Eric Wilcots has been appointed interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is slated to take the helm of the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus on May 17.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, UW-Madison enrolls over 38,000 undergraduates and 13,000 graduate students. Black Americans represent 3 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Wilcots, the Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy, has served as dean of UW-Madison’s College of Letters & Science since May 2020. A faculty member since 1995, he previously served as the college’s deputy dean and associate dean for research, as well as associate dean for natural sciences.
Throughout his career, Dr. Wilcots has conducted extensive research on the evolution and gas content of individual galaxies and galaxy groups, primarily through the lens of radio wavelengths. He currently leads UW’s involvement in the Southern African Large Telescope project, the largest single-aperture optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. Prior to joining the university, Dr. Wilcots was a Karl Jansky Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico.
“Dean Wilcots is an energetic leader who will continue the positive momentum at our flagship while we search for a permanent successor to [current Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin],” said Jay Rothman, president of the University of Wisconsin System. “He is extraordinarily well respected across the campus and has a deep knowledge of the university. He is the right person to continue to carry UW-Madison forward.”
Dr. Wilcots received his bachelor’s degree in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Washington.
