MADISON, Wis. — In a 30-minute meeting closed to the public, the University of Wisconsin’s governing board fired Jay Rothman as president if the 13-campus system. As required by law, the regents announced that their decision was unanimous but offered no explanation. Rothman, a big-name lawyer from Milwaukee, had been president of the 167,000-student system since 2022 despite having no experience in higher-ed administration. His salary: $601,000. There have been controversies in Rothman’s tenure. He agreed, for example, to yield to Republican pressure in the Legislature to end diversity policies designed to diversify the racial and gender make-up of the system’s leadership and faculty. Republican senators were threatening to cut funds unless he did so. Rothman also got into a free expression hassle for firing UW-LaCrosse Chancellor Joe Gow for a sideline producing sexually explicit how-to videos for older adults. Gow’s appeal remains active in the courts.
Verbatim
Regents: “The Board is grateful for President Rothman’s service and recognizes the meaningful work undertaken during his tenure. Under his leadership, the Universities of Wisconsin took important and often difficult steps to address longstanding structural deficits, putting individual universities on sounder financial footing for the future. He worked hard to bring the best to the campuses, students, faculty, and staff. Those efforts and that dedication are acknowledged and appreciated. However, despite these accomplishments, based on the annual performance review and subsequent discussions, the Board has lost confidence in President Rothman’s ability to lead the UWs moving forward.”
Rothman. Former president of Foley & Lardner, a Milwaukee firm with 1,100 lawyers. Age 66.