More than 75 people attended a reception to honor outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank hosted by legislators at the Wisconsin State Capitol Tuesday afternoon.
“We recognized Chancellor Blank and her leadership as she departs from the UW campus,” State Rep. Shelia Stubbs tells Madison365. “We really just wanted a chance to thank her for all of her work and all of the initiatives she helped to create including the Bucky’s Tuition Promise that I know has helped so many students of color and first-generation college students.”
Legislators presented Chancellor Blank with a framed copy of Assembly Joint Resolution 144 which recognized “her tremendous leadership that she provided UW-Madison campus over the last nine years.” Blank has served as chancellor since July 2013. Her tenure as chancellor is the longest since Irving Shain, who served for nearly a decade until his retirement in 1986.
“She is a very kind person and I’ve gotten to know her very well over the years. It was so important to recognize her and the work that she contributed to our flagship state university and our community right here in Madison,” Stubbs says. “She will be missed.”
Stubbs says she was the lead author of the resolution along with State Rep. Francesca Hong and State Sen. Kelda Roys. The three participated in the quick read of the resolution at a reception at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building.
Chancellor Blank, who has the second-longest tenure of any current Big Ten public institution president or chancellor, is leaving UW-Madison at the end of the 2021-22 academic year to assume the presidency of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She will succeed Morton Schapiro as the university’s 17th president in the summer of 2022. She has previously served on the Northwestern faculty.
“I know that going back to Northwestern University where she once taught is important for her and the next chapter of her life,” Stubbs says. “Blank will be the first female president at Northwestern, too, so that is exciting.”
