Chancellor Bunnell Biography

Linda Hunt Bunnell

Linda Hunt Bunnell became Chancellor of UWSP on June 1, 2004, bringing to Central Wisconsin a broad background of service to higher education. After gathering input from across the campus and the region the university serves, she outlined Vision 2015.  This roadmap for the next decade charts a course for connecting:  connecting students to their futures, connecting UWSP to the Central Wisconsin economy, and connecting mission to place.

 

Chancellor Linda Bunnell

Chancellor Linda Bunnell

Chancellor Bunnell has challenged the university to launch academic programs that serve emerging needs in the region. Chief among them is the major in health sciences and the expansion of the paper sciences program. UWSP has also established the Center for Leadership, Excellence & Economic Development in downtown Wausau, offering courses to professionals from throughout the region.

UWSP has committed to a sustainable future under Bunnell’s leadership. She was among the first leaders in the nation to sign the University Presidents and Chancellors Climate Commitment in Washington, D.C. The governor of Wisconsin named UWSP one of four UW System campuses to become “carbon free” by 2011. The university’s new Master Plan outlines numerous initiatives to improve, beautify, and sustain UWSP’s learning, research, and residential facilities and grounds over the coming decades. Developed under Bunnell’s leadership, this is the first UWSP Master Plan since 1968. 

UWSP has seen dramatic improvements in the diversity of its student body during Bunnell’s tenure, and the university leads the UW System in the number of students studying abroad. Creating global citizens is another objective of Vision 2015.

Before coming to UWSP, Bunnell served the College Board as senior vice president for higher education. In this position she was responsible for $170 million in revenue of the $320 million not-for-profit organization whose products and services include the SAT and other examinations used throughout the world. 

Prior to joining the College Board, she was chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for eight years. Under Bunnell’s leadership, the enrollment increased dramatically, with the campus more than doubling in size in space available for teaching and learning by 2001.

A strategic fundraising effort brought a seven-fold increase in private dollars flowing to Colorado Springs. The number of individual donors to the institution increased by 45 percent between 1993 and 2001. Along the way, the university also saw a major increase in federal funding. The Economic Development Corporation of Colorado Springs recognized Bunnell as Community Leader of the Year for 2001.

Bunnell is a fourth-generation Texan who grew up in Fort Worth. She earned a B.A. at Baylor University and Ph.D. and master’s degrees in English Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she was a Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellow and a University Fellow. Baylor University designated her as a Distinguished Alumna in 1995.  

Bunnell has served on numerous boards throughout her career. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Aspirus, Inc. and the Girl Scouts of Woodland Council.    She is also a member of the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium (WSRC) and the University of Wisconsin System Council on Federal Relations.

Bunnell is a member of the Episcopal Church of the Intercession. She is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, unless they are playing the Green Bay Packers. She enjoys cooking, gardening, theatre, music, and movies.