Blank named Chair of Big Ten leadership group

The Big Ten Conference office announced that the Council of Presidents/Chancellors voted to approve the selection of University of Wisconsin–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank as Chair for a two-year term. Blank is a member of the La Follette School’s faculty.

Also on the Council for the 2021–22 academic year are Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro (past chair), University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones, and University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel. The Council also serves as the Big Ten’s Executive/Compensation Committee.

Earlier this year, Blank was named a 2021 Distinguished Fellow by the American Economic Association, one of four economists to receive the honor.

Before joining UW–Madison, Blank served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Clinton Administration, and under-secretary for economic affairs and then deputy secretary in the Department of Commerce in the Obama Administration.

The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness.