University of Wisconsin students and community members met Tuesday with current Cornell University provost Biddy Martin, one of four finalists to fill the chancellor position this fall.
Formerly a professor of German and Women’s Studies at Cornell University, Martin has served as provost since 2000.
Martin, who received a doctorate in German Literature from UW in 1985, said in addition to her familiarity to the university, bringing “a fresh pair of eyes” to UW would be beneficial.
“It’s always an advantage to know a place and to love a place and then also to have experiences elsewhere and to know from first hand experience how things can be done differently,” Martin said.
Martin acknowledged that currently one of the biggest issues in higher education is funding and said the combination of working closely with the state Legislature and enhancing public donations are crucial to UW’s ability to thrive.
She added fundraising is a task she enjoy,s and UW is well positioned to undertake such efforts.
“I think of higher education in relation to government as a provider of solutions more then just a hand out for additional funding,” Martin said. “I think higher education is increasingly perceived across the world really as essential in a knowledge economy.”
Higher education has entered a period of extraordinary competition around the world for the best faculty, Martin said, and keeping UW salaries consistent with peer universities would be a top priority.
Martin added she has a passion for diversification of students, staff and faculty, and creating an environment where everyone feels well served is most important.
She added accountability is a major part of the solution toward diversity problems, but the real work has to go on at the program, department and college levels where recruitment retention and creation of cultures happens every day.
With a background in humanities, Martin said to some extent, many majors in the area feel underappreciated as compared to the sciences, as the sciences attract significant attention and funding.
“I think its really, really critical that chancellors and presidents in this country promote the arts and the humanities even more strongly then ever,” Martin said. “Certainly not to the detriment of the developments in science, which hold out the possibility of solutions to some of the worlds most urgent problems, but I would argue that the humanities and the arts are just as critical to solutions to some of those urgent problems, as are the sciences.”
Martin said the UW chancellor position appealed to her due to her love the university and the city.
“I think the University of Wisconsin offers an extraordinary opportunity for anyone interested in leadership and higher education,” Martin said. “It’s a world class university with a great faculty, great students and a long standing public mission on which it seems to me it’s done remarkably well.”
R. Timothy Mulcahy, vice president for research at the University of Minnesota, will visit campus tomorrow, appearing at a public forum from 1:30-3 at the Main Lounge of Memorial Union and at a student reception from 4-5:30 at the On Wisconsin Room in the Red Gym.
See badgerherald.com all week for updates on the candidates’ visits and video coverage of their press conferences.
