University of Wisconsin, Madison

History

The University of Wisconsin at Madison was founded as one of the first public universities in the United States. Its establishment was tied directly to the state constitution, ratified in 1848, which called for the establishment of a public university as part of the Wisconsin vision. In 1904, the UW system dedicated itself to a principle known as the “Wisconsin Idea” under the leadership of UW President Charles Van Hise. This principle commits the university to providing access to exemplary higher—level learning to all Wisconsin residents and to seek to improve the quality of life for all in Wisconsin and beyond. The mission of the University of Wisconsin is to provide “a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all.” Since the university's first class of 17 students in 1849, the institution has grown to an enrollment of nearly 40,000 students drawn from every U.S. state and many foreign nations. The university has enjoyed increasing recognition as one of the preeminent U.S. public institutions of learning.

UW—Madison is also noted for its long tradition of activism and support of progressive policies. [Page 597]The university was a hotbed of political protest from 1966 to 1970 as a result of ongoing tensions stemming from the Vietnam War. Numerous protests and sit—ins were held by students and faculty, who were angered by the university's partnerships with Dow Chemical Company, a manufacturer of napalm, which was widely used during the Vietnam War. These protests culminated with the bombing of a campus research building, Sterling Hall, which housed the physics department and the Army Mathematics Research Center (the target of the bombing).

The university's tradition as a politically active campus continues today. UW—Madison is widely viewed as a pioneer and strong supporter of stem cell research, with students, faculty, and researchers providing support for ongoing research efforts and lobbying for the requisite political changes in the regulation and control of stem cell research.

Pioneering Stem Cell Research

UW—Madison is a pioneering leader in stem cell research, beginning with the isolation and culture of primate embryonic stem cells in 1995 by Dr. James Thomson. In 1998, Thomson's group announced another significant breakthrough—the isolation of human embryonic stem cells—further raising the profile of UW—Madison in the emerging field of stem cell biology. Human stem cells were typically grown in media over a layer of feeder cells comprising mouse embryonic fibroblasts. This feeder layer posed a serious obstacle to the future development of stem cell therapies for human use, as mouse embryonic fibroblasts would contaminate cultured human embryonic stem cells with mouse proteins. In 2006, the Thomson lab was the first to develop a solution to this problem: TesR media, containing components derived solely from human proteins, enabled successful feeder—cell-independent culturing of human stem cells. Development of this method helped fuel future research to unlock the scientific and medical benefits in the area of human embryonic stem cells. The WiCell Research Institute and National Stem Cell Bank are based at UW—Madison and play leadership roles in education and training for stem cell research across the world.

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