There are few state jobs more important or demanding than
chancellor of the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin's flagship university
serves more than 41,000 students, employs more than 16,000 people and has an
annual budget of more than $2 billion.

On Friday, UW Chancellor John Wiley announced he will step
down from the position he has held since 2001, effective Sept. 1, 2008.

Although we are not surprised — Mr. Wiley is 65 years old
and retirement rumors have been circulating for years — we are nonetheless
sorry to see him go. Despite dwindling state support over the past six years,
which he has done his best both to combat and reverse, the university has
flourished under Mr. Wiley's leadership.

Perhaps most importantly, UW remains one of the very best
research universities in the nation, as evidenced by last month's stem cell
breakthrough, which made international headlines and could put to rest ethical
concerns over the promising research. Mr. Wiley, whose background is in physics
and electrical engineering, undoubtedly deserves a great deal of recognition
for UW's research successes.

We have also been impressed over the years with how Mr.
Wiley has handled student government on campus. While we would have preferred
to see him clamp down a little tighter on the fiscal irresponsibility that
comes from our student government, the Associated Students of Madison, Mr.
Wiley has long professed a great deal of respect for shared governance and
allowing the students to control their own finances. Those are tough principles
to argue against, and accordingly, we do place the bulk of the blame with our
fellow students rather than the chancellor for some of ASM's poorer policies.

The chancellor's record of encouraging free speech on campus
has been commendable, as well. Mr. Wiley has consistently refused to capitulate
to overzealous student activist groups calling for the silencing of other
voices. Just this semester, he told the Campus Antiwar Network that he will
continue to allow Halliburton to hold job recruitments on campus. Almost two
years ago, when this newspaper published a controversial Danish cartoon
depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Mr. Wiley's reaction was appropriate
and responsible, quoting the famous Bascom Hall "sifting and winnowing" plaque
in a statement responding to the incident.

To be sure, there have been bumps in the proverbial road.
His mishandling of the later-discredited sexual harassment allegations against
former Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows was regrettable, and the whole sordid
affair left the reputations of everyone involved tarnished. We have also
watched, frustrated, as Mr. Wiley very publicly defended the merits of asking
for a student's race on his or her admissions applications, while at the same
time claiming no student has ever been admitted because of the color of his or
her skin. These faults, however, should not cloud all the good Mr. Wiley has
done for this university.

Looking forward, we are excited to see the fruits of a
nationwide search for UW's next chancellor. It will be an exciting time of
transition for this campus, but now is not the time for speculation. As we head
into the last week of classes in 2007, we gratefully and sincerely thank Mr.
Wiley for his years of service to the UW community.