John D. Wiley
Encyclopedia
John Duncan Wiley is a faculty member and former chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. Wiley was named the 28th Chancellor of the University on November 10, 2000, and assumed office on January 1, 2001. He stepped down as chancellor and returned to the faculty on September 1, 2008. Since November 1, 2008, he has served as interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.
Wiley has had a long career with UW–Madison, with nearly 40 years of involvement as either a student, faculty member, or administrator. From 1994 to 2000, he served as Wisconsin's Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Prior to that, he was the University's Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School and the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering.
A research physicist by training, Wiley's academic work has focused on research in semiconductors and solid state physics. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Indiana University
in 1964, and master’s and doctoral degrees in physics in 1965 and 1968 from UW–Madison on a National Science Foundation
Fellowship. He returned to UW–Madison as a faculty member in the College of Engineering in 1975, after having worked with Bell Telephone Laboratories and at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany as an awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt
Senior U.S. Service Award for Research and Training.
His tenure as Chancellor was distinguished by record-breaking fund-raising efforts and a strong emphasis on strategic planning. Wiley attracted alumni and institutional investment to several projects on campus, most notably the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery. A number of new construction projects were begun during his tenure, including two new dormitories, a new Microbial Sciences Building, and major expansions to the Business and Medical Schools. He also commissioned an expansive Campus Master Plan that would guide physical development of the campus for the next decade. Central to this plan is the creation of an East Campus Arts Corridor, which will require the renovation or demolition of several existing campus buildings. Wiley was known as an avid patron of the arts, providing personal sponsorship and funding for a number of different performing and visual arts activities both on and off campus. As Chancellor, he sponsored a series of performances by artists across campus called "The Chancellor Presents . . . ".
Wiley devoted considerable attention early in his chancellorship to curbing binge drinking on campus through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
. "The RWJ Project", as it was called, sought to change the "drinking culture" of UW-Madison through education and the encouragement of dry events and substance-free programming on campus. Wiley (himself an avid oenophile) maintained that the aim was not to stop consumption of alcohol, but to end dangerous binge-drinking by students. Critics contended that heavy alcohol consumption was far too much ingrained in the state culture of Wisconsin to be effectively addressed by such a program.
(WMC), describing the group as being “hijacked by highly partisan ideologically driven staff” and stating that “WMC routinely opposes most measures favored by labor unions, and most measures aimed at improving the lot of entry-level and low-income workers who are essential to our economy. But this opposition is not a business or an economic position; it is a political position based on an era and an economy that no longer exist.”
Additionally, Wiley was hurt by reports in 2005 that he placed then Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows into a back-up position as special assistant to the Provost, and then instructed Barrows to take several months of sick leave to look for work at another institution, rather than report to his back-up position. This was in conjunction with an ongoing investigation of Barrows over charges of sexual harassment. Though Barrows was later cleared of these charges, both Wiley and then-Provost Peter Spear stand by their initial decision to place Barrows in a back-up position. This has led to subsequent legislation eliminating the use of such back-up positions in the University of Wisconsin System.
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–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...
. Wiley was named the 28th Chancellor of the University on November 10, 2000, and assumed office on January 1, 2001. He stepped down as chancellor and returned to the faculty on September 1, 2008. Since November 1, 2008, he has served as interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery.
Wiley has had a long career with UW–Madison, with nearly 40 years of involvement as either a student, faculty member, or administrator. From 1994 to 2000, he served as Wisconsin's Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Prior to that, he was the University's Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School and the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering.
A research physicist by training, Wiley's academic work has focused on research in semiconductors and solid state physics. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
in 1964, and master’s and doctoral degrees in physics in 1965 and 1968 from UW–Madison on a National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Fellowship. He returned to UW–Madison as a faculty member in the College of Engineering in 1975, after having worked with Bell Telephone Laboratories and at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany as an awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
Senior U.S. Service Award for Research and Training.
His tenure as Chancellor was distinguished by record-breaking fund-raising efforts and a strong emphasis on strategic planning. Wiley attracted alumni and institutional investment to several projects on campus, most notably the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery. A number of new construction projects were begun during his tenure, including two new dormitories, a new Microbial Sciences Building, and major expansions to the Business and Medical Schools. He also commissioned an expansive Campus Master Plan that would guide physical development of the campus for the next decade. Central to this plan is the creation of an East Campus Arts Corridor, which will require the renovation or demolition of several existing campus buildings. Wiley was known as an avid patron of the arts, providing personal sponsorship and funding for a number of different performing and visual arts activities both on and off campus. As Chancellor, he sponsored a series of performances by artists across campus called "The Chancellor Presents . . . ".
Wiley devoted considerable attention early in his chancellorship to curbing binge drinking on campus through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
. "The RWJ Project", as it was called, sought to change the "drinking culture" of UW-Madison through education and the encouragement of dry events and substance-free programming on campus. Wiley (himself an avid oenophile) maintained that the aim was not to stop consumption of alcohol, but to end dangerous binge-drinking by students. Critics contended that heavy alcohol consumption was far too much ingrained in the state culture of Wisconsin to be effectively addressed by such a program.
Controversy
Throughout his chancellorship, Wiley clashed with state Republican legislative leadership, many of whom were openly hostile to UW–Madison. In August 2008, as he was leaving office, he singled out for opprobrium the hugely influential state lobbying group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and CommerceWisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is an association of manufacturers, service businesses and chambers of commerce located in Madison, Wisconsin. WMC was formed from what was the Wisconsin State Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association and the Wisconsin Council of Safety in...
(WMC), describing the group as being “hijacked by highly partisan ideologically driven staff” and stating that “WMC routinely opposes most measures favored by labor unions, and most measures aimed at improving the lot of entry-level and low-income workers who are essential to our economy. But this opposition is not a business or an economic position; it is a political position based on an era and an economy that no longer exist.”
Additionally, Wiley was hurt by reports in 2005 that he placed then Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows into a back-up position as special assistant to the Provost, and then instructed Barrows to take several months of sick leave to look for work at another institution, rather than report to his back-up position. This was in conjunction with an ongoing investigation of Barrows over charges of sexual harassment. Though Barrows was later cleared of these charges, both Wiley and then-Provost Peter Spear stand by their initial decision to place Barrows in a back-up position. This has led to subsequent legislation eliminating the use of such back-up positions in the University of Wisconsin System.