Photo Via University of Wisconsin Milwaukee - Facebook
UWM Chancellor Thomas Gibson
Running a university the size of a small city is no easy task, and that’s the challenge now facing UWM’s new chancellor, Thomas Gibson. He started on July 14, 2025. At 51, he’s now in charge of a very big operation.
Think about it. UWM has nearly 23,000 students and more than 3,000 employees, including professors, faculty and staff, and an additional 4,000 student workers. The campus itself spreads out across East Side Milwaukee with 53 buildings including classrooms, dorms, administration and labs.
The UWM yearly operating budget? A strapping $637 million. What does it cost to attend UWM? For the 2025–26 school year, Wisconsin residents pay $11,768 in undergraduate tuition and fees, which is lower than comparable universities. About 18 percent of students, roughly 4,200, live in university housing. Everyone else lives off campus, many in surrounding neighborhoods.
When I met Chancellor Gibson at Chapman Hall, he didn’t sound like the kind of administrator who hides behind talking points. He spoke plainly, mixing intellect with empathy, and came across as someone who has earned his place the hard way, by climbing each rung of the educational ladder himself.
Tell me about your background, family, parents, schools you attended, and how you got into the field of education.
I grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, with my mother as head of the family, me and my two brothers. My mother would later remarry, and my family would grow to now having three
stepsisters and three boys, so it truly felt like the Brady Bunch growing up. I went to Career Magnet High School, and I achieved good grades. My high school allowed me to focus on the business administration track. For college, I attended Eastern Connecticut State University. I received a scholarship for the first year, and after that I worked to pay for school. I majored in mass communications, minored in English and contemporary drama. I thought I might be a news anchor, and eventually I worked as an editor at a local news station. But I got the most fulfillment out of being an academic tutor and new student orientation ambassador.
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Is that when you got interested in college administration?
Absolutely. It prompted me to earn a master’s degree in education, which I thought would be a springboard for a career in higher education. My next major job was serving as the regional coordinator for academic programs at the University of Connecticut. I also taught undergrads. I stayed at UConn for eight years.
What happened after you left UConn?
I went to Queens College, part of the City University of New York system. I was assistant airector and academic coordinator for SEEK, an educational opportunity program for lower income and first-generation college students. For four years, I helped students navigate the college process. I then took a job as assistant dean of students at York College in Queens, and later the interim vice president for student development. I also taught classes. That motivated me to continue on professionally. In 2013, I got an offer as an associate vice president at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. I was recently married, and my wife didn’t sign up to leave New York City for Indiana. But it was a family decision and a good career move. I was now teaching graduate students. I stayed there for three and a half years, and I loved my time at Ball State, which had strong leadership.
How did you end up at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point?
First, I worked at Bowling Green State University as the vice president of student affairs and also the vice provost, which allowed me to also teach Ph.D. students. I love teaching. And as a fundraiser, I raised my first million-dollar gift. I found I was good at fundraising. I stayed at Bowling Green for four and a half years, then moved on to become the chancellor at UW Stevens Point for almost five years before I became chancellor at UW-Milwaukee. I took this job because UWM is very much involved in the research side of education.
What exactly is your job as UWM Chancellor?
My job is to lead UWM, a premier research university, and to create more opportunities for students. I want to make sure we are producing a pipeline for workforce talent needs in Wisconsin and beyond. I am also an advocate for my colleagues and professors for research pursuits. I am UWM’s chief storyteller. I attend events and meetings to enlighten people about the impact of UWM. And I am responsible for the financial health of UWM.
Huge leadership responsibilities.
Yes, and I’m grateful to have an experienced and committed leadership team.
UW regent Joan Prince said about you, “He understands what is important to students, creates a culture of support and purpose among faculty and staff, and develops trust with community and business leaders.” As chancellor, how do you go about that?
It starts with listening, responding and taking action. UWM’s mission is about access, research, and community engagement. My job is to help UWM deliver on this mission. We support the expansion of educational access by establishing partnerships with business and industry, donors, alumni and friends of UWM. We are an anchor institution in the Milwaukee area. It’s all about making our students successful.
When you were chancellor of UW-Stevens Point, the school experienced two consecutive years of enrollment growth, and secured major philanthropic gifts from business and individual partners including $10 million from Sentry Insurance for the new Sentry School of Business and Economics, and also donations of land for College of Natural Resources research. How did you go about raising donations from business and philanthropy when you were at Stevens Point?
I embraced the role of being UW Stevens Point’s chief storyteller to find out where we can align with businesses.
Hypothetically, if I am the president of Sentry Insurance or the Sentry Foundation, what do you tell me to get me to invest?
Your company is based in Stevens Point, and you need talent to propel Sentry forward. I am in the business of producing talent. I ask you to tell me about your organizational needs like computer sciences or data analytics or actuarial science since you are an insurance company. We have strong programs in these areas. Your investment will allow us to hire more faculty in these areas, eventually supplying you with talent. I always try to frame my conversation around what is beneficial to both of us.
You said you will be a champion of UWM's dual missions of research and education access for all students, but that you expected funding to be your biggest challenge. How will you raise funds?
Currently, budget challenges are impacting the higher education sector all over the U.S. However, for the 2025-2027 biennium, UWM received the largest increase in state funding in two decades. $233 million to support our capital projects on campus. This will allow us to move forward in our Health Sciences Renovation project, which will help to produce more healthcare workers for the state.
And healthcare is probably the fastest growing field in new jobs in the U.S.
Right. Other work that I will be doing is to prepare for the 2027-2029 state budget biennium. I will advocate with state legislators and pursue opportunities with private foundations. We will support sponsored research.
If I am a leader of a large local company like Northwestern Mutual or Rockwell, for instance, what can you do for me if I do something for you?
It is mutual, a two-way benefit. For instance, we enjoy a good partnership with Northwestern Mutual through our Data Science Institute. With Rockwell Automation through our Connected Systems Institute. With Microsoft, we have our Microsoft AI
Co Innovation Lab where we work with small manufacturers to incorporate AI into their production processes.
The student population at UWM, both undergraduate and graduate, is approximately 56% White, 15% Hispanic or Latino, 9% Black or African American, 8% Asian, with other ethnic groups comprising the remainder. Is part of your job to attract more students of various ethnic groups?
UWM is open to all students from any ethnic group.
The Milwaukee area is home to pretty diverse ethnic groups. No matter what my skin color or race, I’d feel comfortable here.
Absolutely. Diversity in our student body provides for a rich learning experience.
UWM’s enrollment has declined about 16% in the past decade.
We are turning that around. This fall, we welcomed the largest incoming freshman class since 2009. An 11% increase over last year. Investment in our buildings and labs will also attract more students as we demonstrate our competitiveness in terms of our spaces to support student learning.
Let’s talk about your core responsibilities as chancellor, and you can comment on each. First, you oversee a budget of approximately $637 million. You are responsible for strengthening the university’s finances and ensuring its sustainable operations.
The financial health of UWM is a top priority. I ensure that UWM has the resources to attract the best faculty and students, and also to secure private and state resources to make that happen.
You lead the implementation of strategic initiatives such as the 2030 Action Plan, which includes four commitments: Students' Academic & Personal Journey; Positive Employee Experience; Research, Innovation & Community Impact; and Economically Anchoring Southeastern Wisconsin. Sounds like bureaucratic academic doublespeak. Can you simplify this 2030 Action Plan?
One, we try to remove any barriers to student success. Two, we want our colleagues to be excited and proud about working at UWM: professors, staff, administrators. Three, a big goal of mine is to bolster research. Four, I’ve spoken about UWM being the anchor of southeastern Wisconsin, and that results in economic vitality.
As UWM’s primary advocate and ambassador, you lead initiatives to drive student success, engaging with students, faculty, and staff to define UWM’s vision. You also cultivate strong relationships with community leaders, businesses, alumni, donors, and legislators. That’s a big job. Do you give speeches? Attend community events?
I do all those things. I am UWM’s primary storyteller. I attend events, board meetings. I engage business and community leaders, alumni, and donors. I have a full calendar. I like to be responsive to these people.
You build strategies to recruit and retain a highly qualified and diverse faculty and staff. Don’t the department heads and staff managers hire their own people?
That is correct. The deans, program directors, and department heads are all responsible for hiring their own employees. I try to provide an environment so they all can thrive.
I believe UWM also offers some tuition assistance.
Yes, we offer significant dollars for scholarships to students. Lack of resources should never be a deterrent to achieving a college education. We also give tuition help to families earning less than $62,000.
