University of Wisconsin - Extension

As Chancellor of UW-Extension, Kevin P. Reilly will continue to embrace, encourage and enhance partnerships throughout the organization.

"Partnerships are the very nature of UW-Extension in Wisconsin," Reilly said. "Everything we do is in cooperation with our fellow UW institutions, the counties, other government agencies, professional associations and the private sector."

Reilly takes over as Chancellor July 7 when Interim Chancellor Albert Beaver retires.

"As the next Chancellor of UW-Extension, I understand that I will be leading an enterprise that is more a confederated network of partnerships than a simple, single fully integrated institution. UW-Extension is more like a holding company than a single institution."

Because of its statewide presence, Reilly said, UWEX is uniquely positioned to bring education to people where they live and work.

As the outreach arm of the UW system, UWEX is poised to help conquer two major challenges, Reilly said. One is getting people engaged with the system. The other is using technology to enhance teaching, research and service.

"We in UW-Extension know how to combine a partner-like engagement of learners and communities face-to-face, with the most effective new methods of enhancing that engagement."

In the age of information overload, Reilly said, UWEX can help prevent people from drowning in it. "Folks want assistance in turning masses of undifferentiated information into useful knowledge and understanding. UW-Extension--with its reputation as an objective source of research-based knowledge, as an institution that can partner with the experts and the community--has the brightest of futures in this information age."

Reilly said he understands that the chancellor's two main functions are communicating and relationship building.

The UW System Board of Regents selected Reilly from a pool of candidates submitted by the Chancellor Search and Screen Committee. UW System President Katharine Lyall and a Special Regents Committee recommended Reilly to succeed Beaver.

"In the four years since he arrived in Wisconsin, Kevin Reilly has played an integral role in moving UW-Extension forward as a more engaged, responsive, innovative and visionary institution," Lyall said. "Kevin has worked tirelessly in improving the contribution of UW-Extension's educational programs to meet the pressing needs affecting the state's citizens, schools, businesses and communities."

The slate of finalists posed a tough choice for Lyall and the Regents, said Lee Cunningham, Walworth County agricultural agent and search-and-screen committee chair. "We picked high-quality candidates who would make for a very difficult decision," he said. "The committee believes it accomplished that objective."

Other committee members were Mary Grant, interim associate dean of Continuing Education; Ann Haney, Dean Health System; Bonnie Herrmann, Cooperative Extension; Ed Jesse, UW-Madison/Cooperative Extension; Leonard Johnson, president of District One of Wisconsin Associated County Extension Committees, Inc.; Gloria Jones-Bey, Jones-Bey & Associates; Richard Lee, UW-Whitewater; and Kristine McGrew, Continuing Education and Learning Innovations.

Also serving were Pat Malone, Cooperative Extension; Associate Vice President Ed Meachen, UW System Administration; Larry Meiller, UW-Madison/Extension; Tod Planer, Cooperative Extension; Kalyani Rai, University Outreach/Continuing Education, UW-Milwaukee; Rita Kisting Sparks, Continuing Education, UW-Eau Claire; Don Stevens, CESA 5, Portage; and Maria Alvarez Stroud, Extension Communications. Greg Wise, secretary of the Faculty/Academic Staff, and Rita Sears, assistant to the chancellor, served as committee staff.

Reilly became provost and vice chancellor of UWEX in September 1996. He's also a charter member of the Development Team and the Advisory Board for the UW's Learning Innovations Center.

Reilly came to Wisconsin from the State University of New York System where he served as associate provost for Academic Programs from 1992-96. From 1984-92, Reilly was director of College and University Evaluation for the New York State Board of Regents, which accredits all degree programs of the state's 250 public and private colleges. He also was director of the New York Regents' national Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction.

He has published and lectured on a variety of topics including accreditation, distance education policy, Irish studies and biography. He earned his B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame and a master's and Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota.

He and his wife, Kate, have three children.