This week, Provost Carolyn A. "Biddy" Martin leaves Cornell to become the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her graduate alma mater. Martin leaves a legacy of academic achievement at Cornell in a career spanning 25 years. Recently, she was interviewed by Cornell Chronicle writer Daniel Aloi about her Cornell years and her new job in Wisconsin.

1) What's the most profound change you've seen during your time at Cornell -- on campus and in higher education in general?

The effects of digital technologies would be one. When I was finishing my dissertation back in 1984, I could clean my entire apartment twice while the computer saved a single chapter. We used landlines and memos. The speed-up with the changes in communication has been extraordinary. In addition, I would name the advances in the life sciences and increased collaborations with the physical, engineering and computational sciences, combined with much closer relationships with business and the corporate world, which have resulted both from the need for new revenue sources and from the desire to ensure that our research has an impact on the world.

The other change would be the growth of the physical campus itself.

The first two sets of changes are the more profound and reflect what's changed most about higher education more generally -- the convergence of different scientific disciplines, the extraordinary advances in science and technology, and the changing nature of universities' relationships with the business world. These changes have the potential to benefit both the university and the public, but they also require vigilance so that important academic values are protected and areas outside the sciences are not diminished.

2) Which of the many initiatives and programs you have had a hand in at Cornell are you most proud?

Oversight and support of the life sciences initiative, including the new building; support for the humanities and for enhancement of the social sciences; support for information science; the hiring of talented academic administrators -- vice provosts and deans; establishing the first-year reading project and making it successful; the enhanced financial aid program we implemented this past year; and the successful faculty salary program. The last two are important because of the priority we've placed on recruiting and retaining the best faculty, and keeping Cornell accessible to students regardless of their economic circumstances.

3) How would you like to be remembered here?

As someone who cared deeply about academic values and academic excellence, who worked to help enhance the research and educational quality of Cornell and helped build a sense of community.

I hope that the collaborative relationships among the deans and faculty across the colleges continue and grow, and whatever small role I've had in fostering them I certainly feel proud of.

4) Describe an indelible Cornell memory.

There are so many. The success of the Mars rovers and the generosity of Jim Bell and Steve Squyres, who invited me over to Space Sciences to watch as they received data from Mars. Interviewing faculty about their research and teaching. Being shown a DNA molecule in Michelle Wang's lab. All the conferences and intellectual exchanges at the Society for the Humanities. The Chorus and Glee Club singing the alma mater and "Evening Song." My tour of the Cornell NanoScale Facility. The celebration of the expanded Africana Center. Particular moments in the classroom when I was teaching. The women's volleyball team winning the Ivy League title. The Barton Hall book panels and the presidential inaugurations. Watching the life sciences building rise up out of the ground. When you have been part of the planning and support for what's going to happen in the building, it's thrilling to watch it go up -- the realization of the dreams of faculty and students who are going to benefit from that beautiful and functional facility.

5) Which jobs or aspects of the job are you anticipating when you arrive in Madison?

Welcoming new and returning students; establishing a strong, collaborative team of senior administrators; getting to know the faculty and staff; learning about the strengths and challenges in the many units at the University of Wisconsin; studying the financial situation of the university; and getting to know the university's external constituencies.

6) When you give your state of the university address in Madison in 2013, what might you mention as your achievements?

I will take great pride in the ways in which UW-Madison represents the best of what major research universities have to offer, starting with access and affordability; and the exemplary living-and-learning experience for students.

I'll emphasize the faculty's outstanding research and the successful transfer of their discoveries in applications that serve the public good; and the university's successes in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and lowering the boundaries between and among disciplines. I'll also announce enhanced private support, a strong and positive sense of community on campus, and greater diversity among students, staff and faculty.

7) What positive changes do you expect to highlight?

Success in increasing support for student financial aid, improving faculty salaries, improving facilities, accelerated discovery and successfully transferring discoveries to the public, for the public good.

The Wisconsin Idea, which is UW's definition of its land-grant mission, will give me numerous examples of the university's contributions to the state, the nation and the world.

I will also brag about our Rose Bowl appearances, an NCAA title in basketball and Big Ten titles in other sports.

8) What will you miss most about Cornell and Ithaca?

Cornell's vibrant and intense intellectual community; and the natural beauty of the campus and the surrounding area -- the combination of those two things makes Cornell unique. And, obviously, the people with whom I've worked and whom I love; my friends.

Cornell is an absolutely spectacular university and a wonderful place to work. I'm very proud that I've spent so much of my career here as a faculty member and administrator. I will miss the university enormously, but I will be back frequently to visit and will always care deeply about Cornell. It has helped make me who and what I am.

9) What will you miss the least?

Dark winters.

10) When you come back for visits, what are the places you will make a beeline for?

Day Hall ... then the Arts Quad to see how the new humanities and physical sciences buildings are developing, and to view Milstein Hall. [Then] the Engineering Quad to see the CIS [Computing and Information Science] project and engineering renovations. I'll go to upper Treman Park or over to the Heights Café to see James and Heidi. I'd probably already have made a beeline to Wegmans. There won't be a Wegmans in Madison, and we've done a lot of faculty recruitment by using Wegmans to display our urbanity!

The Cornell community is invited to bid farewell to Provost Biddy Martin as she leaves Cornell for her new post as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The farewell event is Tuesday, Sept. 2, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the plaza at Bailey Hall. President David Skorton will make brief remarks, followed by an opportunity for community members to visit with Martin and wish her well.

The event will be held under a tent on the plaza, but in case of severe weather, it will be moved indoors to Bailey Hall.