As a lack of decisiveness at the state and University of Wisconsin levels concerning the proposed public authority model continue to fuel uncertainty among the campus community, one highly-regarded history professor announced he will not be returning to the Madison campus in the fall. 

History Department Chair Florencia Mallon said while professor Jeremi Suri’s move to the University of Texas at Austin will entail a substantial increase from his salary at UW, she believes the political climate of the campus and the state of Wisconsin were also influential in his decision to leave the university.

She said Suri will earn around $220,000 in the new position. He will take a leave of absence during the upcoming fall term, Mallon said, which will allow him to move to Texas without officially resigning from UW.

She also said conversations between Suri and members of the administration are already in progress to discuss the possibility of his return to UW in the future.

Mallon said Suri has been a valuable faculty member in both his work within the history department and throughout the greater campus community during his tenure on campus.

“He has been a very dynamic and active member of the history department,” Mallon said. “He has a number of graduate students who are working with him in international history. He teaches very popular undergraduate courses for the department. But he has also been someone whose energy has always spread across several different parts of the campus.”

University Committee Chair Judith Burstyn said UW has always been able to respond to external offers to faculty when the situation is deemed financially equitable.

She added the claims that the New Badger Partnership and public authority status would have directly prevented the loss of Suri are not well-founded.

“I do think that the political climate is challenging, and that there may be some people who will choose to leave as a result of that,” Burstyn said. “But I think there are many people who will not. Most of us know how important it is to look to the long term.”

However, Burstyn said the current political climate in the state has made it increasingly difficult for UW to remain competitive with peer institutions of higher education around the world.

While many faculty members are voicing legitimate concerns over budget cuts at the state level and are anxious about the possible implications on the future of higher education in the state, Mallon said she believes the majority of professors will choose to continue their work at UW.

“I think we have a lot of high quality people who are continuing to do their work who probably would prefer to focus on their teaching than too much on the anxiety of what might be coming down the pipe. We trust the UW will continue to get the support from the state that it needs,” she said.

In an earlier debate held in Bascom Hall, Chancellor Biddy Martin said she hears from faculty receiving outside offers from other universities on a daily basis.

Martin has contended that the proposed New Badger Partnership would allow for the creation of a new personnel system that is tailored to a world-class research university and the ability to offer professors pay plans which are more competitive.

Suri could not be reached for comment.

—Katherine Krueger contributed to this report.