By Aaron R. Conklin

After nearly three decades of guiding UW Sea Grant in new and exciting directions, Anders Andren announces his retirement and reflects on his sizable accomplishments.

When he took the reins, much of the focus was fisheries. Now that he’s letting them go—after heading the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute for a spectacular and defining 21 years—Anders Andren can say the direction and scope of the organization he’s headed has expanded to encompass the entirety of the Great Lakes. And beyond.

Andren, who was born and raised in Finland and Sweden, is justifiably proud of the things he’s accomplished during his term. Under his direction, UW Sea Grant enjoyed more successes than waves hitting a Lake Superior beach on a windy fall day: Andren led the effort to reorganize the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) into focused thematic research areas such as fisheries, aquaculture and contaminants, an effort that helped create a clearer identity for the national program. He crafted a research proposal review process that’s been adopted by many other Sea Grant programs. Andren also invested resources early and often in information technology. UW’s was the first Sea Grant program to field its own website and also developed iPro and iPropose, its own in-house programs for researchers to submit and update grant proposals. Despite being among the smaller entities on the UW-Madison campus, UW Sea Grant also maintains its own separate IT infrastructure.

But perhaps the biggest key to Andren’s long-term success has been his ability to build talented coalitions, both inside and outside the organization, both locally and nationally.

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New Aquatic Sciences Center director named

April 9, 2012

University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader today (Monday, April 9) announced the appointment of James P. Hurley as the new director of the Aquatic Sciences Center, effective May 1.   

Hurley is returning to the center after a just more than a year as the director of the Environmental Health Division of the State Lab of Hygiene. Hurley was at ASC from 1998 to 2010, filling the role of assistant director for research and outreach at the time of his departure. Now, he says, “I’m excited to be back. I had developed such a great network of people in Wisconsin and beyond during the years I was here before. You don’t always realize how lucky you are to work with these talented people until you’re disconnected from them.”

Cadwallader says, “Jim has an excellent, relevant background that makes him perfectly qualified for the job. His intimate knowledge of the Aquatic Sciences program, its mission and staff means he'll hit the ground running and help enhance the status of a program that already enjoys an unparalleled international reputation.”

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