After 10 years of teaching at UW-Madison, history professor Jeremi Suri announced Friday that he will leave the university due to pay cuts faculty will face as a result of Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget repair bill.
""I love this place and am very sad about leaving, but it's been a really hard year here,"" Suri told The Capital Times. ""I think with the political attacks on the university and the budget cutting, it's hard. And that's not the fault of the university, but it's the environment that we're operating in.""
""Walker's proposed budget repair bill would force public workers, including faculty at UW-Madison, to contribute a larger portion of their salary toward health care and retirement benefits.
""Suri, who is considered an expert in international history and American foreign policy, accepted an offer to teach at the University of Texas at Austin, which will nearly double his current annual salary of $113,000 to $220,000.
The University of Texas at Austin will make Suri the Mack Brown Chair for Global Leadership. The position aims to meet future global challenges in the United States and the world.
Suri told The Capital Times he feels guilty leaving UW-Madison, but said his decision shows the university's need for more flexibility in spending.
""If our institution isn't given the resources or allowed more flexibility from state oversight, we're going to be stuck in place,"" Suri told The Capital Times. ""I'm very worried about future retention here and having the resources to do the kinds of innovative work that's necessary to remain a great university.""
UW-Madison history professor and former history department chair David McDonald told The Capital Times the university lost a scholar in the field and a gifted and inspiring teacher.
In Suri's time at UW-Madison, he won several awards, including the Class of 1955 Distinguished Teaching Award from UW-Madison in 2006 and the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer from 2004-'07.
