A healthy UWM is good for region

Rgarding the aricle, “Science is still out’ on autism, vaccine link, new health chief says,” Dane County is enjoying economic success rooted in its close association with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW-Madison is a world-class university (Feb. 10).

Its intellectual capital has transformed the Madison area into an economic powerhouse. Under the radar, UWM has likewise developed into one of the top-ranked research universities in the nation.

It is poised to do for Milwaukee and Wisconsin’s urban corridor what UWMadison is doing for central Wisconsin. Severely undercutting this promising future are the devastating budget reductions that UWM has absorbed in the past two budgets. Many academic departments have lost 20% or more of their faculty as well as key staff members, placing UWM’s academic programs in jeopardy.

UW System President Ray Cross has repeatedly observed that as UWM goes, so goes Milwaukee and the state, recognizing the pivotal role that our region plays in Wisconsin’s economic health. A 1986 blue-ribbon report, “UWM and the Future of Metropolitan Milwaukee,” opened with the words, “The people of the greater Milwaukee region…see a major, doctoral research university as a powerful and necessary resource to help them achieve (their) future.”

The last 30 years have seen the university fulfill the vision portrayed in that document. Let us hope that the Madison example and UWM’s increasingly difficult fiscal situation are wake-up calls for Milwaukee and state leaders. The university is in critical need of your support. A healthy, robust UWM is a necessity if Milwaukee and the state are to thrive.

David H. Petering UWM Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry