Our team at the Office of Business Engagement is focused on moving UW–Madison forward through greater engagement and deeper connections with industry partners. Under Assistant Vice Chancellor Chris Kozina’s leadership beginning in late 2020, we have seen marked progress across the board.
From the end of the federal fiscal year 2020 to 2022, the university saw a nearly 37% increase in research expenditures from business, rising from $29.6 million to $40.5 million. That same period saw our campus and community rally together in response to expansive development opportunities, such as the NSF Engines and EDA Tech Hub programs. By stepping outside our respective comfort zones, we built diverse, competitive public-private partnership proposals which netted impressive results, notably the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub designation and $49 million in funding from the EDA.
In fiscal year 2024, OBE’s more than 50 distinct industry engagements netted over $8 million in value-generation for campus. In addition to three consecutive years of cumulative growth in value-generation, we have seen several multifaceted partnerships flourish. Among those, our partnerships with American Family Insurance, GE HealthCare and Kohler, all featured in this report, have led to technology innovations, advances in education and workforce training, and significant charitable contributions to our campus community and beyond. Of course, such comprehensive partnership is only possible through the efforts and collaboration of our colleagues across UW–Madison’s vast campus and our partners at affiliated organizations, such as WARF, WFAA, and University Research Park.
Over the past year, much of our work has focused on areas of shared interest and investment with the business community. These include artificial intelligence and data science, sustainability, biohealth and building a more diverse, equitable society—areas also supported through key campus-wide initiatives like the Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) initiative. You’ll see throughout this report the ways in which OBE and our industry partners are working together to meet the grand challenges underpinning these initiatives.
This year also saw the retirement of our leader, colleague and friend Vice Chancellor Charles Hoslet. Charlie founded the university’s Office of Corporate Relations (now the Office of Business Engagement) in 2003 and served as its managing director until 2013. Throughout his 26 years of service to the university, Charlie laid the foundation of the university’s connection to industry and the office’s commitment to fostering better ways to work together to move us forward to greater impact. As we look to the year ahead, with expanding opportunities in so many areas, we remain committed to our partners, mission and Charlie’s mantra of “better, forward and greater.”
—John Garnetti, Managing Director, Office of Business Engagement
Read the full 2023-24 Office of Business Engagement Impact Report