UW–Madison is the official state university of Wisconsin and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It was the first public university established in Wisconsin and remains the oldest and largest public university in the state. It became a land-grant institution in [5] The acre (&#;ha) main campus, located on the shores of Lake Mendota, includes four National Historic Landmarks.[6] The university also owns and operates a historic 1,acre (&#;ha) arboretum established in , located 4 miles (&#;km) south of the main campus.[7]
UW–Madison is organized into 20 schools and colleges, which enrolled 30, undergraduate and 14, graduate students in Its academic programs include undergraduate majors, master's degree programs, and doctoral programs.[2][3] A major contributor to Wisconsin's economy, the university is the largest employer in the state,[8] with over 21, faculty and staff.[3]
Wisconsin is a founding member of the Association of American Universities, a selective group of major research universities in North America.[9] It is considered a Public Ivy,[10] and is classified as an R1 University, meaning that it engages in a very high level of research activity.[11] In , it had research and development expenditures of $ billion, the eighth-highest among universities in the U.S.[12] As of March&#;[update], 26 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields medalists and 1 Turing award winner have been associated with UW–Madison as alumni, faculty, or researchers. Additionally, as of November , the current CEOs of 14 Fortune companies have attended UW–Madison, the most of any university in the United States.[13]
Among the scientific advances made at UW–Madison are the single-grain experiment, the discovery of vitamins A and B by Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis, the development of the anticoagulant medication warfarin by Karl Paul Link, the first chemical synthesis of a gene by Har Gobind Khorana, the discovery of the retroviral enzyme reverse transcriptase by Howard Temin, and the first synthesis of human embryonic stem cells by James Thomson. UW–Madison was also the home of both the prominent "Wisconsin School" of economics and of diplomatic history, while UW–Madison professor Aldo Leopold played an important role in the development of modern environmental science and conservationism.[14][15][16]
The Wisconsin Badgers compete in 25 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA Division IBig Ten Conference and have won 28 national championships. Wisconsin students and alumni have won 50 Olympic medals (including 13 gold medals).[17]
History[edit]
The university had its official beginnings when the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature in its session passed a law incorporating a "University of the Territory of Wisconsin", and a high-ranking Board of Visitors was appointed. However, this body (the predecessor of the U.W. board of regents) never actually accomplished anything before Wisconsin was incorporated as a state in [19] The Wisconsin Constitution provided for "the establishment of a state university, at or near the seat of state government" and directed by the state legislature to be governed by a board of regents and administered by a Chancellor. On July 26, , Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin's first governor, signed the act that formally created the University of Wisconsin.[20]John H. Lathrop became the university's first chancellor, in the fall of [21] With John W. Sterling as the university's first professor (mathematics), the first class of 17 students met at Madison Female Academy on February 5, A permanent campus site was soon selected: an area of 50 acres (&#;ha) "bounded north by Fourth lake, east by a street to be opened at right angles with King street", [later State Street] "south by Mineral Point Road (University Avenue), and west by a carriage-way from said road to the lake." The regents' building plans called for a "main edifice fronting towards the Capitol, three stories high, surmounted by an observatory for astronomical observations."[22] This building, University Hall, now known as Bascom Hall, was finally completed in On October 10, , a fire destroyed the building's dome, which was never replaced. North Hall, constructed in , was actually the first building on campus. In , Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakeley became the first graduates of the university, and in the university awarded its first PhD to future university presidentCharles R. Van Hise.[23]
The Wisconsin Idea[edit]
Research, teaching, and service at the UW is influenced by a tradition known as "the Wisconsin Idea", first articulated by UW–Madison President Charles Van Hise in , when he declared "I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every home in the state."[24] The Wisconsin Idea holds that the boundaries of the university should be the boundaries of the state, and that the research conducted at UW–Madison should be applied to solve problems and improve health, quality of life, the environment, and agriculture for all citizens of the state. The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university's work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students, and the state's industries and government.[25] Based in Wisconsin's populist history, the Wisconsin Idea continues to inspire the work of the faculty, staff, and students who aim to solve real-world problems by working together across disciplines and demographics.[26]
World War II[edit]
During World War II, University of Wisconsin was one of colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.[27]
Expansion[edit]
Over time, additional campuses were added to the university. The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee was created in , and UW–Green Bay and UW–Parkside in Ten freshman-sophomore centers were also added to this system.[28] In , Wisconsin legislators passed a law merging the University of Wisconsin with the nine universities and four freshman-sophomore branch campuses of the Wisconsin State Universities System, creating the University of Wisconsin System and bringing the two higher education systems under a single board of regents.
Student activism[edit]
In the late s and early s, UW–Madison was shaken by a series of student protests, and by the use of force by authorities in response, comprehensively documented in the film The War at Home. The first major demonstrations protested the presence on campus of recruiters for the Dow Chemical Company, which supplied the napalm used in the Vietnam War. Authorities used force to quell the disturbance. The struggle was documented in the book, They Marched into Sunlight,[29] as well as the PBS documentary Two Days in October.[30] Among the students injured in the protest was former Madison mayor Paul Soglin.
Another target of protest was the Army Mathematics Research Center (AMRC) in Sterling Hall, which was also home of the physics department. The student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal, published a series of investigative articles stating that AMRC was pursuing research directly pursuant to US Department of Defense requests, and supportive of military operations in Vietnam. AMRC became a magnet for demonstrations, in which protesters chanted "U.S. out of Vietnam! Smash Army Math!"
On August 24, , near &#;am, a bomb exploded next to Sterling Hall, aimed at destroying the Army Math Research Center.[31] Despite the late hour, a post doctoral physics researcher, Robert Fassnacht, was in the lab and was killed in the explosion. The physics department was severely damaged, while the intended target, the AMRC, was scarcely affected. Karleton Armstrong, Dwight Armstrong, and David Fine were found responsible for the blast. Leo Burt was identified as a suspect, but was never apprehended or tried.[32]
Timeline of notable events[edit]
Notable moments in the history of the University of Wisconsin–Madison include:
- Female students first admitted to University of Wisconsin during the American Civil War[33][34][35]
- State legislature designated the University as the Wisconsin land-grant institution
- Science Hall is constructed, one of the world's first buildings to use I-beams[36]
- April 4, The first edition of the student-run The Daily Cardinal was published
- State Board of Regents rejected an effort to purge Professor Richard T. Ely for supporting striking printers, issuing the famous "sifting and winnowing" manifesto in defense of academic freedom, later described as "part of Wisconsin's Magna Carta"[37]
- – UW Graduate School established
- the University awards the first PhD in chemical engineering ever granted, to Oliver Patterson Watts.
- Wisconsin Union was founded
- William Purdy and Paul Beck wrote On, Wisconsin the UW–Madison athletic fight song
- – The "Single-grain experiment" was conducted by Stephen Moulton Babcock and Edwin B. Hart, paving the way for modern nutrition as a science
- Vitamin A discovered by Elmer V. McCollum and Marguerite Davis
- Vitamin B discovered by McCollum and Davis
- Radio station 9XM founded on campus (Now WHA ( AM). It is the oldest continually operating radio station in the United States)
- Harry Steenbock invented process for adding vitamin D to milk
- Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation chartered to control patenting and patent income on UW–Madison inventions
- The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, whose mission was to restore lost landscapes, such as prairies, was opened
- UW–Madison began an artist-in-residence program, the first ever at a university, with John Steuart Curry
- –Warfarin (Coumadin) developed at UW. Named after Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
- The Badger Herald was founded as a conservative student paper
- UW–Madison's Howard Temin (Virologist) co-discovers the enzyme reverse transcriptase
- Sterling Hall bombing
- University Research Park founded to encourage technology transfer between university and businesses
- UW–Madison's James Thomson first isolated and cultured human embryonic stem cells
- In response to an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease and amidst a statewide public health emergency declaration, UW–Madison suspends in-person instruction from March 23 until at least the end of the summer term, shifting courses online and drastically reducing campus operations.[38]
Academics[edit]
The University of Wisconsin–Madison, the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System, is a large, four-year research university comprising twenty associated colleges and schools.[11] In addition to undergraduate and graduate divisions in agriculture and life sciences, business, education, engineering, human ecology, journalism and mass communication, letters and science, music, nursing, pharmacy, and social welfare, the university also maintains graduate and professional schools in environmental studies, law, library and information studies, medicine and public health(School of Medicine and Public Health), public affairs, and veterinary medicine.
The four year, full-time undergraduate instructional program is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as "arts and science plus professions" with a high graduate coexistence; admissions are characterized as "more selective, lower transfer-in."[11] The largest university college, the College of Letters and Science, enrolls approximately half of the undergraduate student body and is made up of 38 departments and five professional schools[39] that instruct students and carry out research in a wide variety of fields, such as astronomy, economics, geography, history, linguistics, and zoology. The graduate instructional program is classified by Carnegie as "comprehensive with medical/veterinary." In , it granted the third largest number of doctorates in the nation.[11][40]
Rankings[edit]
| National Program Rankings[50] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Program | Ranking | ||
| Audiology | 34 | ||
| Biological Sciences | 18 | ||
| Business | 37 | ||
| Chemistry | 9 | ||
| Clinical Psychology | 5 | ||
| Computer Science | 13 | ||
| Earth Sciences | 15 | ||
| Economics | 12 | ||
| Education | 4 | ||
| Engineering | 24 | ||
| English | 20 | ||
| Fine Arts | 15 | ||
| History | 9 | ||
| Law | 38 | ||
| Library & Information Studies | 14 | ||
| Mathematics | 16 | ||
| Medicine: Primary Care | 18 | ||
| Medicine: Research | 27 | ||
| Nursing: Doctor of Nursing Practice | 31 | ||
| Occupational Therapy | 17 | ||
| Pharmacy | 7 | ||
| Physical Therapy | 25 | ||
| Physician Assistant | 15 | ||
| Physics | 17 | ||
| Political Science | 15 | ||
| Psychology | 13 | ||
| Public Affairs | 25 | ||
| Public Health | 46 | ||
| Rehabilitation Counseling | 1 | ||
| Social Work | 13 | ||
| Sociology | 6 | ||
| Speech-Language Pathology | 3 | ||
| Statistics | 16 | ||
| Veterinary Medicine | 8 | ||
International[edit]
In the QS World University Rankings, UW-Madison was ranked 65th in the world.[51] The Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed UW-Madison 49th worldwide, based primarily on surveys administered to students, faculty, and recruiters.[52] For , UW-Madison was ranked tied for 37th by U.S. News & World Report among global universities.[53] UW-Madison was ranked 32nd among world universities in by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, which assesses academic and research performance.[54]
National[edit]
UW-Madison's undergraduate program was ranked tied for 42nd among national universities by U.S. News & World Report for and tied for 13th among public colleges and universities.[55] The same publication ranked UW's graduate Wisconsin School of Business tied for 37th.[55] Other graduate schools ranked by USNWR for include the School of Medicine and Public Health, which was 27th in research and 18th in primary care, the School of Education tied for 4th, the engineering school tied for 24th, the Law School tied for 38th, and the La Follette School of Public Affairs tied for 25th.[55]
The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings ranked UW-Madison 67th among U.S. colleges and universities based upon 15 individual performance indicators.[56]
Research[edit]
UW–Madison was a founding member of the Association of American Universities.[58] In fiscal year the school received $ billion in research and development (R&D) funding, placing it eighth in the U.S. among institutions of higher education.[12] Its research programs were fourth in the number of patents issued in [59]
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of 33 sea grant colleges in the United States. These colleges are involved in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes and other marine areas.
The University maintains almost research centers and programs, ranging from agriculture to arts, from education to engineering.[60] It has been considered a major academic center for embryonic stem cell research ever since UW–Madison professor James Thomson became the first scientist to isolate human embryonic stem cells. This has brought significant attention and respect for the University's research programs from around the world. The University continues to be a leader in stem cell research, helped in part by the funding of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and promotion of WiCell.[61]
Its center for research on internal combustion engines, called the Engine Research Center, has a five-year collaboration agreement with General Motors.[62] It has also been the recipient of multimillion-dollar funding from the federal government.[63]
In June , it is reported that the United States National Institutes of Health would fund an $ million study at the University of Wisconsin. The study will research lethal qualities of viruses such as Ebola, West Nile and influenza. The goal of the study is to help find new drugs to fight off the most lethal pathogens.[64]
In , UW-Madison experiments on cats came under fire from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals who claimed the animals were abused. In , the NIH briefly suspended the research's funding pending an agency investigation. The following year the university was fined more than $35, for several violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Bill Maher, James Cromwell and others spoke out against the experiments that ended in The university defended the research and the care the animals received claiming that PETA's objections were merely a "stunt" by the organization.[65][66][67]
Big Ten Academic Alliance[edit]
The University of Wisconsin is a participant in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) is the academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference. Students at participating schools are allowed "in-house" borrowing privileges at other schools' libraries.[68] The BTAA uses collective purchasing and licensing, and has saved member institutions $19 million to date.[69] Course sharing,[70]professional development programs,[71]study abroad and international collaborations,[72] and other initiatives are also part of the BTAA.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences[edit]
The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences fulfills the UW–Madison's mission as a land-grant university, which dates back to , when Congress passed legislation to establish a national network of colleges devoted to agriculture and mechanics and Wisconsin received , acres of allotted federal land.[73] In the university began offering a winter course for farmers, the Agriculture Short Course, which was greatly developed and enhanced by Ransom Asa Moore from until and continues today as the Farm and Industry Short Course. In the university put all of their agricultural offerings under a new College of Agriculture, with W.A. Henry as dean.[73] Professors listed in the Agricultural Short Course for the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison listed popular professors such the Dean of the College of Agriculture, W.A. Henry (Feeds and Feeding), S.M. Babcock (Agricultural Chemistry; Farm Dairying), F.H. King (Agricultural Physics, Agricultural Mechanics, and Meteorology), E.S. Goff (Plant Life, Horticulture, and Economic Entomology), H.L. Russell (Bacteriology), J.A. Craig (Breeds: Breeding and Judging Live Stock), Wm. A. Scott (Economics of Agriculture), C.I. King (Practical Mechanics), Mr. R.A. Moore (Parliamentary Procedures and Book-keeping), A.B. Sayles (Farm Dairying), Fred. Cranefield (Assistant in Green House Instruction), and the previous instructor in Veterinary Science, W.G. Clark, V.S.
The building that housed the College of Agriculture was originally created in and was centered in South Hall on Bascom Hill until the fall of when the first classes were held in the brand new College of Agriculture and Life Sciences building, where it has since remained.[74] "The college has evolved and grown over the decades to reflect changes in the fabric of society and in the areas of knowledge that it studies. Practical studies related to crop and livestock production and farm life gradually delved deeper as scientists strove to understand the underlying biological processes. Today the college generates new knowledge about agriculture, natural resources management and protection, human health and nutrition, community development and related topics. Faculty and staff in 19 academic departments and a number of interdisciplinary programs carry out these lines of study."[73]
It has 12 associated research centers including the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station and research centers in Arlington among other locations in Wisconsin.[75]
Letters & Science Honors Program[edit]
The L&S Honors Program serves over students in the College of Letters and Science (the UW–Madison's liberal arts college) with an enriched undergraduate curriculum. In addition to its curriculum, the program offers professional advising services; research opportunities and funding; and numerous academic, social and service opportunities through the Honors Student Organization. The Honors Program also supports several student organizations, such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison Forensics Team.
WISCIENCE[edit]
The Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) is a unit that facilitates coordination of science outreach efforts across the university and works to improve science education at all levels.[76]
Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing[edit]
The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing is a post-graduate program for emerging writers offered by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each year, it awards "internationally-competitive" nine-month fellowships to writers of fiction and poetry who have yet to publish a second book.[77] Notable past Fellows include Anthony Doerr, Ann Packer and Quan Barry.[78]
The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing offers two fellowships in fiction and three fellowships in poetry. These include the James C. McCreight Fiction Fellowship, the Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship, the Ruth Halls Poetry Fellowship, the Ronald Wallace Poetry Fellowship, and the First Wave Poetry Fellowship. Additionally, it offers the Halls Emerging Artist Fellowship to a second-year candidate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's MFA program in creative writing, in order to fund a third year of study. Fellows receive a cash prize of a minimum of $38, as well as health insurance. Fellows are required to live in the Madison, Wisconsin area for the duration of their fellowships, teach one creative writing workshop each semester, assist in judging the English department's writing contests and fellowships, and give a public reading.[79][80]
The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing was founded in by the poet Ronald Wallace, who taught at the University of Wisconsin's English department from to [81]. WICW was created "to provide time, space, and an intellectual community for writers working on a first book of poetry or fiction." In , the Institute expanded its fellowship eligibility requirements to include writers who have published only one book-length work of creative writing.[82] From to , it offered the Carl Djerassi Distinguished Playwriting Fellowship in addition to fiction and poetry fellowships.[83]
Fellowship applications are judged anonymously until finalists are chosen. However, "It is the work and the work alone that really matters," says Jesse Lee Kercheval, in a conversation with the Association of Writers and Writing Programs[84].
Campus[edit]
Located in Madison, about a mile from the state capitol, the main campus of the university is situated partially on the isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. The main campus comprises acres (&#;ha) of land, while the entire campus, including research stations throughout the state, is over 10, acres (4,&#;ha) in area. The central campus is on an urban layout mostly coinciding with the city of Madison's street grid, exceptions being the suburban University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and the Department of Psychiatry & Clinics in the West Side research park. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, a demonstration area for native ecosystems, is located on the west side of Madison. The main campus includes many buildings designed or supervised by architects J.T.W. Jennings and Arthur Peabody. The hub of campus life is the Memorial Union. UW–Madison's campus has been ranked as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States by Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler.[86][87]
The UW–Madison has its own police force, food service, hospital, recreation facilities, botanical gardens, public artworks, power facilities, and an on-campus dairy plant.
Bascom Hall[edit]
As one of the icons on campus, Bascom Hall,[88] at the top of Bascom Hill, is often considered the "heart of the campus." Built in , a decorative dome that once sat atop the structure was destroyed by fire in The structure has been added to several times over the years. The building currently houses the office of the chancellor and vice chancellors. Bascom Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building within the Bascom Hill Historic District.[89]
Music Hall[edit]
This Victorian Gothic building, built in and initially named Assembly Hall, was designed to house an seat auditorium, a library, and a clock tower. Dedicated on March 2, , the building originally held conventions, dances, and commencement ceremonies, along with its primary purpose of a library. After the library moved to a different building on campus, a portion of the hall was assigned to the School of Music in Shortly after renovations in the early s, the building was officially named Music Hall in It remains an important music venue and is home to the university opera.[90] This building also is home to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, with part of the building being used as office space and classrooms.
George L. Mosse Humanities Building[edit]
The George L. Mosse Humanities Building, located on Library Mall, was built in the late s in the Brutalist style. Although debunked, the campus myth is that the building (with its poor ventilation, narrow windows, inclined base, and cantilevered upper floors) was designed to be "riot-proof".[91][92] Its seven floors house the history, art, and music departments. The most recent campus master plan calls for it to be demolished and replaced with two other buildings,[93] in part because of water damage.[94][95]
-