History and Background

In 2004, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle proposed the formation of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a UW–Madison research enterprise to strengthen the state’s position in science and technology, and revitalize the economy with new jobs and investments.

On April 3, 2006, then Chancellor John Wiley announced that UW-Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge had pledged $50 million – the largest individual gift ever in the university’s history – to make possible twin institutes, one private, the Morgridge Institute for Research; and the other public, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, housed under one roof. The Morgridge gift then was matched with a 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. The building and the visionary public-private partnership it represents will be known as the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

More than a century ago, University of Wisconsin President Charles Van Hise proposed that the state government use university professors as technical experts. He believed that faculty members had expertise that would be useful in solving the important issues of the time. As president from 1903 to 1918, Van Hise advanced his vision by creating the university’s extension division, which oversaw summer courses and other programs that brought university knowledge directly to state citizens. He also took advantage of his friendship with Governor Robert M. La Follette, a former classmate at the university, to help forge closer ties between the university and state government.

These activities were formally dubbed "The Wisconsin Idea" in 1912, when Charles McCarthy described the philosophy in a book by that name.

One of the preeminent research universities in the world, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has achieved this distinction by consistently pushing the frontiers of research, scholarship and creative work. Often its innovative work resulted from the university’s  creation of  initiatives to explore questions at the interfaces of multiple disciplines. These initiatives  have been propelled by collaborations that integrate  concepts from diverse areas of science.

The University of Wisconsin was an innovator in the research community when it announced its Cluster Hiring initiative, designed to foster collaboration among scientific disciplines and enhance education of students across disciplines. Cluster Hiring is part of the Madison Initiative, an innovative public-private partnership matching financial support from the State of Wisconsin with private funding from alumni and donors through the UW Foundation and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), since its founding in 1925, has worked with business and industry to transform university research into real products benefiting society at-large. Over the years, WARF has developed a model of technology transfer based upon a partnership between the university and industry that has made WARF one of the most successful long-term benefactors of technological innovation and public welfare in the country.

In his roles as both a trustee of Stanford University and WARF, John Morgridge, UW-Madison alumnus and chairman emeritus of Cisco Systems, Inc., planted the seed for a new avenue of innovation for WARF. He observed the creation of Stanford’s revolutionary Bio-X Program, which brings  together researchers from areas as diverse as engineering, computer science, biology and medicine. As an interdisciplinary hub, Bio-X promotes cutting edge research at the interfaces of these scientific areas across the entire university.

John Morgridge believed that a similar initiative at Wisconsin could spark new collaborations, lead to entirely new paths of inquiry in important areas in biomedical research and help the UW-Madison maintain its competitive position against U.S. universities located on the East and West coasts.

In March 2005, UW-Madison alum John Morgridge and his wife, Tashia, also a UW-Madison alum, indicated to the university and Governor Doyle that they were interested in making a gift to help make the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) a reality. Tashia, who has a background in and passion for education, hoped their gift might also support unique educational opportunities within institutes for students, including K-12 students.