Morgridge Hall, the new home of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Computer, Data and Information Sciences (CDIS) programs, which may soon separate from Letters & Sciences, is officially open for business.
After a two-and-a-half-year construction project which cost $260 million, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and a host of other speakers cut the ribbon on Morgridge Hall Friday, ushering in a “new AI revolution” that will sweep the campus.
While Morgridge Hall has been open since just before the fall semester began, the Sept. 26 ribbon-cutting marked a symbolic debut for the new building. Gov. Tony Evers, University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman and Chancellor Mnookin joined hundreds of students, faculty and donors — including primary donors John and Tashia Morgridge — in a three-hour event that featured the UW Marching Band and an appearance by Bucky Badger.
University officials hope the 343,000 square foot building can help bring together the rapidly-expanding CDIS program under one roof. Dean of the College of Letters & Science Eric Wilcots called the building a “beacon” of creative entanglement, which could help spawn new ideas with “transformative power” for the entire campus.
“Let these walls be permeable,” Wilcots said “The discoveries, innovation and the inspiration that will happen here each and every day, should flow freely outwards across the campus. It is in that mix of ideas and people that Morgridge Hall will be the lighthouse that it wants to be.”
Mnookin echoed Wilcots’ sentiment, telling The Daily Cardinal there is a “serious possibility” that CDIS, the building’s primary resident, could become its own school divorced from the College of Letters and Science.
While the ramifications of such a move are still unknown, the CDIS department has already made a mark on UW-Madison. In the six years since its creation, CDIS has already become “the second biggest program on campus,” according to CDIS Director Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau.
That growth, paired with the urgency of preparing Wisconsin’s workforce for an AI-centered economy, helped justify the new facility, lead donor John Morgridge said.
John Morgridge is a UW alum and former CEO of Cisco Systems. He told the Cardinal that such a monumental expansion in computer science programs warrants the construction of a new building being “done now.” Morgridge said his $140 million donation helped UW-Madison expedite the building process. “The state government doesn’t do ‘now’,” he said.
Evers and Rothman both echoed the need for Morgridge Hall amid the “fast-growing population of UW-Madison,” with Evers calling the building an “essential hub” for academia. Rothman agreed, calling the building a strategic piece in the university’s “war for talent.”
Besides its potential as a workforce creator, Morgridge Hall has drawn many students, even those not studying CDIS, due to its pleasing architecture and natural lighting. With the flow of a stream, Morgridge Hall’s towering seven-story staircase loomed large over the event. Multiple speakers commented on the monolithic structure, with donor Tashia Morgridge taking special note of its steep appearance.
“Climbing, no matter what you’re climbing, takes energy,” she said. “It takes grit and it takes a bit of determination. And here, as you climb, and as you discover each floor, you will discover something new.”
The Morgridges, both 92, reckon they’ve reached the peak of their climb. With hundreds of millions in donations to the university, they now want to empower others on the same journey they experienced 70+ years ago. John said their focus now is not on legacy, but on building opportunities for the next generation.
“I don’t care so much about my legacy,” John told the Cardinal. “I just hope that our giving was meaningful at the time, and that we were part of an engine that made a good school into a great school.”
