University of Wisconsin-Madison
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin system. It is a large public research university, founded in 1848, with a current enrollment of about forty thousand students.
Aldo Leopold wrote his classic 1949 work, A Sand County Almanac, while a professor of game management at the University of Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin was a pioneer in the patenting and commercial licensing of university research. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) was founded in 1925 to licence professor Harry Steenbock's process for fortifying milk with vitamin D.[1] Warfarin, a drug used to prevent blood clots, is named for WARF. As of 1999 it was the eleventh-most-prescribed drug in the United States.[2]
A plaque on Bascom Hall quotes a statement from an 1894 Board of Regents report:
- Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin shall ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.
In North America, limnology (the scientific study of lakes) was founded by E. A. Birge and Chancey Juday at the University of Wisconsin, which remains prominent in the field.[3]
It has long been one of the most liberal institutions in the United States.[Citation Needed] It has a relatively low representation of minorities in its enrollment—11.5%—compared to 12.7% for the state of Wisconsin.
It is the birthplace of both the political correctness[4] and the Critical legal studies[5] movements. It is the reason that Wisconsin, which has a conservative population, has a pro-gun control governor and two liberal U.S. Senators. John Kerry carried Wisconsin in 2004 on the strength of the vote in Madison, where the large University is located.
It is one of only 15 U.S. Universities found to require a course in Shakespeare in order to receive a degree in English.[6]
Liberal Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has represented the district since 1998, and as its state representative prior to that.
References
- ↑ Our History, WARF website
- ↑ Ask Abe Archives - People, UW website
- ↑ The History of Limnology, University of Wisconsin website
- ↑ "The University of Wisconsin Madison campus has often been cited as the birthplace of political correctness. Donna Shalala, former Clinton Secretary of Health & Human Services and University of Wisconsin Chancellor has been called the founder of political correctness."[1]
- ↑ http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Critical_legal_theory
- ↑ http://www.goacta.org/press/Press%20Releases/4-19-07PR.htm