Being named chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been “a rush,” said Mark Mone.
“I have to tell you, it hasn’t sunk in,” he said Monday, soon after the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents announced his appointment.
Mone, 55, has served as interim chancellor since May, succeeding Michael Lovell, who became president of Marquette University. Mone thanked the faculty, students, alumni and others who supported him during the interim period and said he was overwhelmed by the offers of help that began arriving in his inbox almost immediately after his position was made permanent.
“If that’s any indication of what I have to look forward to, it’s going to be a great time ahead,” he said.
As chancellor, his top priorities will be students, research and community engagement.
He hopes to increase students’ educational opportunities and improve their quality of life. One way of doing this will be regular meetings with Student Association leaders. Another will be having open forums where students can express concerns about everything from parking to academic credit for work experience.
Mone won’t personally solve all those problems, but he can give students “a mechanism and a voice” that gets their needs met.
UWM has already made significant contributions to the region, and nation, with research, but “we have more that we can do, and we need to support that,” Mone said.
Pointing to Boston and Austin, Texas, as cities were university research has fueled the local economy, Mone said UWM offers similar promise to southeastern Wisconsin. Related to that, he would like to see the university expand its partnerships with area businesses and community organizations.
Mone has taught at the Lubar School of Business since 1989 and served as its associate dean for executive education and business engagement from 1997 to 2013. For the past two years, he has been the chancellor’s designee for strategic planning and campus climate, spearheading creation of the university’s new strategic plan.
Many ideas discussed as part of that process have been on hold while the search was done for a new chancellor, but now he said, “we can fast forward.”
Mone earned his doctorate in management from Washington State University, his master’s degree in business administration from Idaho State University, and his bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University. He is married with two children – one a senior at UWM.
Mone said he never envisioned himself as chancellor when he came to UWM 25 years ago, but he is “thrilled,” “totally excited” and “over the top with joy at being able to lead this great institution.”
Asked what he would consider UWM’s No. 1 asset, he said without hesitation that it was the faculty, staff and students.
“I go to alumni events, whether it’s locally in Waukesha or in Racine, or I go to Washington, D.C., or I’m here in Milwaukee, and every single time, people line up to tell me the difference that this campus has made,” he said. “And it comes back to the quality of the people, and how much they are dedicated and care.”
