Nonprofits and Education
President
UW System | Madison
Jay Rothman was appointed president of the University of Wisconsin System earlier this year. His role includes oversight of the system’s 13 universities and 26 campuses. The system serves about 165,000 students and has 40,000 faculty, academic and university staff, and graduate assistants. Reporting to the UW System board of regents, Rothman is also responsible for the system’s $6 billion annual budget.
Prior to leading the UW System, Rothman was chairman and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner LLP, one of the top 50 law firms in the country, based on revenue. Foley has over 1,100 lawyers and 1,000 staff members. In that role, he was responsible for implementing the firm’s strategic plan and overseeing its administrative functions.
Rothman joined Foley in 1986 and became a partner in 1994. He joined the firm’s management committee in 2002. As a practicing lawyer, Rothman focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate governance.
Rothman is a director on the boards of Quad/Graphics Inc. and Mayville Engineering Company Inc. He has also served as a director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and previously was chairman of the Children’s Wisconsin board of directors.
Education: Bachelor’s, Marquette University; J.D., Harvard Law School