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University of Wisconsin-Madison Annual Report 2003-2004

Year in Review
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Year in Review

Turning...125

The Music Hall clock tower, home to a 2,000-pound bell and one of the earliest sources of accurate time in Madison.

Photo of the Music Hall clock tower.

100

The Wisconsin Idea.
The outreach mission of the university was best articulated in 1904 by UW President Charles Van Hise, who defined the need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university to every home in the state."

100

The Department of Political Science, which was among the first separate departments devoted to the study of politics in the nation and now has more than 11,000 living alumni.

100

The School of Human Ecology, whose centennial celebration marked the many ways that the school serves as an academic model for colleges and universities across the country.

100

Agricultural Hall.
The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been home to people and the ideas that have improved life for people around the world, from the discovery of the first vitamins to the genetic sequencing of living organisms.

75

Memorial Union.
First proposed by the UW Board of Regents as a memorial to honor students and faculty who died in World War I, the union came to fruition after a nationwide campaign raised nearly $1 million.

75

The UW Summer Music Clinic, founded to help young musicians polish their talents by working with expert musicians on campus.

50

Memorial Library, which holds more than 3.5 million volumes, the largest single library collection in the state.

40

The Department of African Languages and Literature, which is still the only such department in the country.

30

The Institute on Aging, a multidisciplinary research center devoted to new knowledge on issues related to aging.

20

The School of Veterinary Medicine, which enrolled its first class in the fall of 1983.

 

July 2003

With the help of a National Institutes of Health grant, the university joins a national center to study autism, a complex developmental disability that affects the functioning of the brain. The center's network is intended to bring together researchers from many disciplines — ranging from neuroscience and psychiatry to psycholinguistics and social work — to study the neurobiological mechanisms of autism, the development of children with the disorder, social and family effects, and various interventions.

Eight partnerships between the university and local communities are honored for their innovative approaches to community service during the past year. Projects recognized focus on innovative and sustainable projects in business, education and law and were chosen from hundreds of similar partnerships that exist on the UW–Madison campus.

The National Cancer Institute announces plans to fund a $10 million Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research at UW–Madison. The research center will strive to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families, particularly those from underserved populations, by uniting researchers from several schools and colleges to enhance interactive communication systems dealing with the disease.

The UW Hospital and Clinics ranks among the nation's top 50 major medical centers in nine medical specialties, according to U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Hospitals" guide. The issue analyzes and ranks hospital care in 17 specialties among 2,072 U.S. teaching hospitals.

August 2003

Some of the people who worked and studied in E.B. Fred Hall during its 50 years gather to say final farewells before the building is demolished to make way for updated facilities serving the microbial sciences. The new building will accommodate 47 labs from three academic departments, including bacteriology, food microbiology and toxicology, and medical microbiology and immunology.

Top executives from across the United States and abroad participate in the first Women's Executive Leadership Summit at UW–Madison, an event created by the School of Business to explore and promote the changing roles of women in leadership.

In compliance with new federal visa regulations that create additional steps for international scholars seeking to enter the country, the university overhauls its systems to assist students, faculty and staff from other countries in getting necessary permissions, helping to minimize entry delays and problems.

September 2003

Campus arts organizations and departments sponsor Arts Night Out!, an annual event that gives the Madison community an opportunity to sample art galleries, museums, libraries and working presses, as well as the performing arts. Public arts presentations, ranging from traditional to cutting-edge, and featuring both homegrown to global talent, draw a half million visitors to campus each year.

The WiCell Research Institute, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, is named as one of three national centers to receive a three-year, $1.7 million grant to further the study of human embryonic stem cells. The funds will allow WiCell's core facility to provide cell-culture support to scientists studying human embryonic stem cells at both WiCell and UW–Madison.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission approves the West Campus Cogeneration Facility, a natural gas-fired power plant designed through a partnership among Madison Gas and Electric, the state and UW–Madison. Upon completion in 2005, the 150-megawatt plant will provide electricity for the university and Madison community, and steam heat and chilled water cooling for campus buildings.

Twenty Madison-area adults sign up for the premiere of the Odyssey Project, designed to bring the study of humanities to nontraditional students, particularly adults who have little or no prior college experience. Taught at a South Madison community center, the courses focus on great works of literature, history, music and art.

October 2003

The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and UW Health Sports Medicine team up to present Badgers in Training, a month-long roster of athletic and fitness events to illustrate the importance of health and fitness in our lives and give participants a chance to learn from sports and fitness specialists.

Eleven faculty members are named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest federation of scientists in the world. The UW faculty members were recognized for their distinguished efforts to advance science or foster applications deemed scientifically or socially significant.

The UW School of Business Executive MBA program is tabbed by The Financial Times as one of the top executive-education programs in the world. The ranking, based on factors such as quality of faculty, diversity, alumni satisfaction, international mobility and career progress, placed the UW program 27th overall and 16th among U.S. universities.

Responding to the need for businesses to capitalize on new technology, UW–Madison partners with industry to create the Wisconsin E-Business Initiative, which helps companies find new ways of using Internet technology to exchange goods, services and information, and deliver value to customers.

November 2003

The university unveils a new east campus master plan, which will plot the course for long-range redevelopment of the eastern edge of UW–Madison's campus during the next 15 years. The proposed overhaul introduces the creation of an arts and humanities district, as well as new student housing.

The National Science Foundation enlists UW–Madison to help enhance sustainable economic growth in Wisconsin's plastics industry, which is responsible for more than 53,500 state jobs. The $600,000 research grant enables UW experts to work with businesses on product development, collaborative innovation and technology transfer of new polymer materials and processes.

December 2003

In Antarctica, an international team of researchers begins constructing Ice Cube, an ice-based neutrino telescope that will be completed during the next seven years. The $250 million observatory, first proposed by UW–Madison physicists to be implanted deep in ice at the South Pole, will detect and analyze subatomic particles known as neutrinos and will become the world's largest scientific instrument.

The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, responsible for testing tissue samples of thousands of deer for the presence of chronic wasting disease, acquires a state-of-the-art tissue digester to dispose of samples processed by the lab. Purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the digester provides a safe, efficient and cost-effective method for the disposal of tissue that may be infected with CWD and other exotic animal diseases.

January 2004

Phillip R. Certain, dean of the College of Letters and Science since 1993, announces that he will retire after 34 years with the university. As dean of the university's largest academic unit, which enrolls more than half of all UW–Madison students in its 39 departments and five professional schools, Certain led the creation of the Center for Humanities, the Arts Institute and the International Institute, as well as several building renovations.

The National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities names the UW Medical School's Center for the Study of Cultural Diversity in Healthcare a comprehensive center of excellence in minority health and health disparities. The distinction carries an award of approximately $4 million, which forwards the center's mission of examining how biology, environment, families, friends and communities affect minority women and their children.

Surgeons in the School of Veterinary Medicine successfully develop intraocular lens implants for a great horned owl, the first time such a procedure had ever been attempted. Released into the wild in April, the owl had been unable to hunt due to cataracts interfering with its vision and would likely have died without intervention.

February 2004

Understanding the roots of emotional resilience and health is the target of a $10.7 million, five-year National Institute of Mental Health grant awarded to a UW–Madison research team. Using brain imaging technology and other methods, the researchers are investigating the mechanisms underlying the regulation of positive and negative emotions, which could help explain why certain individuals can continue to lead happy and productive lives despite facing life stresses.

UW System President Katharine Lyall announces plans to retire after 12 years leading the 26-campus system. Calling her an "ardent supporter" of UW–Madison's missions, Chancellor John D. Wiley applauds Lyall's vision in making the UW "more accountable to its stakeholders by improving student success, efficiency and public service. She has also improved the return on the state's investment by working tirelessly to define the university's role as a central player in the state's economy and quality of life."

March 2004

In acknowledgment of the need for governments to do more with less, the Department of Political Science establishes the Lloyd D. Gladfelter Awards to promote creative thinking and ingenuity among public employees. The annual prizes will be awarded to federal, state or local government workers whose suggestions bring about greater efficiency and save money.

The UW–Madison's Dictionary of American Regional English is one of six projects showcased at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as part of Humanities Advocacy Day. DARE is a multivolume reference work that documents words, phrases and pronunciations that are unique to regions of the United States. Based on interviews with Americans in more than 1,000 communities, it provides a comprehensive collection of materials dating from the Colonial period to the present.

April 2004

Visitors to campus find open doors at several UW–Madison science facilities, thanks to Science Expeditions, a month-long event to promote community involvement in scientific exploration. The second annual festival includes special exhibits and presentations by leading researchers.

Three alumni earn Pulitzer Prizes, while one faculty member is a finalist for journalism's most coveted award. Anthony Shadid, who received a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1990, wins in the international reporting category for his coverage of the war and aftermath in Iraq. Abigail Goldman, who graduated in 1992 with a degree in political science and history, wins as part of a Los Angeles Times team honored for reporting on national affairs. Lowell Bergman, who received bachelor's degrees in history and sociology in 1966, is honored along with New York Times colleague David Barstow for public service reporting. Steven Nadler, UW–Madison professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Jewish Studies, is a finalist in general nonfiction for his book Rembrandt's Jews.

May 2004

Planting begins for the expanded and reconfigured Botany Garden, the instructional heart of UW's botany department. The garden, located along University Avenue just below Birge Hall, will more than double in size and will include trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials and annuals representing more than 500 species from around the world.

The new Health Sciences Learning Center opens as the educational hub for health sciences students on campus. The new building and its location near the UW Hospital and Clinics and other health facilities allows students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy and the physician assistant program to learn collaboratively and participate in joint projects. It also houses the new Ebling Library, which unites collections previously held in three different locations on campus.

The School of Education announces a $31 million gift that will allow the renovation and modernization of the Education Building, a 104-year-old central campus building that houses many of the school's administrative and instructional functions. The donation, the largest private gift in the school's history, will enable construction of a new wing, which was envisioned in the original building plans, but never finished.

June 2004

Faramarz Vakili-Zadeh, associate director of the university's physical plant and leader in promoting energy efficiency on campus, receives a Public Service Award from the Energy Efficiency Forum, a national conservation group. Vakili-Zadeh was instrumental in implementing the Wisconsin Energy Initiative, which is expected to save the university more than $75 million in total energy costs, reduce water use by 1.7 billion gallons and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 8.9 million tons during the next 30 years.

The School of Engineering's concrete canoe team successfully defends its national championship, besting teams from 21 other universities in an annual competition that challenges engineering students to design and build working canoes from concrete. UW's team was the only entry to place among the top five in each of the contest's categories, including racing, a business presentation and an academic paper.

Photo of UW women's soccer team members teaching kids to juggle soccer balls.

Elementary and middle school children learn skills from members of the UW women's soccer team as part of the Badgers in Training program, a month-long series of events sponsored by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and UW Health Sports Medicine to promote fitness.

Photo of yellow water lotus floating in a pond.

Leaves of a yellow water lotus float on the surface of a pond at the newly expanded Botany Garden. The garden, which serves as an educational and research tool for the botany department, now includes examples from more than 500 species.

Photo of the new West Campus Cogeneration Facility under construction.

Workers use a hydraulic lift to reach up high and weld steel beams at the combustion turbine hall in the 150 megawatt West Campus Cogeneration Facility, currently under construction.

Photo of dancers in bright costumes.

Student and faculty dancers rehearse in preparation for the debut of the Overture Center for the Arts, which opened in downtown Madison in September 2004. The center's inaugural festival included performances by the Dance Program, the School of Music Symphony Orchestra, University Opera and University Theatre.

Photo of a veterinary ophthalmologist giving an owl an eye exam.

UW veterinary ophthalmologist Katie Diehl conducts an eye exam on a great horned owl that received lens implants at the school in January 2004. After recovering from the first-of-its-kind surgery, the owl was returned to the wild.

Photo of students in the Odyssey Project studying.

Joe Robinson, right, tackles an English assignment during a class of UW–Madison's Odyssey Project, a new outreach program that offers courses in the humanities to adult students. Designed to give lower-income adults an introduction to college-level work, the project graduated its first class in spring 2004. Many among those graduates, like Robinson, have since enrolled in additional courses.

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