Wisconsin hopes to hire military historian
More than a decade after University of Wisconsin-Madison alum Stephen Ambrose set up a fund to hire a military history professor, the school may finally fulfill the late historian’s vision by filling the position next fall.
Ambrose, the famed author of “Band of Brothers,” who grew up in Whitewater, established an endowment for the Ambrose-Hesseltine Chair in U.S. Military History in 1998. He named it in part after his mentor, former UW-Madison professor William Hesseltine.
When Ambrose died in 2002, the UW Foundation received the proceeds of his gift — about $500,000 from his insurance policy.
But four years later, the professorship remained unfilled, sparking controversy. John J. Miller argued in the National Review magazine that the university’s failure to seek candidates suggested Wisconsin didn’t actually want a military historian.
He made a broader claim that military history was all but dead in universities, in part because of “the rise of tenured radicals.”
At the time, university officials insisted they did want to fill the position but said they hadn’t begun searching for a candidate because they didn’t have the money to fund a professor’s salary.
Endowment money has typically paid for professors to hire graduates to do research, not to pay professors’ salaries. Salaries come from the academic department’s budget, said Russ Howes, vice president for legal affairs at the UW Foundation.
At the time, the foundation looked to raise at least $1 million for an endowed chair, Howes said.
The Ambrose endowment didn’t hit $1 million until 2005. It wasn’t until 2006 that the school had the money to pay for salary and benefits, said Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science....
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Ambrose, the famed author of “Band of Brothers,” who grew up in Whitewater, established an endowment for the Ambrose-Hesseltine Chair in U.S. Military History in 1998. He named it in part after his mentor, former UW-Madison professor William Hesseltine.
When Ambrose died in 2002, the UW Foundation received the proceeds of his gift — about $500,000 from his insurance policy.
But four years later, the professorship remained unfilled, sparking controversy. John J. Miller argued in the National Review magazine that the university’s failure to seek candidates suggested Wisconsin didn’t actually want a military historian.
He made a broader claim that military history was all but dead in universities, in part because of “the rise of tenured radicals.”
At the time, university officials insisted they did want to fill the position but said they hadn’t begun searching for a candidate because they didn’t have the money to fund a professor’s salary.
Endowment money has typically paid for professors to hire graduates to do research, not to pay professors’ salaries. Salaries come from the academic department’s budget, said Russ Howes, vice president for legal affairs at the UW Foundation.
At the time, the foundation looked to raise at least $1 million for an endowed chair, Howes said.
The Ambrose endowment didn’t hit $1 million until 2005. It wasn’t until 2006 that the school had the money to pay for salary and benefits, said Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science....