{"id":221,"date":"2021-10-16T17:36:36","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T17:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=221"},"modified":"2021-10-16T17:36:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T17:36:36","slug":"northwestern-university-names-rebecca-blank-new-president-crains-chicago-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=221","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern University names Rebecca Blank new president – Crain's Chicago Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incoming Northwestern University President Rebecca Blank
Northwestern University today named a replacement for outgoing President Morton Schapiro, one of the longest leaders of the Evanston-based school.
Rebecca Blank, 66, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an accomplished academic, will begin the role next summer, becoming the university’s first female president.
In an interview with Crain’s, Blank said increasing research funding, enhancing the residential university experience, and encouraging students to break out of the Evanston bubble are among some of the ideas she’d like to explore in her role. She declined to lay out more specific strategies, saying that will come later after she’s had a chance to hear from students, faculty and senior leadership about what they think should be prioritized. 
“Universities that are great do not stay in their ivory towers,” she said. “They’re constantly reaching out—not just to their local community, but to their global community, and interacting both with their research and their students.” 
UW-Madison brought in $1.5 billion in sponsored research funds last year, and Blank said NU has an opportunity to expand in that arena. NU garnered $893.4 million<\/a> in sponsored research funding last year, a record that reflects a 1% increase over fiscal year 2020 and a decade-long effort to boost funding. It ranked 29th by total research and development expenditures, according to 2019 tabulations by the National Science Foundation<\/a>, behind Ivy League schools and large public university systems. 
“I think I can be helpful in making sure that Northwestern continues to grow its presence in innovation and discovery in research dollars,” Blank said. 
Northwestern is one of the wealthiest universities in the Midwest with an endowment of $11.1 billion as of fiscal 2020.
Like Schapiro, Blank is an economist, and she served on NU’s economics faculty for a decade, beginning in 1989. She was one of the first tenured woman in the school’s economics department, where her research focused on poverty, low-income workers and government policy, according to a statement.
Officials highlighted her work improving diversity and affordability in her eight years leading Wisconsin’s flagship public university campus, noting that she oversaw Bucky’s Tuition Promise, a program that launched in 2018 and covers the full cost of tuition for Wisconsin residents whose families earn less than $60,000 a year. It’s since served more than 2,500 students. 
Blank previously worked as dean of University of Michigan’s school of public policy and as a faculty member at Princeton University. Her daughter is a graduate of Northwestern, the statement said. 
Outside of academia, Blank served in President Barack Obama’s administration as acting secretary of commerce and deputy secretary of commerce, in President Bill Clinton’s administration as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, and in President George H.W. Bush’s administration as a senior staff economist. 
Blank was chosen and unanimously recommended by a presidential search committee. A school announcement also emphasized her strength as a fundraiser, saying she helped raise $4 billion to help UW-Madison offset declining state funding. 
Schapiro, 68, who took the job in 2009, announced in March<\/a> that he’d be stepping down in August 2022, saying the plan was in the works for some time to allow for a smooth transition to his successor.
But he faced heightened criticism from faculty and students over the last two years for his handling of racial issues on campus and harsh rebuke of a protest that ended outside his home, as well as the selection of a new athletic director<\/a> who was aware of sexual harassment allegations and complaints about racism by the cheer team. 
A Northwestern spokesman declined to share details of Blank’s compensation. Her most recent base salary at UW-Madison amounted to $606,154, according to news reports<\/a>.
Schapiro made $1.2 million in base pay in 2019, according to tax documents provided by the school, but his total compensation—including bonuses, deferred compensation and other benefits—pushed a little past $2.3 million. He has ranked among the country’s highest-paid private university leaders<\/a>.
Bloomberg contributed. This story has been updated to reflect that Blank was one of the first, but not the first, tenured women in the school’s economics department.<\/em>
On Northwestern University’s Evanston campus
Have something to get off your chest? You can\u00a0send us an email.<\/a>\u00a0Or tell us on our Facebook<\/a> page or on\u00a0Twitter,<\/a> @CrainsChicago.
Staying current is easy with Crain's news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Click below to see everything we have to offer.
Get the best business coverage in Chicago, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online. <\/p>\n

150 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60601
E-mail our editor<\/a>
(312) 649-5200
More contacts<\/a>
FAQs\/Customer service<\/a><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Incoming Northwestern University President Rebecca BlankNorthwestern University today named a replacement for outgoing President Morton Schapiro, one of the longest leaders of the Evanston-based school.Rebecca Blank, 66, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an accomplished academic, will begin the role next summer, becoming the university’s first female president.In an interview with Crain’s, Blank said increasing research funding, enhancing the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t