Thompson is interim leader of UW System
Regents’ president search criticized, then fell apart
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents appointed former Gov. Tommy Thompson as the interim system president, following the collapse of a months-long search for a new leader of one of the country’s largest public university systems. Thompson was Wisconsin’s longestserving governor, beginning with his first election in 1986. He’ll take on the UW System role during extreme uncertainty due to unprecedented budget woes and the impact of COVID-19.
Thompson will lead the system’s 13 universities and 26 campuses for at least a year, according to the system’s announcement, after which the board will launch a new search for a permanent president.
The appointment comes after the only finalist for the position, University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen, withdrew his bid, leaving the search process in shambles after months of criticism about a lack of representation, diversity and transparency.
“Governor Thompson is a statesman who offers the kind of leadership the UW System needs right now,” Board of Regents President Andrew Petersen said Friday. “I have witnessed his collaborative yet direct leadership style. He is perfectly suited to serve as interim president.”
The appointment is effective July 1 and received “uniform” support from the board, Peterson said.
“The University of Wisconsin System is the state’s most valuable asset, and I will be its biggest advocate and its
toughest evaluator,” Thompson, 78, said in a statement. “No other institution in the state can do more to improve lives, communities, and Wisconsin’s economy.”
Thompson will earn the board’s minimum annual salary for the position: $489,334. Current President Ray Cross will stay with the system as a consultant for 90 days after he leaves office June 30, to help Thompson transition into the job.
Petersen said he asked Thompson to take on the position because of his “legacy of bringing people together and finding common ground.”
Thompson is also a former U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services, which UW System leaders said will be critical as universities begin to reopen campuses during the coronavirus pandemic.
He serves on several boards and councils in and outside the UW System, and is the chief executive officer of Thompson Holdings. He helped lead a public-private campaign to fund UWMadison’s BioStar Initiative, which helped modernize basic research labs there.
Board president calls for ‘unification’
In an interview Friday, Petersen and UW Regent Karen Walsh repeatedly came back to two words: bipartisanship and unification.
Petersen said the system’s challenges include millions of dollars in pandemic-related losses, an ongoing instate tuition freeze combined with declining state financial support, and excessive regulatory oversight by the state.
“I think there’s going to be significant enthusiasm to do reform-related items,” Petersen said. “It makes sense for the UW System and I think Tommy Thompson is going to be a strong advocate to get those things across the finish line in short order.”
The UW System bore the brunt of the spending cuts by the state Department of Administration last month, giving back $40.7 million to the state’s general fund — far more than any other state agency.
Further, Cross said in Thursday’s board meeting that the initial estimate for the cost of personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing and other investments related to the international pandemic came out to $50 million.
Cross recently asked state leaders for a special legislative session to grant the system the option of starting classes earlier than normal — a move taken by some private institutions in anticipation of a potential spike in cases this fall — and to open a line of credit to increase the system’s cash flow.
As of Wednesday, the system had no indication that session would happen.
On the academic side, Petersen seemed to walk back his call for the board to broadly support Cross’ “blueprint” for the future, characterizing the call for program cuts and the re-evaluation of most universities’ missions as more of a “series of thoughts” to guide the system as Cross ended his tenure.
“I think Gov. Thompson is very intellectually curious but he’s also an independent thinker,” Petersen said. “I think going forward, he’ll get direction from our campuses, he’ll get directions from the Board of Regents, and he’ll study those and analyze those and then we’ll make decisions going forward.”
Petersen also addressed Johnsen’s withdrawal, and the candidate’s comment that the search committee had “important process issues to work out.”
“Good leaders learn from their mistakes,” Petersen said, adding the board now has time to work on ensuring transparency and having an “expansive” search committee.
Asked if he would commit to including faculty in the search committee and to naming multiple finalists, Petersen said he “is open to both concepts” and there will be “internal discussion and review” of the search process.
Walsh said the interim steps will be critical.
“The next president of the UW System, whomever he or she may be, is going to be watching us,” Walsh said.
“The fact that we can move forward in these 18 months with Tommy, I think, is going to leave us in a better position to attract the best possible person to lead the system going in the future. We can’t afford to march in place here.”
System leaders, legislators weigh in
Several UW System chancellors released statements Friday saying they were looking forward to working with Thompson. At UW-Madison, Thompson’s alma mater and home of the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership, Chancellor Rebecca Blank praised the appointment.
“Former Gov. Thompson brings valuable political and executive experience to the job at an unprecedented time for higher education,” Blank said in a statement. “As a two-time UW-Madison alumnus he has been a tireless supporter of our campus and the UW System.”
Jon Shelton, an associate professor at UW-Green Bay and vice president for higher education at the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, said the faculty members he heard from were cautiously optimistic.
“As an interim appointment at a time with a very difficult future (for the system), the real positive is that he is one of the few people in the state who has the ability in this position to effectively advocate for funding for the UW System,” Shelton said.
Legislators from both parties weighed in with support.
“I could not be happier with the Board of Regents’ pick. Governor Thompson has always been one of the University of Wisconsin System’s strongest advocates,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a statement. “As we face unprecedented times, there is nobody better to step in and make sure Wisconsin’s prized universities continue to thrive.”
State Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, a vocal critic of the search process, called on Thompson to dedicate his work to hearing out all campus stakeholders and to “learn from the unforced errors that led us here.” There were some notes of caution. State Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families, said he would be an ally to Thompson if the former governor fights for preserving the ongoing tuition freeze for instate undergraduates, reducing administrative spending, and refocusing the system “on education instead of liberal indoctrination.”
And state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, DWest Point, who sits on the Legislature’s budget committee, praised the pick, but questioned how much consensus even Thompson could forge in these divisive times.
“The Republicans we are dealing with today aren’t the Tommy Thompson Republicans of old,” he said. “There’s not a lot of room with the current Republican legislators when it comes to higher education. I know he knows all of them, but they’re not necessarily Republicans the way Tommy was as far as being able to get things done and be able to move things forward.”