Chancellor Thomas Gibson declared his vision that UWM be a model of a public-serving research university, in a speech to the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents on Thursday.
Gibson said he was drawn to UWM because of its reputation as a key driver of talent, research and economic vitality with Wisconsin’s largest metropolitan area, adding, “Milwaukee is our classroom.”
In his presentation entitled “Making Waves: Accelerating UWM’s Momentum for Enduring Impact,” Gibson emphasized numerous ways UWM strengthens our community and the state, noting: “I believe we have an obligation to be stewards of place, and today, I want to tell you how we are doing just that.”
A champion of student success, Gibson described several initiatives designed to make students more successful in college. These included:
- ROAR Ready, which provides more than 200 opportunities for youth to engage with the university and discover their interests early on.
- Stritch Family Literacy Center, which strengthens the fundamental skills of reading and writing among elementary and junior high students.
- M-Cubed, a partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools and Milwaukee Area Technical College that fosters smooth transitions from high school to higher education to the workforce. This year more than 1,200 MPS ninth graders visited UWM in one week through the M-Cubed partnership.
- Dual enrollment, a program that has seen a twelve-fold increase in UWM in six years. Gibson noted that students who participated in dual enrollment in high school were more likely to stay in school at UWM.
Despite facing a declining population of college-aged students, UWM has implemented a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan designed to grow enrollment year over year.
And it is working:
- Last fall, UWM welcomed the largest incoming class of first-year students in 16 years.
- Thanks to transfer agreements with six area technical colleges, UWM saw the largest number of new transfer students from these schools in 10 years.
- An effort to re-engage students who had stopped out of UWM for more than two-and-a-half years has resulted in 226 students re-enrolled and 845 more people exploring a return to UWM.
Gibson acknowledged that many students find affordability an issue, and 89% of UWM’s new undergraduates receive financial aid. To make college more affordable, UWM increased its institutional financial aid by 39% since 2023.
“We view this as an investment in student success,” he said.
Research was a major theme of the speech, and Gibson noted that for 10 years, UWM has ranked among the nation’s top-tier R1 research universities.
Gibson tied this achievement to student success, saying: “I believe we have a moral obligation to see more students achieve the goals they set for themselves, and I believe research opportunities can help us get there.”
He pointed out that retention rates and graduation rates are much higher among students who participate in research. Interest in undergraduate research has climbed, with more students than ever participating in UWM’s Undergraduate Research Symposium this spring.
Research builds confidence among students and fosters collaborations with local, national and international partners, Gibson said. A new Faculty-Industry Partnership Seed Grant Program launched this year aligns faculty expertise with industry needs.
One notable partnership is UWM’s Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab – the only one in the world focused on manufacturing. Since it opened last summer, at least 48 projects have been completed in the lab, helping small and medium-sized manufacturers incorporate high-tech solutions into their production process.
Gibson pointed out that Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella earned his master’s degree at UWM, and a few years ago, Satya and wife Anu created a scholarship that provides a full ride for several Milwaukee students seeking careers in technology fields. The first cohort of Nadella Scholars graduated this spring.
Gibson expressed his gratitude to the UWM Research Foundation for its role in helping UWM researchers protect their intellectual property. Since it began 20 years ago, the foundation has helped secure 224 patents and 47 active license-and-option agreements.
“UWM has an outsized impact on the city of Milwaukee,” he said, from the skyline that includes many buildings designed by UWM alumni and faculty to Bradford Beach, which was transformed from a polluted area into a vibrant destination, thanks to UWM researchers.
Scroll through LinkedIn, Gibson said, and you’ll find that UWM is the No. 1 talent resource for many local companies, including Aurora Health Care, Baird, Froedtert Health, Kohl’s, Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Tool, Northwestern Mutual and We Energies.
Gibson underscored the connection with the city: “I said earlier that Milwaukee is our classroom, but I also like to think of UWM as Milwaukee’s university.”
The speech wrapped up with a viewing of the award-winning Make New Waves promotional video that illustrates the impact UWM and its students, faculty, staff and alumni have on the world. Portions of the video were aired as ads during this year’s Winter Olympics.
After a brief Q&A, Gibson invited UWM baseball team head coach Shaun Wegner up to the podium. The team drew national media attention when it competed in the NCAA Tournament earlier this week and won a game over the No. 4 team in the country. It was the first time the UWM baseball team had advanced to the national tournament since 2010, when Wegner was a member of the team.
Gibson concluded: “This team’s scrappiness is a microcosm of the grit and determination of our entire student body, and we are Panther proud of their accomplishments.”
