Greetings from Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin!
      And a special thank you from Cyndie and me for your friendship, your support, and everything you have done for us during our seven years as stewards of this outstanding University.
      As you know, we will conclude our service to UW-Green Bay at the end of the month and then will move on to new challenges at Western Washington University.
      The campus has planned a reception that will allow Cyndie and me to personally thank as many of you as possible. We sincerely hope you will be able to attend the event at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at the Kress Events Center.
      This is a time of mixed emotions and conflicting thoughts as we prepare for the next opportunity. While it is difficult to say goodbye to the people of this extraordinary place, we take comfort in the fact that our relationships with so many special people are not coming to an end. In fact, as I said when I informed the campus of our opportunity at Western Washington, the relationships are evolving and even growing along new pathways.

      This also is a time of incredible potential for Northeastern Wisconsin’s University, a time made possible by the prospect of new leadership.
      The foundations are in place here just as they were when we arrived in Green Bay in 2001. Our faculty and staff are talented and committed to helping our students and region reach their vast potential. Our region has demonstrated again and again that it values higher education and understands the importance of a strong public university to the region’s and state’s success. Our elected officials have stood with us at crucial junctures dating to the University’s founding. Our public and private-sector partners have shared our vision for brighter tomorrows and then have worked collaboratively to create a promising future.
      We may have offered a few ideas for how best to position UW-Green Bay for the future. For example, Cyndie, in collaboration with Trustee Ginny Riopelle, planted the seed for what became the award-winning Phuture Phoenix program after a chance meeting with a fifth-grader brought home to her the need to raise the aspirations of young people. But Phuture Phoenix would not have happened without the support and nurturing of community partners.
      The desire to grow UW-Green Bay came out of meetings I had with more than 2,000 people on and off campus during my first year here. Those early conversations revealed a yearning to strengthen connections with the region. They also revealed a belief that a larger university could better serve our students and region.
      So the community laid the foundation for Northeastern Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda for UW-Green Bay. The community also created the political will needed to make the Growth Agenda a reality.
      Those are high-profile examples of what we have achieved as a campus and community. And they are indicative of many other achievements of the past seven years and many more on the horizon.
      One of the highlights of my time as chancellor came when the UW System Board of Regents met at UW-Green Bay in April 2006. After hearing community and business leaders talk about the region’s future and the University’s role in it, Regent President David Walsh said in no uncertain terms that the community presentation was the best he ever heard. “It was remarkable because it was a clear expression of the community, and in particular the business community’s need for us to invest in this University,” he said..