Regents endorse Madison Initiative

Saying it’s a cornerstone of the 2001-03 UW System budget request, the Board of Regents has strongly endorsed the second phase of the Madison Initiative.

“I think the Madison Initiative and the importance of it cannot be overemphasized,” Regent Fred Mohs of Madison said at the board’s meeting Friday, Aug. 25.

During a marathon meeting where the board approved the UW System’s operating and capital budgets for the next two years, regents and a prominent biotechnology entrepreneur praised UW–Madison’s public-private partnership.

Newly appointed Regent Phyllis Krutsch of Washburn congratulated Chancellor David Ward, Provost John Wiley, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the UW Foundation for their pivotal roles in sustaining the Madison Initiative.

“It’s remarkable that a small, not-very-wealthy state has a world-class research institution,” she said.

Terry Sivesind, president of The Mirus Corp., a biotechnology firm spawned from gene therapy research at the Waisman Center, told the regents he had little contact with UW–Madison when his firm started 15 years ago.

Then, Sivesind and his colleagues looked to Massachusetts and California for university research support, as UW–Madison had what he called a “stigma” of working with private businesses.

“Today, that picture is completely different,” said Sivesind, whose firm is located in the MGE Innovation Center at the University Research Park.

Now, with the support of the university, the research park, University-Industry Partnership, WARF and venture capitalists, Wisconsin has become a hotbed for start-up biotechnology firms, many based on UW–Madison research.

“With the BioStar proposal and the Madison Initiative, the final pieces of the puzzle will be in place to make Wisconsin the global leader in biotechnology,” Sivesind said.

The UW System budget request now goes to the Department of Administration for consideration as part of the governor’s next budget plan.