As I write to you, I am looking out my window and down Bascom Hill at the sparkling white capitol dome in the distance — a daily reminder of how closely this campus is tied to the state it serves.
The capitol-to-campus view wasn’t an accident. Wisconsin’s first governor, Nelson Dewey, and the state’s early leaders wanted a clear and close connection, and the first regents called UW–Madison “a blessing and an ornament to the state” — big words for a campus that at the time had more horses than students and one lonely building sitting atop a grand hill.
From the start, this university has been a partnership with the state, created to solve problems in ways that can fundamentally change lives. (More on that below!) But over the years, as many of you may be aware, funding for public universities in Wisconsin slipped to 44th in the nation.
A public university by — and for — Wisconsin
Thanks in meaningful part to so many of you who have made your voices heard, that’s starting to change. There are several things to cheer about in the state’s new budget, such as the legislature’s investment in renovating our historic Science Hall, but there are also concerning new requirements around faculty teaching loads that will weaken our ability to compete for top talent. I’ll be working with the regents and legislature to find a path forward that recognizes the vital contributions of our faculty and instructional staff in education, research, and outreach, and the critical importance of being able to hire and retain the very strongest and most talented scholars and teachers.
Regardless of state or federal pressures, our aims remain the same. We are still driving research, preparing educators, launching start-ups, and expanding opportunity because we believe deeply in our founding mission and the good this university does for the people of Wisconsin — and beyond.
Public science, personal impact
To share just one example: you might know that the UW Health Transplant Center is one of the premier centers of its kind in the world — but I’m guessing you might not have heard about the center’s most recent extraordinary innovation (now in clinical trials), which may allow some kidney transplant recipients to live without antirejection medications.
At the same time, the UW is doing fascinating work on xenotransplantation — genetically engineering pigs for organ donation (with three clinical trials now in development), helping to bring new hope to patients urgently awaiting life-saving transplants.
These discoveries matter deeply to me — both professionally and personally. In the depths of the pandemic, I donated a kidney to my father. Since I couldn’t be there in person, the UW Solution preserved it safely on a red-eye from LA to Boston.
We’re celebrating this lifesaving work in organ transplantation with a special project this month — I hope you’ll take a peek.
A final bit of good news
UW–Madison was just named a Princeton Review Best Value College for 2025, a Money magazine Best College, and number 14 in the country for Best Alumni Network — not to mention number 30 out of more than 21,000 universities in the latest world rankings, confirming what we’ve long known: we’re delivering an outstanding, life-changing, and affordable education. (Two-thirds of UW–Madison undergrads now graduate with no student loan debt.) We couldn’t do it without each of you!
On, Wisconsin!
Jennifer L. Mnookin
Chancellor
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Chancellor’s Choice
I often highlight successes, but Sean Jacobsohn ’94’s online Failure Museum — a collection of things that didn’t go as planned — offers valuable lessons in resilience, risk, and innovation.
Taylan Stulting PhDx’26 and two teammates rowed 2,800 grueling miles from California to Hawaii, setting a new world record in the World’s Toughest Row.
The Wisconsin Idea just went intergalactic! UW–Madison physicists helped bring a new observatory in Chile to life, and that observatory has the world’s largest digital camera. Travel to places several thousand light years away from Earth on a Skyviewer tour or browse the stars on your own.