LRB-2249/1
CMH:kms&skw
2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTIO N 19
March 24, 2023 - Introduced 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, cosponsored by Senators ROYS, AGARD,
CARPENTER, HESSELBEIN, SPREITZER, TAYLOR, WANGGAARD, WIRCH and BALLWEG.
Referred to Committee on Rules.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Dr. Rebecca M. Blank.
Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank dedicated her career and life to public service,
specializing in the study of poverty, low-income labor markets, macroeconomics, and
government policy; and
Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank achieved impressive heights in her own education,
graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Economics and earning
her PhD in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and
Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank served in government roles as a senior staff
member on the Council of Economic Advisers during the George H. W. Bush
presidential administration, as a member of the council during the Bill Clinton
presidential administration, and as deputy and acting secretary in the U.S.
Department of Commerce in the administration of President Barack Obama from
2009 to 2013; and
Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank accomplished a distinguished career in academia,
holding faculty positions at Princeton University and Northwestern University,
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LRB-2249/1
CMH:kms&skw
2023 - 2024 Legislature
serving as dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and
leading the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Chancellor from 2013 to 2022; and
Whereas, during her tenure at UW, Dr. Rebecca Blank built a lasting legacy as
a champion for equitable access to education, removing structural barriers to
academic success by ensuring that first-generation college students have an equal
opportunity for the attainment of higher education through Bucky's Tuition Promise;
and
Whereas, Dr. Rebecca Blank strongly supported UW's Institute for Research on
Poverty and forged a path toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UW-Madison;
and
Whereas, in response to rising racial injustice, Dr. Rebecca Blank
commissioned a report on UW's legacy of exclusion, which highlighted the
contributions of marginalized change-makers and led to the Public History Project
of 2019 that culminated in the fall 2022 exhibition at the Chazen Museum of Art and
a permanent online archive; and
Whereas, UW-Madison named its Public History Project center in Dr. Rebecca
Blank's honor and endowed a professorship in her name; and
Whereas, decorated economist and educator Dr. Rebecca Blank passed away on
February 17th, 2023, at the age of 67, survived by her husband and daughter, Hanns
and Emily Kuttner, after leading a life of excellent leadership, scholarship, and
service; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the Wisconsin
Legislature does hereby honor the life and public service of Dr. Rebecca M. Blank.
(END)
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