Biddy Martin arrived in Madison last week to lead a university struggling to retain faculty members. Martin is the second woman chancellor of UW-Madison and the first female graduate to lead the school.
On September 1, Martin will begin her role as UW-Madison's chancellor. Her experience working with faculty retention will fulfill pressing need at UW-Madison, whose faculty retention rate has decreased in the past four years.
Martin, 57, assumes her first university presidency after eight years as provost, the No. 2 post, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She is credited with expanding financial aid at Cornell to guarantee assistance for students of low-income families and implementing raises for faculty and health coverage for their domestic partners.
Her expertise as a top administrator at a land-grant university - one of only two private institutions with such distinction - is expected to serve her at UW-Madison, another of the nation's leading land-grant research schools.
She has outstanding experience in higher education leadership positions,"" UW System President Kevin Reilly said. ""She speaks passionately and with great credibility about the importance of higher education to America's future success.""
Part of Madison's future growth includes grappling with the issue of racial and ethnic diversity on campus. In 1998, the Board of Regents attempted to increase racial diversity with its implementation of Plan 2008, a program to increase the number of students of color who apply to UW-Madison and better their experience at the university.
UW-Madison has also struggled with the state legislature on issues such as benefits for domestic partners.
Martin's vision extends beyond diversity and the battle for domestic benefits.
""My goal at Wisconsin is to contribute to the quality of research, teaching and outreach at the University of Wisconsin by encouraging innovation and
securing financial support,"" Martin said.
Martin earned her doctorate degree at UW-Madison in 1985, giving her a more personal connection to the university.
""Biddy had these mixed feelings, of loyalty and connections to Cornell, but the hugely exciting opportunity to lead not only one of the great universities of the world but also her PhD alma mater,"" Cornell President David Skorton said.
""I spent some of the most intellectually stimulating and pleasurable years of my life in Madison and UW,"" Martin said. ""My time as a student at UW-Madison weighed heavily in my decision to return.""
Skorton, who worked closely with Martin at Cornell even before his tenure as president, fully supports
her decision to lead UW-Madison.
""[It] showed what a soulful person she is and how deeply she feels about the power of academia in her own life,"" Skorton said.
In 1991, after Martin graduated from UW-Madison, she joined the Cornell faculty. She served as the Associate Professor in the Department of German Studies and the Women's Studies Department and was promoted to chair of the Department of German Studies from 1994-1997.
In 1996, she became a Senior Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she served until she became Provost in 2000.
In 2008, Martin successfully changed the financial aid structure at Cornell to provide students and families in the bottom half of the socioeconomic spectrum with grants instead of need based loans, alleviating post-graduation debt.
The initiative is a loan replacement grant in which the university replaces need-based loans with grants from its own endowment, gifts and donations.
""Biddy was able to come up with a very bold and assertive approach to guaranteeing that the people who need the help the most would be able to get through Cornell,"" Skorton said.
Martin also worked on recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty through Cornell's faculty salary improvement initiative as well as establishing benefits for all faculty members.
In 1994, she served on a committee at Cornell University which fought to make health insurance and other benefits available to same-sex partners.
The university immediately implemented the committee's recommendations.
Retaining a successful faculty is also a pressing need at UW-Madison. From 2003-2007, 4 to 5 percent of the UW-Madison faculty was recruited by other institutions or was at high risk of being recruited, according to the 2008 Summary of Faculty Outside Offers and Recruitment Efforts 2006-07, twice as many as in the four years prior.
""I believe we need to develop a plan to increase faculty salaries and to create an environment in which faculty and staff know they can thrive,"" Martin said. ""At this moment, competition for the best researchers and teachers could not be stiffer and we will have to develop strategies to attract and keep our strong performers.""
The lack of partner benefits at UW-Madison affects the retention of faculty at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison is one of only two Big Ten universities who do not offer domestic partner benefits.
""I believe domestic partner benefits are critical to our success in recruiting and retaining faculty and staff and I will support them,"" Martin said.
""Her warmth is infectious and [it is] apparent that she cares about people and she shows and sort of exudes that warmth and honest caring,"" Skorton said.
According to Skorton, Martin wants to get to know the undergraduates, graduates and professional students on a personal level, in addition to the faculty and staff employees.
""That's really important because in a big university - research university - like Madison or Cornell ... It is easy for the president to not be engaged, not hooked in with the students, for example,"" Skorton said. ""But Biddy is not that way.""
Martin's goals return to the university's original values, including personal interaction and genuine warmth.
""I will champion the university's traditional mission,"" Martin said. ""[That aims] to develop knowledge and understanding of the world that are grounded in facts, in careful analysis, in creativity, openness, even love.""
