University of Wisconsin–Madison
Encyclopedia
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (Also known as University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, or regionally as UW–Madison, or Madison) is a public
research university located in Madison
, Wisconsin
, United States
. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System
. It became a land-grant institution
in 1866. The 933 acres (378 ha) main campus includes four National Historic Landmark
s.
UW–Madison is organized into 20 schools which enrolled 29,153 undergraduate, 8,710 graduate, and 2,570 professional students and granted 6,040 bachelor's and 3,328 graduate and professional degrees in 2008. The university employs 2,054 faculty members. Its comprehensive academic program offers 135 undergraduate majors, along with 151 master's degree
programs and 107 doctoral
programs.
The UW is categorized as an RU/VH Research University (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
. In 2010, it had research expenditures of more than 1 billion dollars. In 2008, the University's R&D expenditures were ranked the third highest in the nation. Wisconsin is a founding member of the Association of American Universities
.
The Wisconsin Badgers
compete in 25 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA
's Division I Big Ten Conference
and have won 27 national championships.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is considered a Public Ivy
, or a public institution that offers an education comparable to those of the Ivy League
.
The university had its official beginnings when Wisconsin
was incorporated as a state
in 1848. The Wisconsin Constitution
provided for "the establishment of a state university, at or near the seat of state government..." and directed by the state legislature to be governed by a board of regents and administered by a chancellor. On July 26, 1846, Nelson Dewey
, Wisconsin's first governor
, signed the act that formally created the University of Wisconsin. John H. Lathrop became the university's first chancellor, in the fall of 1849. With John W. Sterling as the university's first professor
(mathematics), the first class of 17 students met at Madison Female Academy
on February 5, 1849. A permanent campus site was soon selected: an area of 50 acres (20.2 ha) "bounded north by Fourth lake, east by a street to be opened at right angles with King street," [later State Street] "south by Mineral Point Road (University Avenue), and west by a carriage-way from said road to the lake." The regents' building plans called for a "main edifice fronting towards the Capitol, three stories high, surmounted by an observatory for astronomical observations." This building, University Hall, now known as Bascom Hall
, was finally completed in 1859. On October 10, 1916, a fire destroyed the building's dome, which was never replaced. North Hall
, constructed in 1851, was actually the first building on campus. In 1854, Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakeley became the first graduates of the university, and in 1892 the university awarded its first Ph.D.
to future university president Charles R. Van Hise
.
known as "the Wisconsin Idea
," first articulated by UW–Madison President Charles Van Hise in 1904, when he declared "I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea holds that the boundaries of the university should be the boundaries of the state, and that the research conducted at UW–Madison should be applied to solve problems and improve health
, quality of life, the environment
, and agriculture for all citizens of the state. The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students, and the state's industries and government. Based in Wisconsin's populist history, the Wisconsin Idea continues to inspire the work of the faculty, staff, and students who aim to solve real-world problems by working together across disciplines and demographics.
, University of Wisconsin was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
and bringing the two higher education systems under a single board of regents.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, UW–Madison was shaken by a series of student protest
s, and by the use of force by authorities in response, comprehensively documented in the film The War at Home
. The first major demonstrations protested the presence on campus of recruiters
for the Dow Chemical Company, which supplied the napalm
used in the Vietnam War
. Authorities used force to quell the disturbance. The struggle was documented in the PBS documentary Two Days in October, as well as the book, They Marched Into Sunlight. Among the students injured in the protest was future Madison mayor Paul Soglin
.
Another target of protest was the Army Mathematics Research Center (AMRC), located in Sterling Hall, which was also home of the physics department. The student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal
, published a series of investigative articles stating that AMRC was pursuing research directly pursuant to US Department of Defense requests, and supportive of military operations in Vietnam. AMRC became a magnet for demonstrations, in which protesters chanted "U.S. out of Vietnam! Smash Army Math!"
On August 24, 1970, near 3:40 AM, a bomb exploded next to Sterling Hall, aimed at destroying the Army Math Research Center. Despite the late hour, a post doctoral physics researcher, Robert Fassnacht
, was in the lab and was killed in the explosion. The physics department was severely damaged, while the intended target, the AMRC, was scarcely affected. Karleton Armstrong, Dwight Armstrong
, and David Fine
were found responsible for the blast. Leo Burt
was identified as a suspect, but was never apprehended or tried.
While the student body has shed much of its radical image, the campus is still known for its progressive politics. In February 2011, thousands of students marched and occupied the Wisconsin State Capitol
during the 2011 Wisconsin protests
.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison, the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System
, is a large, four-year research university comprising twenty associated colleges and schools. In addition to undergraduate and graduate divisions in agriculture
and life sciences, business
, education
, engineering
, human ecology
, journalism
and mass communication
, letters and science, music
, nursing
, pharmacy
, and social welfare, the university also maintains graduate and professional schools in environmental studies
, law
, library
and information studies
, medicine
and public health
, public affairs, and veterinary medicine
.
The four year, full-time undergraduate instructional program is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as "arts and science plus professions" with a high graduate coexistence; admissions are characterized as "more selective, lower transfer-in." The largest university college, the College of Letters and Science, enrolls approximately half of the undergraduate student body and is made up of thirty-nine departments and five professional schools that instruct students and carry out research in a wide variety of fields, such as astronomy
, economics
, geography
, history
, linguistics
, and zoology
. The graduate instructional program is classified by Carnegie as "comprehensive with medical/veterinary." In 2008, it granted the third largest number of doctorates in the nation.
it was ranked 41st in the world and received five excellence stars. It was ranked 17th among world universities and 15th among universities in the Americas in Shanghai Jiao Tong University
's 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities
, which assesses academic and research performance. In the G-factor International University Ranking of 2006, which is a re-analysis of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
data, the UW–Madison was listed 13th.
The Times Higher Education Supplement
placed it 27th worldwide, based primarily on surveys administered to students, faculty, and recruiters. Additionally, the professional ranking of world universities from École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris
, based in part on the number of senior managerial positions occupied by alumni, placed UW–Madison 35th in the world.
in its 2007 report, with rankings based on objective statistics on research, faculty awards, student qualifications, and university assets. Of 38 programs at the UW–Madison that were included in the National Research Council
's 1995 study, 16 ranked in the top 10 nationally. In 2007, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that 57 disciplines at the UW–Madison were in the top 10 in the U.S. in scholarly productivity, which placed it second after UC-Berkeley in the number of top ten programs. The UW placed 30th among national universities in Washington Monthlys 2009 rankings, which consider community service and social mobility, as well as research productivity. In 2009, UW–Madison was ranked 6th in the TrendTopper MediaBuzz rankings by the Global Language Monitor. In 2011, the Global Language Monitor increased the ranking to 1st in Internet Media Buzz.
Madison's undergraduate program was ranked 42nd among national universities by U.S.News & World Report for 2012 and 10th among public schools. In both cases, UW-Madison is tied with another UW, University of Washington
. The same magazine ranked UW's graduate School of Business 29th, and its undergraduate business program 13th. Twelve CEOs of S&P 500 companies hold degrees from the University of Wisconsin, putting it in a tie with Harvard and Princeton for first place.
In 2011, USNWR ranked UW's Law School
35th, while Vault listed it as 25th for 2008. Other graduate schools ranked by USNWR include the School of Medicine and Public Health
, which was 27th in research and 13th in primary care, the College of Engineering 16th, the School of Education 12th, and the La Follette School of Public Affairs
14th.
Madison has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies
," a publicly-funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League
.
. In 2007–2008, the school allocated $832 million towards research on campus, placing it second in the country in generating research funding, behind Johns Hopkins University
. Collectively, its research programs were also sixth in the number of patents issued in 2005. The University's research programs were ranked fourth in federally funded research and second in nonfederally funded research among U.S. public universities in 2009.
Overall, the University maintains almost 100 research centers and programs, ranging from agriculture to arts, from education to engineering. It has been considered a major academic center for embryonic stem cell
research ever since UW–Madison professor James Thomson
became the first scientist
to isolate human embryonic stem cells. This has brought significant attention and respect for the University's research
programs from around the world. The University continues to be a leader in stem cell
research, helped in part by the funding of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
and promotion of WiCell
.
Its center for research on internal combustion engines, called the Engine Research Center, has a five-year collaboration agreement with General Motors. It has also been the recipient of multi-million dollar funding from the federal government.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of thirty sea grant colleges
in the United States. These colleges are involved in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes and other marine areas.
In January 2008, the US Department of Agriculture cited the University of Wisconsin–Madison Research Animal Resource Center for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including not using painkillers in animals undergoing painful procedures, improper monitoring of animals, and not reporting medical problems to staff veterinarians.
) with an enriched undergraduate curriculum
. In addition to its curriculum, the program offers professional advising services; research opportunities and funding; and numerous academic, social and service opportunities through the Honors Student Organization. The Honors Program also supports several student organizations, such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison Forensics Team.
Located in Madison
, about a mile from the state capitol
, the university is situated partially on an isthmus
between Lake Mendota
and Lake Monona
. The main campus
comprises 933 acres (378 ha) of land, while the entire campus, including research stations located throughout the state, is over 10600 acres (4,290 ha) in area. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, a demonstration area for native ecosystems, is located on the west side of Madison. The main campus includes many buildings designed or supervised by architect
s J.T.W. Jennings
and Arthur Peabody
. The hub of campus life is the Memorial Union
.
The UW–Madison has its own police
force, food service, hospital
, recreation
facilities, botanical gardens, power facilities, and an on-campus dairy plant.
As one of the icons on campus, Bascom Hall, at the top of Bascom Hill
, is often considered the "heart of the campus." Built in 1857, a decorative dome that once sat atop the structure was destroyed by fire. The structure has been added to several times over the years. The building currently houses the office of the chancellor
and vice chancellors. Bascom Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as a contributing building within the Bascom Hill Historic District.
This Victorian Gothic building, built in 1878 and initially named Assembly Hall, was designed to house an 800-seat auditorium
, a library
, and a clock tower
. Dedicated on March 2, 1880, the building originally held conventions
, dances, and commencement ceremonies
, along with its primary purpose of a library. After the library moved to a different building on campus, a portion of the hall was assigned to the School of Music in 1900. Shortly after renovations in the early 1900s, the building was officially named Music Hall in 1910. It remains an important music venue and is home to the university opera. This building also is home to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, with part of the building being used as office space and classrooms.
Humanities Building, located on Library Mall, was built in the late 1960s in the Brutalist style. Campus myth has it that the building (with its poor ventilation, narrow windows, inclined base, and cantilevered upper floors) was designed to be "riot-proof" in that it was inescapable by protestors and easily penetratable by a SWAT
Team. Its seven floors house the History, Art, and Music departments. The most recent Campus Master Plan calls for it to be demolished and replaced with two other buildings.
Grainger Hall also houses an array of student-run organizations, both undergraduate and graduate. There are major-specific organizations as well as organizations that welcome all students. The current undergraduate registered student organizations (RSOs) are: Actuarial Club, AISEC, Alpha Kappa Psi, Asian Business and Economic Student Association, Association of Information System Professionals, Student Ambassador Program, b.Line, Badger Business Buddies, Beta Alpha Psi, Business Action for Sustainable Enterprise, Christians in Business, DECA, Delta Sigma Pi, Entrepreneurship Association, Fantasy Sports and Finance Club, Finance & Investment Society, Institute of Management Accountants, International Business Association, International Finance Club, Investment Banking Club, Korean Business Student Association, Mu Kappa Tau, Multicultural Business Student Association, National Organization for Business and Engineering, Phi Beta Lambda – Future Business Leaders of America, Real Estate Club, Risk Management and Insurance Society, Sigma Iota Epsilon, Society for Human Resource Management, Society of Personal Investments, Sports Business Club, Student Faculty Board, SIFE, UBLC, Underclassmen Outreach Committee, Wisconsin BBA Student Government, Wisconsin Consulting Club, and Women in Business. Several of the clubs are Madison chapters of nationwide organizations, others are honor societies and require a minimum grade point average, while some are simply to network with other students.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is home to two student unions
. The older, Memorial Union
, was built in 1928 to honor American World War I
veteran
s. Also known as the Union or the Terrace, it has gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful student centers
on a university campus. Located on the shore of Lake Mendota
, it is a popular spot for socializing among both students and the public, who enjoy gazing at the lake and the sailboats that are often present. The union is known for the Rathskeller, a German pub adjacent to the lake terrace. Political debates and backgammon
and sheepshead
games over a beer on the terrace are common among students . The Rathskeller serves "Rathskeller Ale," a beer
brewed expressly for the Terrace. It was also the first union at a public university to serve beer.
Memorial Union is home to many arts venues, including several art galleries, a movie theater, the Wisconsin Union Theater, and the Craftshop, which provides courses and facilities for engaging in a variety of arts and crafts. The Memorial Union
was also home to the only business on campus owned and operated solely by students, ASM StudentPrint, until 2009 when it moved to 333 East Campus Mall. Students and Madison community members alike congregate at the Memorial Union for the films and concerts each week. An advisory referendum
to renovate
and expand Memorial Union was approved by the student body in 2006, and the university is currently in the planning phase for the expansion.
Union South, the newer campus union, existed at the southwest end of campus until its demolition in 2008. It was built in 1971 to better accommodate a growing campus. Plans to construct a new "green" Union South were approved by the student body in 2006. The new Union South opened April 15, 2011 and is a certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) gold building. The building is located on the site of the old union and features an art gallery, climbing wall, bowling alley as well as event spaces and a hotel. Union South also offers many dining options including: Daily Scoop, Harvest Grains, Ginger Root, Prairie Fire, The Sett and Urban Slice.
The Wisconsin Union
also provides a home for the Wisconsin Union Directorate Student Programming Board (WUD), which provides regular programs for both students and community members. One of the most well-known members of WUD is the Wisconsin Hoofers
, a club involved in organized outdoor recreational activities.
Wisconsin had the 13th largest research library collection in North America in 2007–08, according to the Association of Research Libraries
. Memorial Library, along with more than 40 other professional and special-purpose libraries, serve the campus. As of July 2008, the campus library collections included more than 8.1 million volumes representing human inquiry through all of history. In addition, the collections comprised more than 76,000 serial titles, 6.4 million microfilm items, and over 7 million items in other formats, such as government documents, maps, musical scores, and audiovisual materials. Over 1 million volumes are circulated to library users every year. Memorial Library serves as the principal research facility on campus for the humanities and social sciences. It houses the largest single library collection in the state of Wisconsin—-more than 3.5 million volumes. This library also houses a periodical collection, domestic and foreign newspapers, Special Collections, the Mills Music Library, a letterpress printing museum, and the UW Digital Collections Center.
Steenbock Memorial Library is the primary resource library for the students, faculty, and research staff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, School of Human Ecology, School of Veterinary Medicine, UW Extension and Cooperative Extension, and Zoology and Botany Departments. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives and Records Management Department and Oral History Program are also located in Steenbock Library. The library is named for UW professor Harry Steenbock
(1886-1967) who developed an inexpensive method of enriching foods with Vitamin D in the 1920s. This library is open to the public.
Undergraduates can find many of the resources they need at College Library in Helen C. White Hall. Special collections there include Ethnic Studies, Career, Women's, and Gaus (Poetry). The Open Book collection, created to support the extra-academic interests of undergraduates, contains DVDs, audio books, and video games, and paperback books. The library also has a coffee shop, the Open Book Café. College Library houses a media center with over 200 computer workstations, DV editing stations, scanners, poster printing, and equipment checkout (including laptops, digital cameras, projectors, and more).
The Kurt F. Wendt Library serves the College of Engineering and the Departments of Computer Sciences, Statistics, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. In addition to books, journals, and standards, Wendt Library houses over 1.5 million technical reports in print and microfiche. Designated a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, it maintains all U.S. utility, design, and plant patents, and provides reference tools and assistance for both the general public and the UW–Madison community.
Ebling Library for the Health Sciences is located in the Health Sciences Learning Center. It opened in 2004 after the Middleton Library, Weston Library, and Power Pharmaceutical Library merged collections and staff.
The online catalog for UW–Madison Libraries is MadCat. It includes bibliographic records for books, periodicals, audiovisual materials, maps, music scores, microforms, and computer databases owned by over 40 campus libraries, as well as records for items that are on order. The UW–Madison Libraries website provides access to resources licensed for use by those affiliated with UW–Madison, in addition to those openly available on the World Wide Web
.
The Geology Museum features rocks, minerals, and fossils from around the world. Highlights include a blacklight room, a walk-through cave, and a fragment of the Barringer meteorite
. Some noteworthy fossils include the first dinosaur skeleton assembled in Wisconsin (an Edmontosaurus
), a shark
(Squalicorax
) and a floating colony of sea lilies (Uintacrinus
), both from the Cretaceous
chalk of Kansas
, and the Boaz Mastodon
, a found on a farm in southwestern Wisconsin in 1897.
The Chazen Museum of Art
, formerly the Elvehjem Museum of Art, maintains a collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and photographs spanning over 700 years of art.
The university's Zoological Museum maintains a collection of approximately 500,000 zoological specimens, which can be used for research and instruction. A special collection contains skeletons, artifacts, and research papers associated with the Galápagos Islands
. Since 1978, the UW–Madison Zoological Museum has been one of only three museums granted permission by the Ecuadoran Government to collect anatomical specimens from the Galápagos Islands.
The L. R. Ingersoll Physics Museum contains a range of exhibits demonstrating classical
and modern physics
. Many of the exhibits allow for hands-on interaction by visitors. The museum also has a number of historical instruments and pictures on display.
's Division I-A. With the exception of men's and women's hockey and men and lightweight women's rowing (Wisconsin Crew
), University of Wisconsin–Madison athletic programs compete in the Big Ten Conference
. Both hockey
programs compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association
, while the traditionally highly ranked men's and lightweight women's crew programs compete in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges
. The school's fight song
is On, Wisconsin!
. The school's mascot is Buckingham U. Badger, commonly referred to as "Bucky Badger
".
2005–06 marked the first time in school history that four Badger teams brought home national championships in the same academic year. In the fall, the men's cross country team won its fourth national championship, after finishing second the previous three years. The winter season was highlighted by the men's and women's ice hockey teams both winning national titles. The year was capped off in the spring with the women's lightweight crew taking its third straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association
national crown. In 2008, both men's and women's crew teams claimed national titles.
The Badgers play college football
at the 80,321 capacity Camp Randall Stadium
. After every game, the University of Wisconsin Marching Band
plays popular songs during the Fifth Quarter. Before the fourth quarter of every game at Camp Randall, the crowd jumps around to House of Pain
's song "Jump Around
." The Badgers' current head coach Bret Bielema
succeeded long-time head coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez
in 2006. The Badgers won three Rose Bowl
Championships under Alvarez in 1994, 1999, and 2000. In 2006, Bielema led the Badgers to school record eleven-win regular season and to twelve overall wins after defeating Arkansas
in the Capital One Bowl
.
The Badgers lost to TCU
in the 2011 Rose Bowl
Championship on January 1, 2011.
The Badgers have made 13 consecutive appearances at the NCAA Tournament
, with a Final Four
visit in 2000, an Elite Eight
appearance in 2005, and Sweet Sixteen
appearance in 2011. Badgers' head coach Bo Ryan
, a four-time Division III national championship coach at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville, has coached the team since 2001. The Badgers
play at the Kohl Center
, where the student fans are known as the Grateful Red
. In the 2006–2007 basketball season, the Badgers attained their highest AP ranking in school history (#1, Feb. 19–25), garnering 35 first-place votes. The Badgers' earned their only NCAA National Championship in 1941.
and Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
winner Jolene Anderson. The Lady Badgers
also play at the Kohl Center
since their move from the Wisconsin Field House in 1998. The 2006–2007 season was a record-setting year as the Badgers recorded 23 wins, including 17 home wins, and were the WNIT
Runner-Up Champions.
Badger ice hockey first became a men's varsity sport in 1922. Although dropped after the 1934–35 season, it again became a varsity sport in the 1963–64 season. The men's team played in the Dane County Coliseum
until moving to the Kohl Center
(capacity 15,237) in the fall of 1998. The first ice hockey game played at the Kohl was the Hall of Fame game against the University of Notre Dame
. The men's team perennially leads the nation in college hockey attendance, and set an NCAA attendance record (averaging 14,430) during the 2006–07 season, surpassing their previous record set the previous year.
Bob Johnson, nicknamed "Badger Bob" by fans, took over the reins in 1966. Johnson coached the Badger men to three national championships in 1973, 1977 and 1981. Jeff Sauer coached the Badger men to two more titles in 1983 and 1990. Mike Eaves
, member of the 1977 NCAA title team, coached the Badger men's team to its sixth national championship in 2006. The six Badger titles rank 4th in NCAA men's ice hockey history. Eaves' 2010 squad advanced to the national championship game during the Badgers' 11th appearance in the men's Frozen Four before bowing to Boston College
.
The school's strong ice hockey tradition gained another dimension with the addition of a women's team that began play in the 1999–2000 season. Coached by Mark Johnson
, son of "Badger Bob" and another member of the men's 1977 title team, the Badger women won their first NCAA championship on March 26, 2006. The dual 2006 titles marked the first time that both the men's and women's Division I NCAA hockey titles were won by the same school in the same year. The women's team repeated as national champions in 2007 with a victory over the University of Minnesota-Duluth on March 18 at Herb Brooks Arena
in Lake Placid, NY. With a 5–0 victory over Mercyhurst in the 2009 Women's Frozen Four final in Boston, the Badger women added their third NCAA title.
compete in the Big Ten Conference
. Their most notable rivalry is with the University of Minnesota
, which is the most-played rivalry in Division 1-A football. In their annual college football
game, the teams compete for Paul Bunyan's Axe
. The two universities also compete in the Border Battle, a year-long athletic competition in which each team's wins earn points for their university.
Men's basketball rivalries include Michigan State
, Illinois
and non-conference, in-state Marquette
.
The long-standing football rivalry between the University of Iowa
and Wisconsin–Madison was finally recognized in 2004, with the winner of their game being awarded the Heartland Trophy
.
Madison has natural rivals with other schools in the UW System
, most notably Milwaukee
and Green Bay
The Wisconsin–Madison men's and women's hockey teams' most recognized rivals are the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota
and the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota
. Other rivals include the University of Denver
, Colorado College
, Michigan Tech, University of Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State
.
badger
named Bucky
who dons a sweater affixed with the UW–Madison athletic logo (currently the red "Motion W"). Beginning in 1890, the university's first Bucky Badger was a live, temperamental and unruly badger
who was quickly retired. Although the nickname of the Wisconsin teams remained the "Badgers," it was not until Art Evans drew the early caricature version of Bucky in 1940 that today's recognizable image of Bucky was adopted. In 1949, a contest was held to name the mascot, but no consensus was reached after only a few entries were received. In reaction, the contest committee chose the name Buckingham U. Badger, or "Bucky," for short.
At Wisconsin football games in the 1920s live mascots were used to inspire fans. The animals used included a black bear, a bonnet monkey, and live badgers. 1949 was the first year a student sporting a papier-mâché badger head appeared; this subsequently replaced the use of live badgers.
The team's nickname originates from the state nickname. In the 1820s, many lead miners and their families lived in the mines in which they worked until adequate above-ground shelters were built, and thus were compared to badgers.
In 2009, John Fromstein produced "Being Bucky" a documentary that followed the 7 Wisconsin students who take on the role of Bucky Badger. The documentary was meant to show the life and background of being a mascot at a major university. "Being Bucky" won "Best Documentary Film" at the Wisconsin Film Fest and went on to play in local Wisconsin movie theaters.
All-Campus Party (ACP)
Every spring, the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) and the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) put on a free, alcohol alternative, week-long series of events for the entire student body. They partner with local businesses, student organizations, and national corporations to sponsor All-Campus Party (ACP). This is a celebration of University of Wisconsin–Madison for students, created by students.
The week includes featured events specifically designed and put together by members of WASB, in addition to many other events put on by the varying sponsors and student organizations. The featured events include:
Breakfast with Bucky- A free, continental, sponsored breakfast for all students. There are multiple locations on campus where breakfast is served to accommodate as many students as possible.
All-Campus Idol- With a format similar to the popular television show, American Idol
, this singing talent competition searches for the best act on campus. Auditions are held looking for the top ten contestants to perform and compete on stage in front of a live audience. At the end of the show, the audience can text in their votes to determine the winner.
Wear Red Get Fed/ Bucky State Fair- Students are encouraged to wear red this day and receive free pizza in Library Mall. Rock wall climbing, Gladiator fighting, and other fun activities are there as well. Student organizations are encouraged to sign-up and host a booth in Library Mall and promote their organization as well.
Club Bucky – A live DJ, free food, and lots of dancing! A club atmosphere is provided for students as they dance the night away.
Buckystock – Previously known as "Bucky's Blowout Concert" A free, concert in Library Mall for all. The artist changes each year; previous performers include Violent Femmes (2005), Common (2006), Ben Kweller (2007), Talib Kweli (2008), Ok Go (2009), We the Living, and the Grace Weber Band (2010).
StudentPrint
StudentPrint is a non-proft printshop affiliated with ASM, UW-Madison's student government. StudentPrint is managed by students and gives them the opportunity to learn how to own and manage a business. Services include basic and color printing, large format posters, business card printing, and button-making. Students can also purchase class packets for a variety of courses. StudentPrint is open to the public but serves mainly for UW-Madison campus community members.
, founded in 1892 and The Badger Herald
, founded in 1969. The Onion
was founded in 1988 by two UW–Madison juniors, and was published in Madison before moving to New York City
in 2001. It is also the home of The Madison Misnomer
, an undergraduate comedy newspaper, founded in 2007.
UW-Madison is also home to one of only two nationally distributed undergraduate international studies journals in the country. The Journal of Undergraduate International Studies (JUIS) is a competitive publication that features peer-reviewed academic articles. It was founded in 2003 by David Coddon with the support of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Leadership Trust.
91.7 FM, "The Snake on the Lake". Historically, UW–Madison has been home to a collection of student run radio stations, a number of which stopped broadcasting after run-ins with the United States Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). The current radio station, WSUM, began in 1997 in a webcast
only format because of the prolonged battle to get an FCC license and construct a tower. This lasted five years until February 22, 2002, when the station started broadcasting over FM
airwaves at 91.7 from its tower in Montrose, Wisconsin
. The radio station currently has around 150 volunteer DJs
and 8 paid managers. All UW–Madison students, as well as a limited number of community members, are eligible to participate in running the station. WSUM remains entirely free format, which means that the on-air personnel can showcase a large variety of music and talk programming at their discretion with few limitations. WSUM has garnered many awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association for their news, play-by-play broadcasts of Badger athletic events, and unique public service announcements.
" by Playboy
magazine, and number 12 by The Princeton Review
. UW–Madison has long held a reputation for academics, political activism, and drinking; the last of these can be understood in the context of the state's traditionally high level of alcohol consumption in general.
The festive mentality is most notably displayed with the annual Mifflin Street Block Party
and the State Street Halloween Party
. The Mifflin Street Block Party
, which began in the 1960s as a counterculture event, is today a spring semester finals week kickoff. Both events are commonly attended by tens of thousands of partiers, including many who come from out of state. Following a non-political riot that developed at the 1996 Mifflin Street Block Party, it was forcibly canceled by the city; since then, the city has permitted resumption of a Mifflin Street event.
premiered the reality series College Life
about the day-to-day lives of eight UW–Madison freshmen. The show was created by UW–Madison alumnus David Wexler
. According to MTV, the students did the filming for the series, but not the editing. During production, the university pulled its support of the show. Subsequently, a disclaimer was aired at the beginning of each episode stating that UW–Madison does not endorse the program. Eight episodes aired as of February 22, 2010.
UW–Madison alumni, faculty, or former faculty have been awarded 19 Nobel Prizes and 34 Pulitzer Prizes.
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
research university located in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System
University of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
. It became a land-grant institution
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
in 1866. The 933 acres (378 ha) main campus includes four National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
s.
UW–Madison is organized into 20 schools which enrolled 29,153 undergraduate, 8,710 graduate, and 2,570 professional students and granted 6,040 bachelor's and 3,328 graduate and professional degrees in 2008. The university employs 2,054 faculty members. Its comprehensive academic program offers 135 undergraduate majors, along with 151 master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
programs and 107 doctoral
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
programs.
The UW is categorized as an RU/VH Research University (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is a framework for classifying, or grouping, colleges and universities in the United States. The primary purpose of the framework is for educational research and analysis, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly...
. In 2010, it had research expenditures of more than 1 billion dollars. In 2008, the University's R&D expenditures were ranked the third highest in the nation. Wisconsin is a founding member of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
.
The Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
compete in 25 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's Division I Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
and have won 27 national championships.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is considered a Public Ivy
Public Ivy
Public Ivy is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities to refer to universities which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Public Ivies are considered, according to the...
, or a public institution that offers an education comparable to those of the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
.
History
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
was incorporated as a state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
in 1848. The Wisconsin Constitution
Wisconsin Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin is the governing document of the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It establishes the structure and function of state government, describes the state boundaries, and declares the rights of state citizens...
provided for "the establishment of a state university, at or near the seat of state government..." and directed by the state legislature to be governed by a board of regents and administered by a chancellor. On July 26, 1846, Nelson Dewey
Nelson Dewey
Nelson Dewey was a politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin; he was the first Governor of Wisconsin, serving from 1848 until 1852.- Early life :...
, Wisconsin's first governor
Governor of Wisconsin
The Governor of Wisconsin is the highest executive authority in the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The position was first filled by Nelson Dewey on June 7, 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state...
, signed the act that formally created the University of Wisconsin. John H. Lathrop became the university's first chancellor, in the fall of 1849. With John W. Sterling as the university's first professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
(mathematics), the first class of 17 students met at Madison Female Academy
Madison Female Academy
Madison Female Academy was a school for girls which flourished in the 19th century in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and is now mainly famous as the site of the first classes held by the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
on February 5, 1849. A permanent campus site was soon selected: an area of 50 acres (20.2 ha) "bounded north by Fourth lake, east by a street to be opened at right angles with King street," [later State Street] "south by Mineral Point Road (University Avenue), and west by a carriage-way from said road to the lake." The regents' building plans called for a "main edifice fronting towards the Capitol, three stories high, surmounted by an observatory for astronomical observations." This building, University Hall, now known as Bascom Hall
Bascom Hill
Bascom Hill is the main quadrangle that forms the symbolic core of the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. It is located on the opposite end of State Street from the Wisconsin State Capitol, and is named after John Bascom, former president of the University of Wisconsin...
, was finally completed in 1859. On October 10, 1916, a fire destroyed the building's dome, which was never replaced. North Hall
North Hall, University of Wisconsin
North Hall, University of Wisconsin was the first structure on the University of Wisconsin campus. Located on Bascom Hill, it was built in 1851 at a cost of $19,000. John Muir resided in North Hall when he was a student at the University. It currently houses the offices of the political science...
, constructed in 1851, was actually the first building on campus. In 1854, Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakeley became the first graduates of the university, and in 1892 the university awarded its first Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
to future university president Charles R. Van Hise
Charles R. Van Hise
Charles Richard Van Hise, Ph.D. was an American geologist and academic. He served as president of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1903 to 1918.-Life and work:...
.
The Wisconsin Idea
Research, teaching, and service at the UW is influenced by a traditionTradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
known as "the Wisconsin Idea
Wisconsin Idea
The Wisconsin Idea is the political philosophy developed in the American state of Wisconsin that fosters public universities' contributions to the state: "to the government in the forms of serving in office, offering advice about public policy, providing information and exercising technical skill,...
," first articulated by UW–Madison President Charles Van Hise in 1904, when he declared "I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea holds that the boundaries of the university should be the boundaries of the state, and that the research conducted at UW–Madison should be applied to solve problems and improve health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, quality of life, the environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, and agriculture for all citizens of the state. The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students, and the state's industries and government. Based in Wisconsin's populist history, the Wisconsin Idea continues to inspire the work of the faculty, staff, and students who aim to solve real-world problems by working together across disciplines and demographics.
World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, University of Wisconsin was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
Expansion
Over time, additional campuses were added to the university. The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee was created in 1956, and UW–Green Bay and UW–Parkside in 1968. Ten freshman-sophomore centers were also added to this system. In 1971, Wisconsin legislators passed a law merging the University of Wisconsin with the nine universities and four freshman-sophomore branch campuses of the Wisconsin State Universities System, creating the University of Wisconsin SystemUniversity of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
and bringing the two higher education systems under a single board of regents.
Student activism
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
s, and by the use of force by authorities in response, comprehensively documented in the film The War at Home
The War at Home (1979 film)
The War at Home is a documentary film about the anti-war movement in the Madison, Wisconsin area during the time of the Vietnam War. It combines archival footage and interviews with participants that explore the events of the period on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus...
. The first major demonstrations protested the presence on campus of recruiters
Recruitment
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.The recruitment...
for the Dow Chemical Company, which supplied the napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
used in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Authorities used force to quell the disturbance. The struggle was documented in the PBS documentary Two Days in October, as well as the book, They Marched Into Sunlight. Among the students injured in the protest was future Madison mayor Paul Soglin
Paul Soglin
Paul Soglin is the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.-Early life and education:Soglin was raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago...
.
Another target of protest was the Army Mathematics Research Center (AMRC), located in Sterling Hall, which was also home of the physics department. The student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
, published a series of investigative articles stating that AMRC was pursuing research directly pursuant to US Department of Defense requests, and supportive of military operations in Vietnam. AMRC became a magnet for demonstrations, in which protesters chanted "U.S. out of Vietnam! Smash Army Math!"
Robert Fassnacht
Robert E. Fassnacht was a physics post-doctoral researcher who was killed by the bombing of Sterling Hall on August 24, 1970 on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus....
, was in the lab and was killed in the explosion. The physics department was severely damaged, while the intended target, the AMRC, was scarcely affected. Karleton Armstrong, Dwight Armstrong
Dwight Armstrong
Dwight Alan Armstrong was an American anti-Vietnam War activist who was one of four persons involved in the August 24, 1970, Sterling Hall bombing on the campus University of Wisconsin–Madison, in an act of political protest against the University's research efforts on behalf of the United States...
, and David Fine
David Fine
David Sylvan Fine is an American domestic terrorist who was one of four perpetrators of the August 24, 1970, Sterling Hall bombing on the campus University of Wisconsin–Madison, in an act of political protest to the University's research efforts on behalf of the United States armed forces. The...
were found responsible for the blast. Leo Burt
Leo Burt
Leo Frederick Burt was indicted in connection with the 1970 Sterling Hall bombing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, which killed Robert Fassnacht, a physics researcher, and injured several others...
was identified as a suspect, but was never apprehended or tried.
While the student body has shed much of its radical image, the campus is still known for its progressive politics. In February 2011, thousands of students marched and occupied the Wisconsin State Capitol
Wisconsin State Capitol
The Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed during 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the first territorial legislature...
during the 2011 Wisconsin protests
2011 Wisconsin protests
The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving at its zenith as many as 100,000 protestors opposing the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill. Subsequently, anti-tax activists and other conservatives, including tea...
.
Timeline of notable events
Notable historical moments in the first 150 years of the University of Wisconsin–Madison include:- 1863 Women students first admitted to University of Wisconsin during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, - 1866 State legislature designated the University as the Wisconsin land-grant institution
- April 4, 1892 The first edition of the student-run The Daily CardinalThe Daily CardinalThe Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
was published - 1894 State Board of Regents rejected an effort to purge Professor Richard T. ElyRichard T. ElyRichard Theodore Ely was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention in order to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor, and labor...
for supporting striking printers, issuing the famous "sifting and winnowing" manifesto in defense of academic freedomAcademic freedomAcademic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
, later described as "part of Wisconsin's Magna Carta" - 1898 UW music instructors Henry Dyke Sleeper and Conner Ross Buerosse wrote VarsityVarsity (toast)"Varsity" is the alma mater of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The final lines of the song are accompanied by the singers waving their right arms.-History:...
, the university’s alma mater - 1904–1905 UW Graduate School established
- 1905 – the University awards the first Ph.D.Ph.D.A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in chemical engineeringChemical engineeringChemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
ever granted, to Oliver Patterson Watts. - 1907 Wisconsin UnionWisconsin UnionThe Wisconsin Union is a membership organization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It operates the Memorial Union, Union South, the Morgridge Center for Public Service, the Hoofer Equestrian Center, Bernie's Place Child Care Center, and a number of food outlets on campus in order to "to...
was founded - 1909 William PurdyWilliam PurdyWilliam "Bill" Frederick Purdy was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1986. During his time in office he sat with the governing Progressive Conservative party...
and Paul Beck wrote On, Wisconsin the UW–Madison athletic fight song - 1907–1911 The "Single-grain experimentSingle-grain experimentThe single-grain experiment was an experiment carried out at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from May 1907 to 1911. The experiment tested if cows could survive on a single type of grain. The experiment would lead to the development of modern nutritional science.-Foundations:In 1881,...
" was conducted by Stephen Moulton BabcockStephen Moulton BabcockStephen Moulton Babcock was a U.S. agricultural chemist. He is best known for his Babcock test in determining dairy butterfat in milk processing, in cheese processing, and in the "single-grain experiment" that would lead to the development of nutrition as a science.-Early life and career:Born on a...
and Edwin B. HartEdwin B. HartEdwin B. Hart was an American biochemist.A native of Ohio, Hart studied physiological chemistry under Albrecht Kossel in Germany, and also studied at the University of Marzburg and University of Heidelberg...
, paving the way for modern nutritionNutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
as a science - 1913 Vitamin A discovered by UW scientist, Elmer V. McCollum
- 1916 Vitamin B discovered by McCollum
- 1919 Radio station 9XM founded on campus (Now WHAWHA (AM)-External links:*Jeff Miller . *Randall Davidson. PortalWisconsin.org...
(970 AM), it is the oldest continually-operating radio station in the United States) - 1923 Harry SteenbockHarry SteenbockHarry Steenbock was a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.-Vitamin D:...
invented process for adding vitamin D to milk - 1925 Wisconsin Alumni Research FoundationWisconsin Alumni Research FoundationThe Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is the nonprofit technology transfer office of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is a significant source of research support, independent of federal grants...
chartered to control patenting and patent income on UW–Madison inventions - 1934 The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, whose mission was to restore lost landscapes, such as prairies, was opened
- 1936 UW–Madison began an artist-in-residence program, the first ever at a university
- 1940–1951 WarfarinWarfarinWarfarin is an anticoagulant. It is most likely to be the drug popularly referred to as a "blood thinner," yet this is a misnomer, since it does not affect the thickness or viscosity of blood...
(Coumadin) developed at UW. Named after Wisconsin Alumni Research FoundationWisconsin Alumni Research FoundationThe Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is the nonprofit technology transfer office of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is a significant source of research support, independent of federal grants... - 1969 The Badger HeraldThe Badger HeraldThe Badger Herald is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. Founded in 1969, it is one of America's first independent daily student newspapers. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year...
was founded as a conservative student paper - 1970 Sterling Hall bombingSterling Hall bombingThe Sterling Hall Bombing that occurred on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on August 24, 1970 was committed by four young people as a protest against the University's research connections with the US military during the Vietnam War...
- 1984 University Research Park founded to encourage technology transfer between university and businesses
- 1988 The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
founded by two UW–Madison students, Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson - 1998 UW–Madison's James Thomson (cell biologist)James Thomson (cell biologist)James Alexander Thomson is an American developmental biologist best known for deriving the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998 and for deriving human induced pluripotent stem cells in 2007.-Thomson's research:...
first isolated and cultured human embryonic stem cells
Academics
University of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
, is a large, four-year research university comprising twenty associated colleges and schools. In addition to undergraduate and graduate divisions in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and life sciences, business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, human ecology
Human ecology
Human ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that focuses on humans. More broadly, it is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The term 'human ecology' first appeared in a sociological study in 1921...
, journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and mass communication
Mass communication
Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time...
, letters and science, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
, pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, and social welfare, the university also maintains graduate and professional schools in environmental studies
Environmental studies
Environmental studies is the academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. It is a broad interdisciplinary field of study that includes the natural environment, built environment, and the sets of relationships between them...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, library
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
and information studies
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, public affairs, and veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine
Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
.
The four year, full-time undergraduate instructional program is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as "arts and science plus professions" with a high graduate coexistence; admissions are characterized as "more selective, lower transfer-in." The largest university college, the College of Letters and Science, enrolls approximately half of the undergraduate student body and is made up of thirty-nine departments and five professional schools that instruct students and carry out research in a wide variety of fields, such as astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, and zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
. The graduate instructional program is classified by Carnegie as "comprehensive with medical/veterinary." In 2008, it granted the third largest number of doctorates in the nation.
International
In the 2011 QS World University RankingsQS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
it was ranked 41st in the world and received five excellence stars. It was ranked 17th among world universities and 15th among universities in the Americas in Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
's 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
, which assesses academic and research performance. In the G-factor International University Ranking of 2006, which is a re-analysis of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University or SJTU), sometimes referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University , is a top public research university located in Shanghai, China. Shanghai Jiao Tong University is known as one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China...
data, the UW–Madison was listed 13th.
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...
placed it 27th worldwide, based primarily on surveys administered to students, faculty, and recruiters. Additionally, the professional ranking of world universities from École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris
École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris
The École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris was created in 1783 by King Louis XVI in order to train intelligent directors of mines. It is one of the most prominent French engineering schoolsThe École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (also known as Mines ParisTech, École des Mines de...
, based in part on the number of senior managerial positions occupied by alumni, placed UW–Madison 35th in the world.
National
UW–Madison was ranked 11th among national universities (with three institutions tied) by the Center for Measuring University PerformanceCenter for Measuring University Performance
The Center for Measuring University Performance is a research center at Arizona State University. The Center is best known for an annual report it produces, The Top American Research Universities, that ranks American universities on nine different measures: Total Research, Federal Research,...
in its 2007 report, with rankings based on objective statistics on research, faculty awards, student qualifications, and university assets. Of 38 programs at the UW–Madison that were included in the National Research Council
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
's 1995 study, 16 ranked in the top 10 nationally. In 2007, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that 57 disciplines at the UW–Madison were in the top 10 in the U.S. in scholarly productivity, which placed it second after UC-Berkeley in the number of top ten programs. The UW placed 30th among national universities in Washington Monthlys 2009 rankings, which consider community service and social mobility, as well as research productivity. In 2009, UW–Madison was ranked 6th in the TrendTopper MediaBuzz rankings by the Global Language Monitor. In 2011, the Global Language Monitor increased the ranking to 1st in Internet Media Buzz.
Madison's undergraduate program was ranked 42nd among national universities by U.S.News & World Report for 2012 and 10th among public schools. In both cases, UW-Madison is tied with another UW, University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. The same magazine ranked UW's graduate School of Business 29th, and its undergraduate business program 13th. Twelve CEOs of S&P 500 companies hold degrees from the University of Wisconsin, putting it in a tie with Harvard and Princeton for first place.
In 2011, USNWR ranked UW's Law School
University of Wisconsin Law School
The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional school for the study of law at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. The law school was founded in 1868.-Facilities:...
35th, while Vault listed it as 25th for 2008. Other graduate schools ranked by USNWR include the School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is a professional school for the study of medicine and public health at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.- History :...
, which was 27th in research and 13th in primary care, the College of Engineering 16th, the School of Education 12th, and the La Follette School of Public Affairs
Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs
The Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, commonly known as the La Follette School, is the graduate public policy school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It offers students a choice of master's degrees in public affairs or international public affairs, as well as a number of joint...
14th.
Madison has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies
Public Ivy
Public Ivy is a term coined by Richard Moll in his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities to refer to universities which "provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price." Public Ivies are considered, according to the...
," a publicly-funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
.
Research
UW–Madison was a founding member of the Association of American UniversitiesAssociation of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
. In 2007–2008, the school allocated $832 million towards research on campus, placing it second in the country in generating research funding, behind Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. Collectively, its research programs were also sixth in the number of patents issued in 2005. The University's research programs were ranked fourth in federally funded research and second in nonfederally funded research among U.S. public universities in 2009.
Overall, the University maintains almost 100 research centers and programs, ranging from agriculture to arts, from education to engineering. It has been considered a major academic center for embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...
research ever since UW–Madison professor James Thomson
James Thomson (cell biologist)
James Alexander Thomson is an American developmental biologist best known for deriving the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998 and for deriving human induced pluripotent stem cells in 2007.-Thomson's research:...
became the first scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
to isolate human embryonic stem cells. This has brought significant attention and respect for the University's research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
programs from around the world. The University continues to be a leader in stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
research, helped in part by the funding of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is the nonprofit technology transfer office of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is a significant source of research support, independent of federal grants...
and promotion of WiCell
WiCell
WiCell is the nonprofit subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation created in 1998 to promote research in human embryonic stem cells.In 1998, James Thomson was the first researcher to successfully isolate human embryonic stem cells....
.
Its center for research on internal combustion engines, called the Engine Research Center, has a five-year collaboration agreement with General Motors. It has also been the recipient of multi-million dollar funding from the federal government.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of thirty sea grant colleges
Sea grant colleges
The National Sea Grant College Program is a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce...
in the United States. These colleges are involved in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes and other marine areas.
In January 2008, the US Department of Agriculture cited the University of Wisconsin–Madison Research Animal Resource Center for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including not using painkillers in animals undergoing painful procedures, improper monitoring of animals, and not reporting medical problems to staff veterinarians.
Letters & Science Honors Program
The L&S Honors Program serves over 1300 students in the College of Letters and Science (the UW–Madison's liberal arts collegeLiberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
) with an enriched undergraduate curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
. In addition to its curriculum, the program offers professional advising services; research opportunities and funding; and numerous academic, social and service opportunities through the Honors Student Organization. The Honors Program also supports several student organizations, such as the University of Wisconsin–Madison Forensics Team.
Campus
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, about a mile from the state capitol
Wisconsin State Capitol
The Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed during 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the first territorial legislature...
, the university is situated partially on an isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
between Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes near Madison, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest, Maple Bluff on the northeast, and Westport on the northwest....
and Lake Monona
Lake Monona
Lake Monona is a freshwater drainage lake in Dane County, Wisconsin surrounded on three sides by the city of Madison, Wisconsin and on the south side by the city of Monona, Wisconsin. It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along the Yahara River in the area and forms the south shore of...
. The main campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
comprises 933 acres (378 ha) of land, while the entire campus, including research stations located throughout the state, is over 10600 acres (4,290 ha) in area. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, a demonstration area for native ecosystems, is located on the west side of Madison. The main campus includes many buildings designed or supervised by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s J.T.W. Jennings
J.T.W. Jennings
J.T.W. Jennings was the Milwaukee Road's architect from 1885 to 1893, and was part-time supervising architect for the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1899-1906. He contributed to many prominent campus buildings....
and Arthur Peabody
Arthur Peabody
Arthur Peabody was campus architect for the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1905 to 1915. He became state architect of Wisconsin in 1915...
. The hub of campus life is the Memorial Union
Memorial Union (Wisconsin)
The Memorial Union, known locally as simply "the Union", is located on the shore of Lake Mendota on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. Between the building and the lake is the Terrace, a highly-popular outdoor space....
.
The UW–Madison has its own police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force, food service, hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
facilities, botanical gardens, power facilities, and an on-campus dairy plant.
Bascom Hall
As one of the icons on campus, Bascom Hall, at the top of Bascom Hill
Bascom Hill
Bascom Hill is the main quadrangle that forms the symbolic core of the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus. It is located on the opposite end of State Street from the Wisconsin State Capitol, and is named after John Bascom, former president of the University of Wisconsin...
, is often considered the "heart of the campus." Built in 1857, a decorative dome that once sat atop the structure was destroyed by fire. The structure has been added to several times over the years. The building currently houses the office of the chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
and vice chancellors. Bascom Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as a contributing building within the Bascom Hill Historic District.
Music Hall
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
, a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, and a clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
. Dedicated on March 2, 1880, the building originally held conventions
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
, dances, and commencement ceremonies
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
, along with its primary purpose of a library. After the library moved to a different building on campus, a portion of the hall was assigned to the School of Music in 1900. Shortly after renovations in the early 1900s, the building was officially named Music Hall in 1910. It remains an important music venue and is home to the university opera. This building also is home to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, with part of the building being used as office space and classrooms.
George L. Mosse Humanities Building
The George L. MosseGeorge Mosse
George Lachmann Mosse was a German-born American social and cultural historian. Mosse authored 25 books on a variety of fields, from English constitutional law, Lutheran theology, to the history of fascism, Jewish history, and the history of masculinity...
Humanities Building, located on Library Mall, was built in the late 1960s in the Brutalist style. Campus myth has it that the building (with its poor ventilation, narrow windows, inclined base, and cantilevered upper floors) was designed to be "riot-proof" in that it was inescapable by protestors and easily penetratable by a SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
Team. Its seven floors house the History, Art, and Music departments. The most recent Campus Master Plan calls for it to be demolished and replaced with two other buildings.
Grainger Hall
Home of the Wisconsin School of Business, Grainger Hall was built in 1993. In 2008 it underwent a major renovation and addition to assist the 12 MBA specialization programs that were housed there. The addition occupies the corner of Park Street and University Avenue, projecting the school’s crest outward in a location that once housed a bank.Grainger Hall also houses an array of student-run organizations, both undergraduate and graduate. There are major-specific organizations as well as organizations that welcome all students. The current undergraduate registered student organizations (RSOs) are: Actuarial Club, AISEC, Alpha Kappa Psi, Asian Business and Economic Student Association, Association of Information System Professionals, Student Ambassador Program, b.Line, Badger Business Buddies, Beta Alpha Psi, Business Action for Sustainable Enterprise, Christians in Business, DECA, Delta Sigma Pi, Entrepreneurship Association, Fantasy Sports and Finance Club, Finance & Investment Society, Institute of Management Accountants, International Business Association, International Finance Club, Investment Banking Club, Korean Business Student Association, Mu Kappa Tau, Multicultural Business Student Association, National Organization for Business and Engineering, Phi Beta Lambda – Future Business Leaders of America, Real Estate Club, Risk Management and Insurance Society, Sigma Iota Epsilon, Society for Human Resource Management, Society of Personal Investments, Sports Business Club, Student Faculty Board, SIFE, UBLC, Underclassmen Outreach Committee, Wisconsin BBA Student Government, Wisconsin Consulting Club, and Women in Business. Several of the clubs are Madison chapters of nationwide organizations, others are honor societies and require a minimum grade point average, while some are simply to network with other students.
The Wisconsin Union
Student activity center
A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center...
. The older, Memorial Union
Memorial Union (Wisconsin)
The Memorial Union, known locally as simply "the Union", is located on the shore of Lake Mendota on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. Between the building and the lake is the Terrace, a highly-popular outdoor space....
, was built in 1928 to honor American World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
s. Also known as the Union or the Terrace, it has gained a reputation as one of the most beautiful student centers
Student activity center
A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center...
on a university campus. Located on the shore of Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes near Madison, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest, Maple Bluff on the northeast, and Westport on the northwest....
, it is a popular spot for socializing among both students and the public, who enjoy gazing at the lake and the sailboats that are often present. The union is known for the Rathskeller, a German pub adjacent to the lake terrace. Political debates and backgammon
Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
and sheepshead
Sheepshead
Sheepshead or Sheephead is a trick-taking card game related to the Skat family of games. It is the Americanized version of a card game that originated in Central Europe in the late 18th century under the German name Schafkopf. Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead", it has nothing to do...
games over a beer on the terrace are common among students . The Rathskeller serves "Rathskeller Ale," a beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
brewed expressly for the Terrace. It was also the first union at a public university to serve beer.
Memorial Union (Wisconsin)
The Memorial Union, known locally as simply "the Union", is located on the shore of Lake Mendota on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. Between the building and the lake is the Terrace, a highly-popular outdoor space....
was also home to the only business on campus owned and operated solely by students, ASM StudentPrint, until 2009 when it moved to 333 East Campus Mall. Students and Madison community members alike congregate at the Memorial Union for the films and concerts each week. An advisory referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
to renovate
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
and expand Memorial Union was approved by the student body in 2006, and the university is currently in the planning phase for the expansion.
Union South, the newer campus union, existed at the southwest end of campus until its demolition in 2008. It was built in 1971 to better accommodate a growing campus. Plans to construct a new "green" Union South were approved by the student body in 2006. The new Union South opened April 15, 2011 and is a certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
(LEED) gold building. The building is located on the site of the old union and features an art gallery, climbing wall, bowling alley as well as event spaces and a hotel. Union South also offers many dining options including: Daily Scoop, Harvest Grains, Ginger Root, Prairie Fire, The Sett and Urban Slice.
The Wisconsin Union
Wisconsin Union
The Wisconsin Union is a membership organization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It operates the Memorial Union, Union South, the Morgridge Center for Public Service, the Hoofer Equestrian Center, Bernie's Place Child Care Center, and a number of food outlets on campus in order to "to...
also provides a home for the Wisconsin Union Directorate Student Programming Board (WUD), which provides regular programs for both students and community members. One of the most well-known members of WUD is the Wisconsin Hoofers
Wisconsin Hoofers
The Wisconsin Hoofers of the Wisconsin Union is a group of outdoor recreational clubs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, operated by the Wisconsin Union Directorate....
, a club involved in organized outdoor recreational activities.
Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...
. Memorial Library, along with more than 40 other professional and special-purpose libraries, serve the campus. As of July 2008, the campus library collections included more than 8.1 million volumes representing human inquiry through all of history. In addition, the collections comprised more than 76,000 serial titles, 6.4 million microfilm items, and over 7 million items in other formats, such as government documents, maps, musical scores, and audiovisual materials. Over 1 million volumes are circulated to library users every year. Memorial Library serves as the principal research facility on campus for the humanities and social sciences. It houses the largest single library collection in the state of Wisconsin—-more than 3.5 million volumes. This library also houses a periodical collection, domestic and foreign newspapers, Special Collections, the Mills Music Library, a letterpress printing museum, and the UW Digital Collections Center.
Steenbock Memorial Library is the primary resource library for the students, faculty, and research staff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, School of Human Ecology, School of Veterinary Medicine, UW Extension and Cooperative Extension, and Zoology and Botany Departments. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives and Records Management Department and Oral History Program are also located in Steenbock Library. The library is named for UW professor Harry Steenbock
Harry Steenbock
Harry Steenbock was a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.-Vitamin D:...
(1886-1967) who developed an inexpensive method of enriching foods with Vitamin D in the 1920s. This library is open to the public.
Undergraduates can find many of the resources they need at College Library in Helen C. White Hall. Special collections there include Ethnic Studies, Career, Women's, and Gaus (Poetry). The Open Book collection, created to support the extra-academic interests of undergraduates, contains DVDs, audio books, and video games, and paperback books. The library also has a coffee shop, the Open Book Café. College Library houses a media center with over 200 computer workstations, DV editing stations, scanners, poster printing, and equipment checkout (including laptops, digital cameras, projectors, and more).
The Kurt F. Wendt Library serves the College of Engineering and the Departments of Computer Sciences, Statistics, and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. In addition to books, journals, and standards, Wendt Library houses over 1.5 million technical reports in print and microfiche. Designated a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, it maintains all U.S. utility, design, and plant patents, and provides reference tools and assistance for both the general public and the UW–Madison community.
Ebling Library for the Health Sciences is located in the Health Sciences Learning Center. It opened in 2004 after the Middleton Library, Weston Library, and Power Pharmaceutical Library merged collections and staff.
The online catalog for UW–Madison Libraries is MadCat. It includes bibliographic records for books, periodicals, audiovisual materials, maps, music scores, microforms, and computer databases owned by over 40 campus libraries, as well as records for items that are on order. The UW–Madison Libraries website provides access to resources licensed for use by those affiliated with UW–Madison, in addition to those openly available on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
.
Museums
Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater located approximately east of Flagstaff, near Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. Because the US Department of the Interior Division of Names commonly recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the...
. Some noteworthy fossils include the first dinosaur skeleton assembled in Wisconsin (an Edmontosaurus
Edmontosaurus
Edmontosaurus is a genus of crestless hadrosaurid dinosaur. It contains two species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian stage of the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago,...
), a shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
(Squalicorax
Squalicorax
Squalicorax is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. A fully articulated 1.9 m long fossil skeleton of Squalicorax has been found in Kansas, evidence of its presence in the Western Interior Seaway...
) and a floating colony of sea lilies (Uintacrinus
Uintacrinus
Uintacrinus is an extinct genus of crinoid from the Cretaceous of Kansas. It was unusual among crinoids because it had no stalk, and probably floated above the seafloor. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway...
), both from the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
chalk of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, and the Boaz Mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
, a found on a farm in southwestern Wisconsin in 1897.
The Chazen Museum of Art
Chazen Museum of Art
The Chazen Museum of Art is an art museum accredited by the American Association of Museums located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. It was known as the Elvehjem Museum of Art until 2005...
, formerly the Elvehjem Museum of Art, maintains a collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and photographs spanning over 700 years of art.
The university's Zoological Museum maintains a collection of approximately 500,000 zoological specimens, which can be used for research and instruction. A special collection contains skeletons, artifacts, and research papers associated with the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
. Since 1978, the UW–Madison Zoological Museum has been one of only three museums granted permission by the Ecuadoran Government to collect anatomical specimens from the Galápagos Islands.
The L. R. Ingersoll Physics Museum contains a range of exhibits demonstrating classical
Classical physics
What "classical physics" refers to depends on the context. When discussing special relativity, it refers to the Newtonian physics which preceded relativity, i.e. the branches of physics based on principles developed before the rise of relativity and quantum mechanics...
and modern physics
Modern physics
The term modern physics refers to the post-Newtonian conception of physics. The term implies that classical descriptions of phenomena are lacking, and that an accurate, "modern", description of reality requires theories to incorporate elements of quantum mechanics or Einsteinian relativity, or both...
. Many of the exhibits allow for hands-on interaction by visitors. The museum also has a number of historical instruments and pictures on display.
Athletics
The University of Wisconsin–Madison sports teams participate in the NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's Division I-A. With the exception of men's and women's hockey and men and lightweight women's rowing (Wisconsin Crew
Wisconsin Badgers Crew
The Wisconsin Badgers Crew is the rowing team that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Rowing at the University dates back to 1874.The women's openweight team is a NCAA Division I team...
), University of Wisconsin–Madison athletic programs compete in the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
. Both hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
programs compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference....
, while the traditionally highly ranked men's and lightweight women's crew programs compete in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges
Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges
The Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges is a college athletic conference of eighteen men's college rowing crews. It is an affiliate of the Eastern College Athletic Conference .-Members:...
. The school's fight song
Fight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
is On, Wisconsin!
On, Wisconsin!
"On, Wisconsin!" is the fight song of the Wisconsin Badgers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With modified lyrics, it is also the official state song of Wisconsin....
. The school's mascot is Buckingham U. Badger, commonly referred to as "Bucky Badger
Bucky Badger
Bucky Badger is the official mascot of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His full name is Buckingham U. Badger and he attends all major sporting events for the Wisconsin Badgers as well as hundreds of other events around Wisconsin every year....
".
2005–06 marked the first time in school history that four Badger teams brought home national championships in the same academic year. In the fall, the men's cross country team won its fourth national championship, after finishing second the previous three years. The winter season was highlighted by the men's and women's ice hockey teams both winning national titles. The year was capped off in the spring with the women's lightweight crew taking its third straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association
Intercollegiate Rowing Association
The Intercollegiate Rowing Association runs the IRA Championship Regatta, which is considered to be the United States collegiate national championship of rowing. Since 1995, it has been held on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, New Jersey, and includes both men's and women's events for sweep boats...
national crown. In 2008, both men's and women's crew teams claimed national titles.
Football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the 80,321 capacity Camp Randall Stadium
Camp Randall Stadium
Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a complete stadium since 1917. It is located on the center-southern region of the University of Wisconsin campus. The stadium seats...
. After every game, the University of Wisconsin Marching Band
University of Wisconsin Marching Band
The University of Wisconsin Marching Band is the marching band for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It was formed with 11 members in the fall of 1885 to support the military battalion. Today, it has grown to over 300 members and performs at all Badger home football games.-History:The...
plays popular songs during the Fifth Quarter. Before the fourth quarter of every game at Camp Randall, the crowd jumps around to House of Pain
House of Pain
House of Pain is an American hip hop group who released three albums in the 1990s before lead rapper Everlast left to pursue his solo career again. The group's name is a reference to the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr...
's song "Jump Around
Jump Around
"Jump Around" is the title of a song by the band House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill. This song became a hit in 1992, reaching Number 3 in the USA. A 1993 re-release of the song in the UK, where the original had been a minor hit, peaked at Number 8. On VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of...
." The Badgers' current head coach Bret Bielema
Bret Bielema
-Personal life:Bielema announced on April 1, 2011 that he was engaged to his girlfriend, Jen. The wedding is scheduled for spring 2012.-External links:* *...
succeeded long-time head coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez
Barry Alvarez
Barry Alvarez is a former American football player and coach and currently the Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons from 1990 to 2005, compiling a career college football record of 118–73–4...
in 2006. The Badgers won three Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
Championships under Alvarez in 1994, 1999, and 2000. In 2006, Bielema led the Badgers to school record eleven-win regular season and to twelve overall wins after defeating Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in the Capital One Bowl
Capital One Bowl
The Capital One Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Orlando, Florida at the Citrus Bowl, and previously known as the Tangerine Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl...
.
The Badgers lost to TCU
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
in the 2011 Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
Championship on January 1, 2011.
Men's basketball
The Badgers have made 13 consecutive appearances at the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
, with a Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
visit in 2000, an Elite Eight
Elite Eight
The term Elite Eight, or less commonly called "Great Eight", refers to the final eight teams in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship; and, thus, represents the national quarterfinals. In Division I, the Elite Eight consists of the...
appearance in 2005, and Sweet Sixteen
Sweet Sixteen
Sweet Sixteen may refer to:*Sweet sixteen , a party thrown in honor of a girl's or very rarely, a boy's, sixteenth birthday, primarily in the United States...
appearance in 2011. Badgers' head coach Bo Ryan
Bo Ryan
William "Bo" Francis Ryan, Jr. is an American college basketball coach and current head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison men's basketball team.-Playing career:...
, a four-time Division III national championship coach at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville, has coached the team since 2001. The Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
play at the Kohl Center
Kohl Center
The Kohl Center is an arena and athletic center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States. The building, which opened in 1998, is the home of the university's men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams. Seating capacity is variable, as the center can be rearranged to accommodate...
, where the student fans are known as the Grateful Red
Grateful Red
The Grateful Red is the student section of the Kohl Center, home of the University of Wisconsin–Madison's NCAA men's basketball team. As a division of the Badger Student Fan Club, it cheers on the Badgers from behind the basket at the Kohl Center. The name is a take-off of the rock group, the...
. In the 2006–2007 basketball season, the Badgers attained their highest AP ranking in school history (#1, Feb. 19–25), garnering 35 first-place votes. The Badgers' earned their only NCAA National Championship in 1941.
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team is led by Head Coach Lisa StoneLisa Stone
Lisa Stone is the former head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball program. On March 21, 2011, it was reported that Stone had been fired after 8 seasons with the Badgers....
and Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award
The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award is an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter–than–average players who excel on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter–in–law, was established for men in 1969 and for women in 1984...
winner Jolene Anderson. The Lady Badgers
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
also play at the Kohl Center
Kohl Center
The Kohl Center is an arena and athletic center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States. The building, which opened in 1998, is the home of the university's men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams. Seating capacity is variable, as the center can be rearranged to accommodate...
since their move from the Wisconsin Field House in 1998. The 2006–2007 season was a record-setting year as the Badgers recorded 23 wins, including 17 home wins, and were the WNIT
Women's National Invitation Tournament
The Women's National Invitation Tournament , formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament, is a college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year...
Runner-Up Champions.
Ice hockey
Alliant Energy Center
The Alliant Energy Center of Dane County is a multi-building complex in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It comprises of greenspace and includes the Exhibition Hall, the 10,000 seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Willow Island, the Arena, and nine modern agricultural exhibit buildings...
until moving to the Kohl Center
Kohl Center
The Kohl Center is an arena and athletic center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States. The building, which opened in 1998, is the home of the university's men's and women's basketball and ice hockey teams. Seating capacity is variable, as the center can be rearranged to accommodate...
(capacity 15,237) in the fall of 1998. The first ice hockey game played at the Kohl was the Hall of Fame game against the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
. The men's team perennially leads the nation in college hockey attendance, and set an NCAA attendance record (averaging 14,430) during the 2006–07 season, surpassing their previous record set the previous year.
Bob Johnson, nicknamed "Badger Bob" by fans, took over the reins in 1966. Johnson coached the Badger men to three national championships in 1973, 1977 and 1981. Jeff Sauer coached the Badger men to two more titles in 1983 and 1990. Mike Eaves
Mike Eaves
Michael Gordon Eaves is an American former NHL player and the current head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers Men's Ice Hockey team. Eaves appeared in 324 NHL regular season games between 1978 and 1985, and has coached since 1985...
, member of the 1977 NCAA title team, coached the Badger men's team to its sixth national championship in 2006. The six Badger titles rank 4th in NCAA men's ice hockey history. Eaves' 2010 squad advanced to the national championship game during the Badgers' 11th appearance in the men's Frozen Four before bowing to Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
.
The school's strong ice hockey tradition gained another dimension with the addition of a women's team that began play in the 1999–2000 season. Coached by Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson (hockey player)
Mark "Magic" Johnson is a current ice hockey coach and former United States ice hockey player who appeared in 669 NHL regular season games between 1980 and 1990 after playing for the Gold medal winning 1980 US Olympic Hockey team...
, son of "Badger Bob" and another member of the men's 1977 title team, the Badger women won their first NCAA championship on March 26, 2006. The dual 2006 titles marked the first time that both the men's and women's Division I NCAA hockey titles were won by the same school in the same year. The women's team repeated as national champions in 2007 with a victory over the University of Minnesota-Duluth on March 18 at Herb Brooks Arena
Herb Brooks Arena
The Herb Brooks Arena, known as the Olympic Center until 2005, is a 7,700-seat multi-purpose arena in Lake Placid, New York. This arena was built for the 1932 Winter Olympics, the first indoor arena used for the Winter Olympics. For the 1932 Games, it hosted the figure skating and six of the twelve...
in Lake Placid, NY. With a 5–0 victory over Mercyhurst in the 2009 Women's Frozen Four final in Boston, the Badger women added their third NCAA title.
Rivalries
The Wisconsin BadgersWisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the collegiate athletic teams from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This NCAA Division I athletic program has teams in football, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, tennis, swimming, wrestling, track and field, rowing, golf, and softball...
compete in the Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
. Their most notable rivalry is with the University of Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...
, which is the most-played rivalry in Division 1-A football. In their annual college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game, the teams compete for Paul Bunyan's Axe
Paul Bunyan's Axe
Paul Bunyan's Axe, named after the mythical giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan, is a prize awarded every year to the winner of the college football game between Minnesota and Wisconsin.-History:...
. The two universities also compete in the Border Battle, a year-long athletic competition in which each team's wins earn points for their university.
Men's basketball rivalries include Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
, Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
The Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team is an NCAA Division I college basketball team competing in the Big Ten Conference. Home games are played at Assembly Hall, located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's campus in Champaign....
and non-conference, in-state Marquette
Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball
The Marquette Golden Eagles Basketball team is the basketball team that represents Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school's 1977 team, coached by Al McGuire, won the NCAA championship. Currently the team competes in the Big East Conference. It last played in the NCAA Division I...
.
The long-standing football rivalry between the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
and Wisconsin–Madison was finally recognized in 2004, with the winner of their game being awarded the Heartland Trophy
Heartland Trophy
The Heartland Trophy is a brass bull that is presented to the winner of the annual Iowa-Wisconsin football game. Although the rivalry is over one-hundred years old, the trophy is a relatively new addition. It was first presented in 2004 to Iowa, when they defeated Wisconsin 30–7...
.
Madison has natural rivals with other schools in the UW System
University of Wisconsin System
The University of Wisconsin System is a university system of public universities in the state of Wisconsin. It is one of the largest public higher education systems in the country, enrolling more than 182,000 students each year and employing more than 32,000 faculty and staff statewide...
, most notably Milwaukee
Milwaukee Panthers
The Milwaukee Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. A total of 15 Panthers athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I. Panthers have won the James J...
and Green Bay
The Wisconsin–Madison men's and women's hockey teams' most recognized rivals are the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
and the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota
University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
. Other rivals include the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
, Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
, Michigan Tech, University of Minnesota Duluth, and St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State University
St. Cloud State University is a four-year public university founded in 1869 on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. The university is the largest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system which is the largest single provider of higher...
.
Mascot
The mascot is an anthropomorphizedAnthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
named Bucky
Bucky Badger
Bucky Badger is the official mascot of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His full name is Buckingham U. Badger and he attends all major sporting events for the Wisconsin Badgers as well as hundreds of other events around Wisconsin every year....
who dons a sweater affixed with the UW–Madison athletic logo (currently the red "Motion W"). Beginning in 1890, the university's first Bucky Badger was a live, temperamental and unruly badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
who was quickly retired. Although the nickname of the Wisconsin teams remained the "Badgers," it was not until Art Evans drew the early caricature version of Bucky in 1940 that today's recognizable image of Bucky was adopted. In 1949, a contest was held to name the mascot, but no consensus was reached after only a few entries were received. In reaction, the contest committee chose the name Buckingham U. Badger, or "Bucky," for short.
At Wisconsin football games in the 1920s live mascots were used to inspire fans. The animals used included a black bear, a bonnet monkey, and live badgers. 1949 was the first year a student sporting a papier-mâché badger head appeared; this subsequently replaced the use of live badgers.
The team's nickname originates from the state nickname. In the 1820s, many lead miners and their families lived in the mines in which they worked until adequate above-ground shelters were built, and thus were compared to badgers.
In 2009, John Fromstein produced "Being Bucky" a documentary that followed the 7 Wisconsin students who take on the role of Bucky Badger. The documentary was meant to show the life and background of being a mascot at a major university. "Being Bucky" won "Best Documentary Film" at the Wisconsin Film Fest and went on to play in local Wisconsin movie theaters.
Student life
Over 750 student organizations or clubs register with the Center for Leadership and Involvement (CFLI) at UW–Madison each year.All-Campus Party (ACP)
Every spring, the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) and the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) put on a free, alcohol alternative, week-long series of events for the entire student body. They partner with local businesses, student organizations, and national corporations to sponsor All-Campus Party (ACP). This is a celebration of University of Wisconsin–Madison for students, created by students.
The week includes featured events specifically designed and put together by members of WASB, in addition to many other events put on by the varying sponsors and student organizations. The featured events include:
Breakfast with Bucky- A free, continental, sponsored breakfast for all students. There are multiple locations on campus where breakfast is served to accommodate as many students as possible.
All-Campus Idol- With a format similar to the popular television show, American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, this singing talent competition searches for the best act on campus. Auditions are held looking for the top ten contestants to perform and compete on stage in front of a live audience. At the end of the show, the audience can text in their votes to determine the winner.
Wear Red Get Fed/ Bucky State Fair- Students are encouraged to wear red this day and receive free pizza in Library Mall. Rock wall climbing, Gladiator fighting, and other fun activities are there as well. Student organizations are encouraged to sign-up and host a booth in Library Mall and promote their organization as well.
Club Bucky – A live DJ, free food, and lots of dancing! A club atmosphere is provided for students as they dance the night away.
Buckystock – Previously known as "Bucky's Blowout Concert" A free, concert in Library Mall for all. The artist changes each year; previous performers include Violent Femmes (2005), Common (2006), Ben Kweller (2007), Talib Kweli (2008), Ok Go (2009), We the Living, and the Grace Weber Band (2010).
StudentPrint
StudentPrint is a non-proft printshop affiliated with ASM, UW-Madison's student government. StudentPrint is managed by students and gives them the opportunity to learn how to own and manage a business. Services include basic and color printing, large format posters, business card printing, and button-making. Students can also purchase class packets for a variety of courses. StudentPrint is open to the public but serves mainly for UW-Madison campus community members.
Student publications
UW–Madison is the only American university to have two competing daily student newspapers: The Daily CardinalThe Daily Cardinal
The Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. The sixth oldest daily student newspaper in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892...
, founded in 1892 and The Badger Herald
The Badger Herald
The Badger Herald is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. Founded in 1969, it is one of America's first independent daily student newspapers. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year...
, founded in 1969. The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
was founded in 1988 by two UW–Madison juniors, and was published in Madison before moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2001. It is also the home of The Madison Misnomer
The Madison Misnomer
The Madison Misnomer is a quarterly undergraduate newspaper published at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin featuring comedy articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, and arts reviews....
, an undergraduate comedy newspaper, founded in 2007.
UW-Madison is also home to one of only two nationally distributed undergraduate international studies journals in the country. The Journal of Undergraduate International Studies (JUIS) is a competitive publication that features peer-reviewed academic articles. It was founded in 2003 by David Coddon with the support of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Leadership Trust.
Campus radio
The University of Wisconsin–Madison campus radio station is WSUMWSUM
WSUM is a student radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The station schedule consists of a wide range of music and talk programming serving the campus and Madison community.-History:...
91.7 FM, "The Snake on the Lake". Historically, UW–Madison has been home to a collection of student run radio stations, a number of which stopped broadcasting after run-ins with the United States Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). The current radio station, WSUM, began in 1997 in a webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
only format because of the prolonged battle to get an FCC license and construct a tower. This lasted five years until February 22, 2002, when the station started broadcasting over FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
airwaves at 91.7 from its tower in Montrose, Wisconsin
Montrose, Wisconsin
Montrose is a town in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,134 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Basco, Montrose, and Paoli are located within the town.-Geography:...
. The radio station currently has around 150 volunteer DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and 8 paid managers. All UW–Madison students, as well as a limited number of community members, are eligible to participate in running the station. WSUM remains entirely free format, which means that the on-air personnel can showcase a large variety of music and talk programming at their discretion with few limitations. WSUM has garnered many awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association for their news, play-by-play broadcasts of Badger athletic events, and unique public service announcements.
"Party school" image
In 2010 Wisconsin was named the number three "party schoolParty school
A party school is a college or university that has a reputation for heavy alcohol and drug use or a general culture of licentiousness. The best-known list of alleged party schools is published annually by The Princeton Review. The magazine Playboy also releases a list of party schools on an...
" by Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine, and number 12 by The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company. The Princeton Review operates in 41 states and 22 countries across the globe. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college...
. UW–Madison has long held a reputation for academics, political activism, and drinking; the last of these can be understood in the context of the state's traditionally high level of alcohol consumption in general.
The festive mentality is most notably displayed with the annual Mifflin Street Block Party
Mifflin Street Block Party
The Mifflin Street Block Party is an annual celebration held on Mifflin Street in Madison, Wisconsin on the first Saturday of May. The 2011 Mifflin Block Party is scheduled for April 30th. It is one of two large parties held in Madison, the other being the Halloween party on State Street. In 2005,...
and the State Street Halloween Party
State Street Halloween Party
The State Street Halloween Party is an annual Halloween party in Madison, Wisconsin.State Street has gained recognition as a gathering place for tens of thousands of party-goers from several states on Halloween...
. The Mifflin Street Block Party
Mifflin Street Block Party
The Mifflin Street Block Party is an annual celebration held on Mifflin Street in Madison, Wisconsin on the first Saturday of May. The 2011 Mifflin Block Party is scheduled for April 30th. It is one of two large parties held in Madison, the other being the Halloween party on State Street. In 2005,...
, which began in the 1960s as a counterculture event, is today a spring semester finals week kickoff. Both events are commonly attended by tens of thousands of partiers, including many who come from out of state. Following a non-political riot that developed at the 1996 Mifflin Street Block Party, it was forcibly canceled by the city; since then, the city has permitted resumption of a Mifflin Street event.
MTV's College Life
On April 13, 2009, MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
premiered the reality series College Life
College Life
College Life is a popular song, first published in 1905 and written by Hery Frantzen. Today the most well-known version is by Billy Murray, who recorded a 1906 version for Victor Records which has entered the public domain.-External links:* *...
about the day-to-day lives of eight UW–Madison freshmen. The show was created by UW–Madison alumnus David Wexler
David Wexler (writer/director)
David Wexler is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Wexler is a New York City native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he majored in Communication Arts....
. According to MTV, the students did the filming for the series, but not the editing. During production, the university pulled its support of the show. Subsequently, a disclaimer was aired at the beginning of each episode stating that UW–Madison does not endorse the program. Eight episodes aired as of February 22, 2010.
Notable alumni and people
UW–Madison has 387,912 living alumni. Although a large number of alumni live in Wisconsin, a significant number live in Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, and Washington, D.C. UW–Madison also has 15,479 alumni living outside of the United States.UW–Madison alumni, faculty, or former faculty have been awarded 19 Nobel Prizes and 34 Pulitzer Prizes.
See also
Further reading
- Butterfield, C. W.. History of the University of Wisconsin. Madison: University Press, 1879.
- Fred, Edwin Broun. A University Remembers. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1969.
- Thwaites, Reuben Gold. History of the University of Wisconsin. 1900.