UW Board of Regents Fire UW President

Thursday, April 9th, 2026 -- 1:00 PM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted Tuesday to fire the leader of the state’s public university system.

According to Sarah Lehr with the Wisconsin Public Radio, Jay Rothman has been serving as the UW president since he was hired by regents in 2022. Before that, he worked as CEO of the Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner law firm.

The unanimous vote to fire Rothman came after the board met in private for just over 20 minutes on Tuesday. The board had also met in private last week to discuss “personnel.” One regent, Joan Prince, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Chris Patton will serve as acting executive-in-charge until an interim president can be appointed, according to a UW news release. Patton is a vice president for university relations.

Rothman’s forced exit comes as regents search for a chancellor to lead the system’s flagship university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is leaving UW-Madison next month to become Columbia University’s next president. Rothman chose Eric Wilcots, a dean at UW-Madison, to serve as interim chancellor until a permanent leader is appointed.

Rothman’s annual salary is $600,943. His contract says he must be given six months’ notice before being terminated, although it says he can be given “reassignment to other duties” while he continues to be paid his full salary during that six-month period.

The UW system spans 13 universities and enrolls more than 160,000 students annually. Its annual budget is roughly $7 billion.

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