As UWM goes ...

Editor’s note: A version of this letter, published Sunday, erroneously linked it to the wrong topic.

Dane County is enjoying economic success rooted in its close association with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW-Madison is a world-class university. Its intellectual capital — faculty and graduates — has transformed the Madison area into an economic powerhouse in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

Under the radar, the UW-Milwaukee 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 UW-Madison is doing for central Wisconsin.

But severely undercutting this promising future are devastating budget reductions that UWM has absorbed over the past two budget cycles. 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 blueribbon 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 distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry

UW-Milwaukee Milwaukee