Over the past few weeks, our Badger pride stretched far and wide — from a packed watch party at Union South to the world stage — as the USA women’s hockey team brought home Olympic gold in overtime. UW–Madison had more players on the ice for Team USA than any other university, and former Badger Hilary Knight ’12, assisted by Badger Laila Edwards x’27, scored the game-tying goal with just two minutes left in the third period! And our alumni competed for Canada and Czechia, too.
For one university to supply that much talent reflects the larger scope of our excellence. It’s one reason our unofficial nickname, the “Madison Miracle,” feels particularly apt right now. You might have seen that Time magazine last month ranked us second among public universities in the country, and U.S. News & World Report ranks us 12th — all from a state with substantially fewer people and a smaller economy than every other state with a school in the top 15.
Rankings tell only part of the story, but they do help us attract top students. (Our admissions team is working its way through a record 75,000 applications for the next freshman class!)
Progress like this doesn’t happen by accident. It takes steady work and investment over time, especially as the environment around higher education grows more complex.
As I told the board of regents last month, despite the challenges we’ve faced, this university has achieved some truly amazing things, thanks to our incredible Badger community. We’re improving access and affordability, addressing polarization through the Wisconsin Exchange, and giving entrepreneurs a clearer path for turning bold ideas into successful ventures with our new Entrepreneurship Hub.
And our UW–Madison artificial intelligence “trifecta” is now coming into focus with RISE-AI and next summer’s planned launch of the new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (our first new college in more than 40 years), along with Morgridge Hall — already an epicenter for collaboration and a warm and welcoming community. The students even held a contest to name the robots that help clean the building — if you stop by late in the day, you might just catch a glimpse of Broom Broom and Dirt Buster!
Just last week, Herb Kohl Philanthropies announced a $30 million gift to our La Follette School of Public Affairs — the largest in La Follette’s history. The gift will help transform historic Music Hall into Herb Kohl Hall, a new campus home for the La Follette School, and it will support the school’s programming, including work that promotes civil dialogue and the kind of across-the-aisle collaboration Senator Kohl ’56 championed.
What makes this “Madison Miracle” real and sustainable is the commitment of people like you who believe in UW–Madison’s power to improve lives and open doors. Thank you.
On, Wisconsin!
Jennifer L. Mnookin
Chancellor
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Chancellor’s Choice
All systems are go for a new aerospace engineering major at UW–Madison, expanding opportunities for students interested in space, flight, and advanced systems engineering and an exciting addition to our nationally ranked engineering program.
For a fun and fascinating read, check out this story on UW–Madison’s RoboCup team, where students are using AI to teach humanoid robots to play soccer.
And finally, I hope you’ll help us demonstrate the UW’s value by sharing your story with elected leaders during our upcoming advocacy events in Washington, DC, and Madison. Last year’s turnout set a new record — let’s do that again!