The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery are twin institutes, one public and one private, to be constructed in the heart of the UW–Madison campus as a hub for interdisciplinary research.
Composed of the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the private Morgridge Institute for Research, the state-of-the-art facility is intended not only to bring together scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines, but also to involve faculty and staff in the arts and humanities, education and outreach, as well as scholars of the interdisciplinary research process itself.
View streaming video coverage (Windows Media) of the April 3, 2006 gift announcement news conference (See also: Text transcript)
History
In 2004, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle proposed the formation of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a UW–Madison research enterprise that would strengthen the state’s position in science and technology, and stimulate the economy. In support of this proposal, alumni John and Tashia Morgridge pledged $50 million — the largest individual gift ever in the university’s history — toward construction of the institutes. The Morgridge gift was then matched by a $50 million donation from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), and a state contribution of $50 million advocated by Doyle and approved by the State Building Commission.
Once construction is complete in 2010, the $150 million facility will encompass the entire 1300 block of University Avenue between Randall Avenue and Orchard Street.
Research
In February 2007, the institutes’ research program was officially launched with the naming of eight recipients of Discovery Seed Grants. The scientific studies now under way are addressing some of the thorniest problems facing human health and welfare. These projects, as well as those that follow in the future, are also expected to enhance UW–Madison’s long and thriving tradition of interdisciplinary research, and spur new knowledge, technologies, disease treatments and cures, and regional economic development.
Leadership
The interim director of WID is Marsha Mailick Seltzer, director of the UW–Madison’s Waisman Center and an internationally recognized authority on the impacts of disability on families during the life course. WID has been established as a center (PDF) within the UW–Madison Graduate School under the leadership of Dean Martin Cadwallader.
The Morgridge Institute is governed by a private board, chaired by WARF
managing director Carl
Gulbrandsen.