Morgridge Book

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