2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
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2023 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 18
March 14, 2023 - Introduced by Senators ROYS, AGARD, CARPENTER, HESSELBEIN,
SPREITZER, TAYLOR, WANGGAARD, WIRCH and BALLWEG, cosponsored by
Representatives STUBBS, HONG, J. ANDERSON, ANDRACA, CLANCY, CONSIDINE,
DRAKE, EMERSON, JOERS, S. JOHNSON, MADISON, MCGUIRE, MOORE OMOKUNDE,
NEUBAUER, OHNSTAD, RATCLIFF, SCHUTT, SHELTON, SINICKI, SNODGRASS, SPIROS,
SUBECK, VINING, BALDEH, CONLEY, SHANKLAND, JACOBSON and HAYWOOD.
Referred to Committee on Senate Organization.
1 Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Dr. Rebecca M. Blank.
2 Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank dedicated her career and life to public service,
3 specializing in the study of poverty, low-income labor markets, macroeconomics, and
4 government policy; and
5 Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank achieved impressive heights in her own education,
6 graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Economics and earning
7 her PhD in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and
8 Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank served in government roles as a senior staff
9 member on the Council of Economic Advisers during the George H. W. Bush
10 presidential administration, as a member of the council during the Bill Clinton
11 presidential administration, and as deputy and acting secretary in the U.S.
12 Department of Commerce in the administration of President Barack Obama from
13 2009 to 2013; and
14 Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank accomplished a distinguished career in academia,
15 holding faculty positions at Princeton University and Northwestern University,
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1 serving as dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and
2 leading the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Chancellor from 2013 to 2022; and
3 Whereas, during her tenure at UW, Dr. Rebecca Blank built a lasting legacy as
4 a champion for equitable access to education, removing structural barriers to
5 academic success by ensuring that first-generation college students have an equal
6 opportunity for the attainment of higher education through Bucky's Tuition Promise;
7 and
8 Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank strongly supported UW's Institute for Research on
9 Poverty and forged a path toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UW-Madison;
10 and
11 Whereas, in response to rising racial injustice, Dr. Rebecca Blank
12 commissioned a report on UW's legacy of exclusion, which highlighted the
13 contributions of marginalized change-makers and led to the Public History Project
14 of 2019 that culminated in the fall 2022 exhibition at the Chazen Museum of Art and
15 a permanent online archive; and
16 Whereas, UW-Madison named its Public History Project center in Dr. Rebecca
17 Blank's honor and endowed a professorship in her name; and
18 Whereas, decorated economist and educator Dr. Rebecca Blank passed away on
19 February 17th, 2023, at the age of 67, survived by her husband and daughter, Hanns
20 and Emily Kuttner, after leading a life of excellent leadership, scholarship, and
21 service; now, therefore, be it
22 Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the Wisconsin
23 Legislature does hereby honor the life and public service of Dr. Rebecca M. Blank.
24 (END)