A Celebration

March 23, 2020

50th Timeline

 

1970

• Chancellor and Board of Regents approve reorganization of Institute for Environmental Studies (IES) into comprehensive, independent academic unit
• Reid Bryson appointed founding director – 1970-1985
• Cal DeWitt is first faculty member – 1970
• First Earth Day observed – April 22, 1970
• NSF awards first major institutional grant to IES $1.5 million – 1971
• Three new centers (Geographic Analysis, Biotic Systems, and Human Systems) and two new groups (Environmental Monitoring and Data Acquisition, Quantitative Ecosystems Modeling) created to accommodate IES research – 1972
• Earthwatch Radio debuts on 12 Wisconsin radio stations – 1972
• Water Resources Management Graduate Program affiliates with IES – 1973
• Land Resources Graduate Program established – 1976
• Environmental Monitoring Graduate Program established – 1977
• Environmental Studies Certificate Program for undergraduate students established – 1979

 

1980

• Energy Analysis and Policy Certificate Program established
• Environmental Monitoring and Data Acquisition Group renamed Environmental Remote Sensing Center
• National Park Service establishes Cooperative Park Studies Unit at UW-Madison, with IES as administrative home. (Unit later becomes part of National Biological Service, then part of U.S. Geological Survey) – 1989
• Arthur Sacks, director – 1985-1990
• Reid Bryson Interdisciplinary Climate, People, and Environment Program established – 1987

 

1990

• Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development Graduate Program established – 1990
• Daniel Bromley, interim director – 1990-1992
• Johnathan Foley named the first Climate, People, and Environment Program Professor - 1993
• Tom Yuill, director – 1993-2003
• Air Resources Management curriculum introduced – 1993
• The IES Board of Visitors is created – 1995
• IES launches its first international exchange program for UW-Madison graduate students, with five partner universities in Mexico, Canada, and the United States – 1997
• Environmental Monitoring Graduate Program for returning professionals established – 1999

 

2000

• Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) established – 2001
• The Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison is renamed for the late Wisconsin governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson – 2002
• Transportation Management and Policy Program Certificate established– 2002
• Erhard Joeres, interim director – 2003-2004
• Frances Westley, first woman to lead the Institute, director – 2005-2007
• Nelson Institute hosts first annual Earth Day Conference – 2006
• Lewis Gilbert, interim director – 2007-2008
• Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE) – 2007
• Certificate in Culture, History, and Environment established – 2008
• Gregg Mitman, interim director – 2008-2012

 

2010

• Community and Environmental Scholars Program (CESP) established – 2010
• Environmental Studies major – 2011
• Center for Climatic Research (CCR) celebrates 50th anniversary – 2012
• Undergraduate Sustainability Certificate established – 2014
• Environmental Conservation (Professional MS) established – 2014
• Water Resources Management (MS) celebrates 50th anniversary – 2015
• Environmental Observation and Informatics (Professional MS) established – 2018
• Paul Robbins, dean – 2012- present

 

2020

• 50th anniversary of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
• 50th anniversary of Earth Day
• Governor’s Proclamation in recognition of 50th anniversary of Nelson Institute – February 6, 2020

 

The Nelson Legacy

 

Fifty years later the impact of Gaylord Nelson, the Institute’s namesake, a Wisconsin native who went on to serve as both governor and U.S. Senator and helped make environmental protection a top national priority in the latter half of the twentieth century, remains more current than ever in providing the framework and inspiration for generations to come.

To learn more about the legacy, visit: Nelson Earth Day