A margin of excellence
for academic programs

In spring 2005, members of the Department of Engineering Physics celebrated our 10-year anniversary as a combined department. During those 10 years, the popularity of both of our majors grew tremendously: EMA has more than 125 undergraduate majors; NEEP has more than 100 undergraduate majors.

Even more recently, our graduate educational program has changed and grown. Our faculty have been very successful in making proposals to federal and industrial sponsors. As a result, our graduate education and research activities are flourishing. We use these extramural funds to finance the education of our graduate students for their master's and doctoral degrees, support our scientific research staff, and also support our faculty during the summer and part of the academic year as they conduct research.

In many ways, the department is like a business that must maintain its financial posture to serve its mission. A key part of this financial equation is the generous annual gifts that EP alumni and friends give our department via the UW Foundation. State budget cuts have meant a significant decrease in “flexible” funds available to support our students and some limited staff activities. Most of the funds support undergraduate scholarships. Flexible funds:

Help top-notch undergraduate and graduate students attend the UW-Madison via scholarships or fellowships,
Enable undergrads to compete in advanced reactor design competitions,
Support middle-school and high-school science outreach programs,
Help graduate students and faculty to travel to national engineering conferences,
Facilitate improvements in instruction and education.
Not only do these flexible funds provide additional support for our students, staff and faculty, they provide us with the “margin of excellence” in our academic programs.

Here's where we need your support. We've launched a fund-raising campaign for the NEEP program to provide additional flexible funds. These funds will give our students, staff and faculty the ability to improve and innovate the educational experience. Your support via the Max Carbon Fund will contribute to a great start in our 21st century and the ever-changing face of engineering.

Thank you,

Michael Corradini
Professor and Chair,
Department of Engineering Physics
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thomas Plunkett (BSME '61, MSNE '62)
Retired President,
Nuclear Division
Florida Power & Light Co.

Fund-raising campaign co-chairs

A margin of excellencefor academic programs

A margin of excellence
for academic programs