Carolyn Arthur “Biddy” Martin (Chancellor: 2008-2011)

On June 5, 2008, the Board of Regents officially appointed Biddy Martin as the next Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, effective September 1, 2008.

Born in 1951, Martin grew up near Lynchburg, Virginia, and received her BA degree from the College of William and Mary (1973). She also holds an MA from Middlebury College, and the PhD in German Literature from UW-Madison (1985).

Martin joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1984 and in 1991 was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of German Studies with a joint appointment in the Women’s Studies Program. She served as chair of the Department of German Studies from 1994-1997 and was promoted to full professor in 1997.

In 1996 she became a Senior Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences., and from July 1, 2000 until her appointment at Madison, Martin served as Provost at Cornell.

On June 14, 2011, Martin announced that she would be leaving UW-Madison later that summer to assume the presidency of Amherst College. (Photo by Jeff Miller)