Morgridge Book

“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek proverb

Sketch of the Madison Female Academy on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and East Johnson. The Madison Female Academy was a 19th-century school for girls, which is now mainly famous as the site of the first classes held by the University of Wisconsin on February 5, 1849.

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The University Charter Page 1 of the draft introduced June 14, 1848 (Section 1 was omitted in the first draft.)

January 23, 1853

To his Excellency, Leonard J. Farwell, Governor of the State of Wisconsin: As directed by law, I transmit to you, herewith, the fifth annual report of the Regents of the University, and have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. H. Lathrop, President, Board of Regents.

In compliance with the requisitions of the charter, the Regents of the University make this their fifth annual report, for the year ending December 31, 1852.

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To the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin:

The benefits of liberal culture, through the subordinate schools of instruction, through every variety of professional service, and through the medium of social and civil intercourse, become the general property of the community, and go to the enlargement of the body of common intelligence. The University must be considered a necessary portion of any system of public instruction, and is entitled to share, with the common school and the academy, in the bounty of the state.

An illustration showing the first Wisconsin State Fair held at the grounds that became better known as Camp Randall during the Civil War November 20, 1858

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University Hill as seen from the capitol 1857

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Dear John and Tashia,

One of the best parts of this job has been getting to know you both, not just as friends of the UW but as personal friends as well.

Your generosity and vision for the Morgridge Match gifts are symbolic of all that you’ve done at the UW and across the state. We’re a better place because of your commitment and involvement here. I’ve enjoyed seeing you in so many venues — at WARF meetings, at alumni events, at Chancellor Advisory Committee meetings, and at football games. I treasure the times we’ve been able to just sit and talk. I deeply appreciate your friendship and have been touched by your support of my work as chancellor.

While I know I met Tashia during the job interviews, I always feel like our acquaintance started in early August of 2013, when Hanns and Emily and I stopped by Squam Lake. The two of you and I sat on the dock and talked about Wisconsin. The Morgridge Match for faculty chairs really launched our current campaign — and launched it further and better than any of us expected. It will always amaze me that we were able to meet your challenge in just nine months. This was clearly the right initiative at the right time. It gave the deans a greatly expanded sense of their possibilities in this campaign. It helped retain faculty and restore morale at a difficult time of budget cuts and attacks on tenure. One of the best events I’ve attended at the UW was the Morgridge Match celebration at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, with all the donors and faculty present.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Rebecca M. Blank Morgridge Friends Distinguished Chair of Leadership

Main Hall 1859

University Hill 1879

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“The University of Wisconsin will be permanently great in the degree in which it understands the conditions of the prosperity and peace of the people, and helps to provide them; in the degree in which it enters into the revelation of truth, the law of righteousness and the love of man.”

John Bascom University of Wisconsin President 1874–87

In 1894, the board of regents rejected an effort to purge Professor Richard T. Ely for supporting striking printers, issuing the famous “sifting and winnowing” manifesto in defense of academic freedom, later described as “part of Wisconsin’s Magna Carta.”

The view from Main Hall before 1894

“Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

Dear Tashia and John:

It is a special pleasure to contribute a short but indelible memory to this book of appreciations from your UW friends. It has to do with your generosity in funding buildings for the Business School and the School of Education in the early 2000s. Those projects proceeded more or less on the same time line and when they were finished, there came an opportunity to thank you publicly at a Foundation dinner event. Many of us university officials rose to express our thanks; but I remember the look of surprise, and then pleasure, in your eyes when I noted that these gifts made UW–Madison the only Big Ten university which had invested equally and visibly in both these important academic disciplines. The usual pattern, of course, is to find wonderful new business school buildings and threadbare schools of education housed in tattered hand-me-down buildings tucked away somewhere on campus. It might not be immediately evident, but the symbolism of the Wisconsin pattern facilitated by you both was quickly noted on campus by faculty and students. I have subsequently heard mention of it as well at forums elsewhere. I have no doubt that you planned all this carefully but wanted to recall my appreciation for the intangible boost your gifts provided quite over and above the tangible buildings and the service they render every day. Thank you so much.

We will look long and hard for other alumni with your steadfast and enduring support of UW–Madison.

I continue to spend the first half of each year at Stanford and hope we may meet there again. Until then, please count me among your greatest fans!

Katharine Lyall UW System President, 1992–2004

Washburn Observatory and the director’s residence on Observatory Hill 1894

Lower campus track, Science Hall, Armory and Gymnasium 1895

“Karen and I have been lucky our entire lives to have the right role models at the right time, starting with our parents. John and Tashia are our role models for thoughtful philanthropy. Not because they made a big deal about it, but by watching the quiet, modest way that they led by example and invited others to participate.

“I’ve often heard Tashia say, ‘Plant trees whose shade you don’t expect to rest under,’ an inspiring statement of selfless giving.”

Jim Berbee ’85, MS’87, MBA’89 Chair of the WARF Board of Trustees

Growth requires change, so as the university evolved, some of the existing neighborhoods had to make way. The affected Langdon Street houses included (left to right) the president’s house, attorney John Olin’s house, war hero and politician George Raymer’s house, and Dean E. A. Birge’s home. The president’s house, located on the corner of Park and Langdon, became the site for the Union Theater. The Olin house went on to become the UW Clinical Laboratory. The Raymer house became the student health clinic/infirmary, and the Birge house was demolished in order to build the YMCA in 1906.

“Science is about what we do not know; that is often not appreciated. The exciting aspect of science is about forging in new directions and discovering things that had not been imagined. One of the most important and exciting things we can obtain in our experiments is a result that is a complete surprise. “The Morgridges are bringing optimism to science through their support — that’s infectious, and that’s something that scientists need in their own practice. We talk about science as the pursuit of the unknown; science as standing at the edge of our knowledge and casting into the surrounding darkness. It takes considerable fortitude and strength and gumption to keep moving forward in those situations, so one needs to have emotional as well as intellectual strength to pursue those endeavors. Optimism and tenaciousness are some of the most important qualities in science.”

Paul Ahlquist PhD’81 Professor of Oncology, Molecular Virology, and Plant Pathology Director of the John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe Center for Research in Virology Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences

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Biology lab 1899

Kathy Cramer ’ 94 Professor of Political Science Director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, 2015 – 19

Armory and Gymnasium 1900

The original Camp Randall Stadium at Randall Avenue and University Avenue as seen from Main Hall 1901

Alan Sorenson Professor of Economics John and Tashia Morgridge Chair of Economics

Julie Underwood Dean of the School of Education, 2005–15

College of Engineering 1901

Campus from Lake Mendota 1900

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Winter Carnival on Lake Mendota 1910s

Birds-eye view of campus by H. D. Nichols's, published by W. T. Littig and Co., New York. Littig was known for panoramic views of college campuses. Nichols's signature with the date "1917" appears in the lower-right corner. The Main Hall dome is visible in this illustration — though it burned on October 10, 1916. It appears that this map was based on a 1907 version with buildings such as Birge Hall (1912) and Wisconsin High School (1914) added. This would account for the presence of the lost dome.

Aloha, Tashia and John!

What a delight it was to work with you and get to know you. Your support of the Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship program was the key to the success of that effort, and I have always been grateful for your leadership. I marvel at your many contributions, your intelligence, and your kindness. As a grandparent myself, your Grandparent Camp has always stuck in my mind — I keep thinking how lucky those grandchildren are to have you for grandparents. One time, at the airport when we were all taking the same plane, I was impressed that you were in line with us — the economy line — a reflection of your down-to- earth nature. As my role model, Tina Turner, would say “YOU ’ RE SIMPLY THE BEST!”

Wishing you every happiness in the years to come with the knowledge that you have had a positive influence on thousands — and we are all grateful to have you in our lives.

With warm aloha,

Virginia S. Hinshaw Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Chancellor for Research, 1995–2001

University Hill 1910s

“My wife and I have had a long relationship with the university. Our goal is to pay forward for what the taxpayers gave us. We hope our collective legacy will be that two decades from now when our great-grandchildren trudge up Bascom Hill on a February day, the University of Wisconsin–Madison will have remained a world-class institution of learning and research.”

— John Morgridge

Physical education class at the Armory and Gymnasium March 18, 1910

May Fete 1915

Dear John and Tashia,

I can think of no university that has benefited more from a supportive couple than UW–Madison has benefited from your long-standing and extraordinary generosity. When I think of generosity, I mean not only your philanthropy in the narrow sense, but also your ideas, your stores of knowledge, your creativity, and your willingness to support the people whose abilities and work you trust. I have always loved and admired your modesty and loyalty, your intelligence and curiosity, and your commitment to friendship as a civic virtue as well as a personal value. I often think fondly of my visit with you at Squam Lake — the conversations, the local fair we went to, the boat ride around that gorgeous lake, the party you hosted, and the appreciation I gained of your many interests and abilities, your love of family, and your commitment to the communities to which you belong. When I wrote you years after leaving the university about an urgent problem at Amherst, you provided the contact and the support I needed in a flash. Your support while I was chancellor, especially during the difficult decision-making about change, made all the difference and will always count as an example to me of what it means for an institution’s supporters to be dedicated to an institution and its leadership when a controversial change has the potential to strengthen that university’s mission. The two of you are one (or two!) of a kind. One of the world’s great universities is in your debt in the most positive sense for its resilience and strength. I am indebted to you for so many crucial life lessons, for your friendship and the example you represent of what it means to combine intelligence, humor, success, humility, generosity, kindness, imagination, and endless contribution to the common good.

Thank you for being the people you are.

Carolyn “Biddy” Martin PhD’85 Chancellor, 2008–2011

A group of people in the Red Gym watch the Wisconsin vs. Michigan football game by Gridograph. The device depicted the progress of the game using lights on a large grid (inset). November 18, 1922

“When I look at John and Tashia, I see two people who are very passionate about this university and about the state of Wisconsin even though they don’t live here anymore. They still create an energy when they come here, and that feeling is contagious. “If there’s anything that I feel like we could do to inspire the next generation, it is really to say, give where you feel passionate. Give what makes your heart sing. Give where you will make the most difference and give where you will make the most difference in your idea of what the world should be. “I hope that someday we will be sitting here, and other people will be saying, ‘Jim and Karen really inspired me.’ That would be a tremendous feeling for us.”

Karen Walsh ’81, MA’89 University of Wisconsin Regent, 2019–26

Spring military review 1926

Mark Guthier Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Director of the Wisconsin Union

Memorial Union just before opening in 1928

Campus Map 1937

Campus Aerial 1945

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Homecoming bonfire on Library Mall 1949

State Street 1950s

Delta Upsilon House 1915

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“I’m one of the few DUs who lived all four years in the house. In other words, I was there even before I was a pledge.”

— John Morgridge

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The view down State Street from the capitol 1950s

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Memorial Union lakeshore 1950s

1952

1952

The original Kollege Klub opened in 1953 at 714 State Street, where the Memorial Library stands today.

In 1953, entrepreneur Jack Meier and his sons, John and Jim Meier, opened the Kollege Klub in the building previously occupied by the Campus Soda Grill. Four generations later, the Kollege Klub, or KK as most students refer to it, is still owned by the Meier family.

1953

University of Wisconsin President E. B. Fred is presented with the first Homecoming button by 1953 Badger Beauty, Marge Hesse. Tashia Frankfurth, cochair of button sales, stands at left. At right is Fred Krull, cochair of button sales. October 19, 1953

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1953

Dear Tashia and John,

Where do the two of us start when it comes to detailing our relationship and friendship with the two of you? How do we put into words the incredible impact that the two of you have had not only on our lives, but on literally thousands of people within the state of Wisconsin and beyond who have benefited from your vision and generosity? So many have been the recipient of your generosity as well as your wisdom and insightful analysis as to where philanthropy can have the greatest impact on changing lies and outcomes. You have been leaders in so many ways, and it has been our good fortune to experience the impact of so many of the programs that the two of you have put in place. And, we might add, the great joy we have had “picking your pockets” with several of your match gifts! You are incredible role models in so many ways, and we are very fortunate to have had the chance to work with you. We have learned from you, Tashia and John, the significance of providing scholarships for students. Certainly, the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars is one that Ted has been so fortunate to be a part of for these many years. The thousands of students whose education has been furthered in this state because of FFWS is unparalleled and unprecedented! It has been a pleasure not only to work with you as a board member, but also to see first-hand the fruits of what those funds have provided for students when we visit with them in person. It is truly a game changer whose impact will be felt for generations to come. It is an incredibly rewarding experience to be part of such a transformational program! More important than the largess of your philanthropy is the friendship we have developed. We cannot thank you enough for the positive impact you’ve had on our lives as mentors and visionaries. We value your friendship and the work that we have been fortunate enough to take part in and look forward to many more years of helping people.

On, Wisconsin!

Sincerely, Ted Kellner ’69 and Mary Kellner ’68

Football Saturday 1950s

1954

State Street as seen from the bottom of Bascom Hill at Park Street 1954

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1954

1955

Memorial Union Terrace 1950s

1955

1955

Wisconsin Integrally Synchronized Computer December 23, 1957

“I first met John on May 20, 1994, when I was invited to a meeting with the CEO of an up-and-coming company. Little did I know that meeting would be the beginning of a 27-year journey that would greatly impact my career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There were numerous steps along the way with valuable advice, encouragement, and support from John. “Tashia’s gift to name the John P. Morgridge Chair in Computer Sciences gave me something to aspire to, and appointment to the position in 2006 ensured that I would remain at UW–Madison. “This journey accelerated when I became chair of the department in 2004. John encouraged me to “think big, create a vision, do new things.” Our initial breakfast meeting in September 2004 got me going, and our meeting at Sand Hill Road, in December of that same year, motivated me to create a long-term vision for computing and its interdisciplinary role on campus. “I remember a meeting at WARF in 2005 when John shared his Subway sandwich with me. He suggested that I enhance our alumni engagement efforts by starting a board of visitors, and then he advised me how to do it! John went on to attend several alumni meetings in Silicon Valley over the years and continued to nurture our engagement efforts. His involvement inspired others to get involved. “John’s persistent encouragement and support further energized and sustained me as I worked on creating a vision for a School of Computing at UW–Madison. And I greatly appreciated the call inquiring about my mental health at an extremely stressful time! “John and Tashia invest in a multitude of people and programs at this university, but more importantly, they invest in possibilities. They give their time, wisdom, and resources, but it is the gift of their belief coupled with their encouragement to forge ahead on uncharted paths that is difficult to quantify. They ask questions that help you envision something greater than yourself, and then they do whatever they can to bring your worthwhile vision to fruition.”

Gurindar Sohi John P. Morgridge Professor Vilas Research Professor Chair of the Department of Computer Sciences, 2004–08, 2017–19

“The Morgridges are the epitome of the Wisconsin Idea, and it is clear that the UW is a top philanthropic priority. They came to the University of Wisconsin– Madison together and remain proud graduates. But they also recognize the value of the UW System campuses and Wisconsin's technical colleges — this is the educational definition of the Wisconsin Idea. “John and Tashia embody the belief that education should influence people's lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom, and their altruism has been felt in every corner of the state. Words are inadequate in defining their authenticity, their kindness, and their generosity. “They haven't changed a bit in all these years. They are truly marvelous people. There are not enough like them in the world.”

— Don Gray

The Wisconsin Idea Research, teaching, and service at the UW is influenced by a tradition known as “the Wisconsin Idea,” first articulated by UW–Madison president Charles Van Hise in 1904, when he declared, “I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every family of the state.” The Wisconsin Idea holds that the boundaries of the university should be the boundaries of the state, and that the research conducted at UW–Madison should be applied to solve problems and improve health, quality of life, the environment, and agriculture for all citizens of the state. The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students, and the state’s industries and government. Based in Wisconsin’s populist history, the Wisconsin Idea continues to inspire the work of the faculty, staff, and students who aim to solve real-world problems by working together across disciplines and demographics.

“ If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children.” — Confucius

Dear Tashia and John,

Through your stories, you have shared many words of wisdom with grant recipients — from the parking meter story where a kind man offered assistance to a young mother with three children by plugging the meter and saying “do this for someone else someday” to the story of John’s older brother telling him to get in the car instead of staying home to attend community college; to the advice you give Fund for Wisconsin Scholars: “Be ready for opportunities, prepare yourself, take advantage of this grant opportunity, stay in school, and graduate.” You are mentors, role models, and teachers to the thousands of Wisconsin students for whom you have provided a scholarship … and to me as well. You have shared the importance of friendship, listening, and giving to others. Whether we are traveling, conducting business, eating, hiking, visiting, exchanging good reads, or exploring, you have repeatedly demonstrated your belief in sharing and caring.

Thank you.

Love,

Mary Gulbrandsen MS’74, MS’98 Executive Director of the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars

Dear Tashia and John,

Tashia, we first met in the fall of 1995, when as a new dean I came out to your house to ask if you would please consider coming back on the School of Education Board of Visitors. You said yes — on one condition: that our meetings would not be “just dog-and-pony shows.” You wanted to engage in meaningful discussion of the School’s strengths, yes, but also the challenges it faced and how we might confront them. In my decade as dean, I observed the effects of that mutual agreement. We had fun in the social events (remember the boat ride on Lake Mendota in the rain?), but in our meetings you contributed in the same thoughtful way that you, John, and your family approach philanthropy. When you spoke, other board members listened. The Board’s role grew in value in their eyes as they saw how much it meant to you. Another visit to your home, in March 2004, and another consequential conversation: when I asked whether you and John might be willing to support the major remodeling of our signature building on Bascom Hill, you said “I’ll have to ask John, of course,” but “think of the Old Red Gym, not the Law School.” That set the tone for our planning, and I believe the results embody your vision — a highly functional building that respects its past and its place on campus. Today the School of Education is an international leader, unique in its strengths, especially among truly comprehensive schools. These two vignettes, among many, illustrate the ways in which you have helped to put the School in that position.

With respect and affection,

Chuck Read Dean Emeritus of the School of Education, 1994 – 2004

Dear Tashia and John:

When I first started in my role as Dean, a function of the job I was really looking forward to was getting the chance to interact with the School’s alumni and friends. Your warm welcome and subsequent wise counsel throughout the years has been invaluable to me on a professional and personal level. Tashia, your continued service on the School’s Board of Visitors is greatly appreciated by your fellow board members and me. Your extensive knowledge of the challenges and opportunities educators and students face in K-12 and higher education, particularly in the state of Wisconsin, has brought to light important topics and questions during our meetings. I really believe we have the best board on campus! Thank you for your continued partnership, and for inspiring our alumni and friends to invest their time, talent, and treasure in a truly remarkable institution. The success of the School of Education’s Impact 2030 initiative would not have been possible without your generous lead gift and challenge to others to participate. You helped open the School’s iconic red doors to a new generation of donors — the ripple effect on our students, faculty, staff, and communities we serve will be felt for years to come. And for that, I am forever grateful.

With gratitude,

Diana Hess Dean of the School of Education

Journal entry Friday, October 7th, 1988

I had a nice breakfast with John Morgridge at a cool place in Palo Alto named Late for the Train. He showed me an offer that he had just received from a small startup technology company, I think to become its CEO, named cisco Systems, small “c” at the time. He said he had a feeling that this company could grow rapidly and he would take the leap and accept the offer. He said the salary isn’t much but he would receive considerable cisco stock. He said this should put him in a position to make another large stock gift to UW in the future. And that was how he got to cisco. The very same day he went and told cisco he would accept the offer. At that time it was a 20 million dollar business, run out of a small operation. And it grew to be, golly, I can’t even tell you, what its net worth is now, but it’s in the tens of billions. And it could not have happened to a better guy, but it didn’t happen because he was a nice guy. He is also a brilliant marketing person, and he knows how to get along with people. He worked very hard for that. And people have to understand that sometimes people say, “Oh, you are really lucky to have all that money.” But no, you work really hard for it. It is what you do with the money that gives you the luck in life.

Donald Gray Vice President of the UW Foundation, 1984–2007

Dan Olszewski ’87 Director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship Wisconsin School of Business

Mark Guthier, Tashia Morgridge, Well Red Bucky statue, John Morgridge, Alan Fish

On the field at Camp Randall

Dear John and Tashia,

To be a successful professor at a major research institution, you must maintain a high level of innovation, motivation, and commitment to your students. To warrant being recognized with a named position, one must do all three of these things at the highest level. As I mention at every investiture ceremony, named positions are the highest honor we can bestow on our faculty. Thanks to your generous matching gift, alumni and friends of the College of Engineering stepped up and tripled the number of named positions we have in the college today. Now more than ever, today’s students need access to faculty who can provide an education that takes a multidisciplinary approach. Preparing our engineering students to take on the challenges they’ll face when they enter the workforce begins in the classroom. A gift like yours provides additional resources to faculty, enabling them to excel in the classroom where our students need them the most. John and Tashia, the legacy you have created and the deep connection you share with the college and university serve as a great example of our Badger community. I am deeply honored each time I award a new named position and know it largely wouldn’t be possible without your continued support of the university.

Warm regards,

Ian Robertson Dean of the College of Engineering

Joshua J. Coon Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry Thomas and Margaret Pyle Chair in Metabolism at the Morgridge Institute for Research, 2018 Director of the NIH National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems

John and Tashia,

Your generous philanthropy, vision, and wisdom was and continues to be instrumental in creating and growing the private, biomedical research institute that is the Morgridge Institute for Research. What a wonderful journey it has been. There have been bumps in the road, but the dream that locating a private research institute in the center of a great public university that would be a benefit to both the institute and the university is coming true. Beyond the high quality, biomedical research being done, two distinguishing features of the Morgridge Institute are the focus on bioethics and the outreach to school-agers, helping them appreciate the importance and excitement of scientific research. I am thankful that you insisted that the Morgridge Institute pursue these efforts. It would not be the Morgridge Institute without them.

Carl Gulbrandsen PhD’78, JD’81 Chairman of the Board of the Morgridge Institute for Research Managing Director Emeritus of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Dear John and Tashia,

It must be the spirit of the Morgridge Match that led someone to ask me to write a letter that would match Becky’s letter.

I consider myself fortunate to have accumulated so many John and Tashia stories. I’ve known you for less than a decade, and in that time it seems I have accumulated a lifetime of stories. Some of them are stories you’ve shared with me. I recall one about the one-credit geology class on duck hunting along the Mississippi, and that of an ice boat on Lake Mendota encountering open water. Some of them involve friendships. The story of sorority sisters gathering each year to laugh and to cry with each other as life yields its portion of both joy and sadness. Some of them involve the geography of Wisconsin; your high school classmates amazed to see how much of the state was covered with trees as you treated them to a flight following a class reunion; going with you to Green Bay and Oshkosh in what was a small sample of the many times you’ve traveled to the schools of the UW System to bring Fund for Wisconsin Scholars recipients your one-word message, “Graduate”; hearing that you had gone to Washington Island, accessible only by boat, to see what schools were doing through your school technology initiative. All of these memories demonstrate your deep and abiding passion for Wisconsin and investing in its future. May it be ever better through what you have done for the people of this state!

Sincerely,

Hanns Kuttner

“I have had the pleasure of working on multiple projects with John and Tashia. The development of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery changed the way public and private research is conducted and became a national model for collaborative science. Remodeling and adding to the Education building allowed the consolidation of teaching, training, and research while creating welcoming indoor and outdoor spaces facing both Bascom Hill mall and Lake Mendota. But my favorite project was the underground loading dock. “We had spent years planning a renovation of the Memorial Union and a parallel remodeling of the adjacent Alumni Center. In between them, we wanted to replace the surface parking and loading dock with a park extension of the East campus mall connecting it with the Lake, the Union Terrace, and a new public boat dock. In order to do this, we had to move the loading dock to the Union, Red Gym, and Pyle Center underground and put the park on top. This was the lynch pin for the entire development! “This idea was complicated. However, a creative design and engineering team found a way to keep water out of the underground area. They planned to install a railroad round table normally used to turn train locomotives around in such a way that it could be used for 18-wheel semi-trucks and save underground space. Neither the Memorial Union budget nor the Alumni Association budget could pay for this wholly unique loading facility. “When the Morgridges agreed to make this generous donation, the entire project came together and as far as I know, it became the only loading dock named after a donor anywhere in the country.”

Alan Fish MS’01 Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Management, 2002–11

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

— John Muir x1863

“I spent four years at UW–Madison as a student, and I have spent 65 years as a graduate. It is still incredible to be in a room full of fellow alums. It is a very, very special thing. Looking back on our time in Madison and all the fun we had — it really was an amazing time to be a student. We received a world-class education. If you think about your life and all you have accomplished — and imagine the multitudes of UW graduates and what they have accomplished for the state, for the country, and for the world — it truly is an extraordinary university.”

— Tashia Morgridge

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“There are people and places and institutions that have helped to form all of us … and Wisconsin is part of that. Wisconsin is part of you, and it’s part of me. And it behooves all of us to make sure that the UW remains exceptional — together we can do that.”

— Tashia Morgridge

“Looking back on my life, in addition to parents, church, and school, it’s the community that helps form our moral compass. It’s those attitudes that I’ve remembered through my entire lifetime. We’ve been very blessed with what this country has given us. And we intend, before we die, to give it back.”

— John Morgridge

“Everyone must leave something behind when they die, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the person who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

— Ray Bradbury

Special thanks to: University Communications

Created in 2021 by: University of Wisconsin Foundation dana.crary@supportuw.org 608.263.4545

University Hill from State Street 1865

University of Wisconsin Archives Wisconsin State Historical Society