Mike Ivey: Should UW pick a business leader for chancellor to jump-start job growth?

Because what would possibly go wrong with choosing a business leader to serve as chancellor of UW-Madison?

With Wisconsin closing out 2012 as one of the worst states for job creation, critics are once again rapping the UW-Madison for failing to turn its research dollars into new companies that could offer jobs.

It’s not a new complaint.

The UW has long been one of the leaders in attracting federal research grants, although it has slipped a bit lately, falling to No. 4 in the latest rankings.

While I certainly support the idea of the UW being more proactive about promoting more startups (especially as relates to its research efforts), I’d be concerned that a business leader serving as chancellor would be more focused on how to turn a profit off of those startups rather than being focused on how to provide the students of the UW with the highest quality, most well-rounded education possible.

Share:

Related Articles

3 thoughts on “Mike Ivey: Should UW pick a business leader for chancellor to jump-start job growth?

  1. Similarly, Mitch Daniels (GOTea) is leaving the governor’s mansion in Indiana to head up Purdue. What could go wrong?

  2. I noticed that the new head of the Madison Chamber of Commerce, Zack Brandon, is on record as believing that the university should stop doing research for research’s sake and concentrate on research with commercial applications. This just goes to show that he doesn’t understand anything about scientific research, likewise Mike Ivey, who was once a very good sports writer.

    These guys are at the fuzzy, moldy edge of the University Nomenclatura who would like to privatize the operation, thus seizing 160 years of citizen investment, while shielding themselves from public oversight.

Comments are closed.