Vice Chancellor Joan Prince to retire after more than 20 years of distinguished service

Portrait of Joan Prince

Dr. Joan Prince arrived at UWM as a 16-year-old freshman. She will leave her beloved alma mater as a vice chancellor who championed inclusion across campus and drew national acclaim as an advocate for equity.

Prince, the chief administrator for the Division of Global Inclusion and Engagement and UWM’s chief inclusion officer, announced Monday that she will retire effective March 1. She was appointed vice chancellor in 2000.

Her two-plus decades of distinguished service include leading important initiatives such as the establishment of  UWM’s first curriculum for anti-bias training, which begins this semester. Prince also spearheaded the formation of a program dedicated to advancing historically underrepresented students and first-generation students in STEM fields.

Prince’s influence stretches far beyond southeastern Wisconsin.

In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Prince as an alternate representative to the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations, with the honorary rank of ambassador. She also served as a member of the 2013 United States delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women.

More recently, Prince served on the civic nonpartisan board of the host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. The Network Journal selected Prince as one its 25 Influential Black Women in Business for 2020, and she has been a fixture on the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Power Brokers list.

Prince’s ties to UWM run deep as a four-time graduate. She remembers taking the bus from her home in Milwaukee to take classes at the university. She earned bachelor’s degrees in general studies and medical technology, a master’s degree in clinical laboratory sciences, and a doctorate in urban education with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

“Dr. Joan Prince has served this university extraordinarily well for 20 years as the vice chancellor for Global Inclusion and Engagement. She is an effective administrator, strategic thinker, problem solver and mentor to many,” Chancellor Mark Mone said.

“As a rare and special four-time Panther alumna, for this campus, community, state and country, Joan has served admirably, and we will miss her,” he added.

Outside of UWM, Prince’s resume includes leadership positions such as president of Tempo International, the global women’s networking organization. Prince also served as a board member and governance chair of The Council on Foundations, the international foundation membership association, and a board chair of the Urban Libraries Council.

Prince’s service to hometown civic organizations includes tenures on the boards of trustees of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Milwaukee Public Library. She served as chair of the board of the library system that she has used since age 9, when she was president of the Billy the Bookworm Club.

Prince will leave behind a legacy as someone who cared for all people and tried her best to help make life and outcomes positive for everyone she encountered, whether at her office in Chapman Hall or at the U.N. building in New York.

“Personally, Joan has been a dear and valued colleague and her mentorship and our friendship will continue as she transitions to the next phase of activities that we call ‘retirement,’” Mone said. “I suspect that she may be even busier!”

Prince’s service to the UW System began in 1995, when she worked for the UW Medical School before being appointed vice chancellor at UWM by then-chancellor Nancy Zimpher.

Prince takes pride in the lasting relationships that she has built with many former students. She recalled a recent phone conversation with a woman she first met at age 15, when the woman met Prince in her office and told her that she wanted to become a doctor. Today, that woman has finished her residency rotation as a medical student.

“To be able to say at the end of the day that if nothing else, these students were able to accomplish some of their life goals,” Prince said, “that’s what I really love to hear.”

One of Prince’s first retirement plans is to spend about a month in Jamaica working with teachers and students at three K-6 schools in the hills of Montego Bay, a place where she’s volunteered periodically over the past eight years. Beyond that, Prince says she is looking forward to another exciting phase of life while continuing her long-standing commitment to equity “at every level – locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

“More importantly, I just want to wake up each morning and be thankful and grateful by giving back, as much and as often as I can because many people did that for me,” Prince said.

Her roots will always be planted in Milwaukee.

“Let me be clear, I am leaving life as an employee at UWM,” Prince said. “I am never leaving UWM as my alma mater. Once a Panther, always a Panther.”

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