Renée Wachter, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Superior, has been selected to serve as interim president of the Universities of Wisconsin, the state of Wisconsin’s public university system, enrolling more than 164,000 students across 13 institutions.
Dr. Wachter, the longest-serving campus leader in the university system, began her tenure as the tenth chancellor of UW-Superior in July 2011. Before coming to Wisconsin, she was the founding dean of the School of Business at Truman State University in Missouri. Dr. Wachter has also served as an associate dean of the business schools at Montana State University and the University of Indianapolis.
As a scholar, Dr. Wachter focuses on the impact of technology on communication, decision-making, and negotiation, as well as team composition and the success of international joint ventures. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in mathematics from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in management information systems with minors in marketing and statistics from Indiana University.
As Dr. Wachter assumes her new responsibilities, Maria Cuzzo will serve as interim president of UW-Superior, where she has served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs since 2019.
A faculty member for over three decades, Dr. Cuzzo is a full professor in the department of human behavior, justice, and diversity. Earlier in her tenure, she was program coordinator for the legal studies and criminal justice program and founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Cuzzo is a graduate of Augustana University in South Dakota, where she majored in political science. She holds a juris doctorate and a Ph.D. in American government from the University of Minnesota.