The University of Wisconsin System will lose its chief academic officer in December as Cora Marrett joins the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., in December.
Marrett, who will become the NSF's assistant director of Education and Human Resources, has served as UW's senior vice president for academic affairs for the past six years.
NSF Director of the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs Jeff Nesbit said Marrett has a "big job" ahead of her.
"The way the National Science Foundation is organized is by directorates," Nesbit said. "She will run her directorate, and her typical budget will be $500-$800 million."
The mission of the NSF is to achieve excellence in science, technology, engineering and math education in the United States by granting money to educational institutions around the nation.
"Nearly every university [in the nation] receives money," Nesbit said. "Ninety-five percent of the $6 billion from Congress goes to universities and research institutes."
Marrett did not return phone calls as of press time, but in a UW System press release, she said she has learned a lot working for UW.
"I have benefited greatly from the opportunities I have had to work with outstanding individuals in UW System administration and beyond," Marrett said.
Marrett will remain a tenured member of the UW-Madison Sociology Department, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the 1960s.
Nesbit said Marrett fulfilled the two main requirements the NSF had of their candidates: an extensive career in academic affairs and understanding of the NSF process.
"[Marrett] was one of the few who had both," Nesbit added. "She was with the NSF in the '90s and had two big jobs in academia."
In her first tenure at the NSF from 1992 to 1996, Marrett served as assistant director of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and received the NSF's Distinguished Service Award for her work in the directorate.
After working more than 30 years for UW in one form or another, Marrett said in the release she would use what she has learned in Wisconsin at her next job.
"I expect to draw upon my University of Wisconsin experiences in finding ways for U.S. citizens to access the science and engineering tools our nation needs for a healthy, prosperous and secure society," she said.
Marrett came to the UW System after four years as senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Prior to that, she was a faculty member in the UW-Madison Sociology and Afro-American Studies departments from 1974-1997, including three years as the co-chair of the Sociology Department.