An Extraordinary Legacy: The Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies
Thank you For your generous gift to strengthen and perpetuate teaching, research, and outreach in Scandinavian, Germanic, and especially Danish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a token of our appreciation, we have prepared this booklet honoring the vision and generosity of Drs. Paul and Renate Madsen as well as introducing Julie K. Allen, the inaugural Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies.
Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies Drs. Paul and Renate Madsen honored their family heritage and preserved UW-Madison s historic strengths in Danish language and culture with a generous gift of $2 million. Their endowment supports the Paul and Renate Madsen Professorship in Scandinavian and Germanic Studies. UW-Madison boasts a strong tradition of teaching and research in Danish language and culture, due in no small part to the large immigrant populations from Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany that arrived in Wisconsin during the nineteenth century. Danish culture, moreover, holds a unique place in the history of Europe, having influenced the cultures of Norway, Sweden and Iceland, while inspiring scholarship in Danish design and a passion for Scandinavian heritage among Americans. Paul and Renate Madsen s gift is an extraordinary legacy, said John Karl Scholz, Dean of the College of Letters & Science. Thanks to this gift, future generations of Badgers will be able to learn about this historically important language and culture for years to come. The Madsen gift ensures continued excellence in Danish studies, which will ultimately strengthen our German and Scandinavian programs.
The Madsens were both longtime faculty members in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Paul Madsen, who died on November 4, 2013, grew up on a farm in rural Denmark before attending the University of Copenhagen. During a fellowship at the University of Heidelberg, Paul met Renate, a German medical student. Their love for one another and for their heritage lives on through their gift, which will enrich the lives of future students with knowledge of Danish language and culture. IMAGE: Colorful buildings along the waterfront in Nyhavn, the seventeenth century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Julie K. Allen Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies A beloved UW-Madison professor of Danish and German literature and culture, Dr. Julie K. Allen is passionate about teaching in the classroom and well beyond. Besides attracting hundreds of students each year to her Tales of Hans Christian Andersen course, she generously gives her evening and weekend hours to UW and Danish exchange students by joining them at football games, trips to Chicago, bowling, and annual events in Denmark. She also contributes significantly to the wider community working with Danish-American Heritage groups, particularly the Danish-American Heritage Society and the Danish-American Heritage Museum in Iowa, for which she is a consulting scholar. Students rave about Allen s teaching. Professor Allen was excited about Scandinavia, enthusiastic to share both well-known and not so well-known
facts and stories, extols a student who took her course entitled History of Scandinavia from 1815 to Present. She really cared about students learning and how effective the activities were in the learning process. I don t think there could have been a more understanding, knowledgeable, and kind professor to open my eyes to the wonders of Scandinavia! As a scholar, Professor Allen has established an international reputation of productivity and excellence. She joined the UW faculty in 2006 having earned her doctorate in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. Since coming to Madison, she has published more than two dozen articles as well as two books Annotated Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Icons of Danish Modernity: Georg Brandes and Asta Nielsen. Professor Allen is a national and international authority on Danish and Dano-German culture whose work is highly relevant in today s world of transnational commerce. At present she is working on what promises to be a very important book on this topic, entitled From Dybbøl to the Øresund: Branding Denmark for a Global Market, in which she explores the phenomenon of historical and contemporary nation-branding in Denmark, a strategy which emphasizes the value of being quintessentially Danish. The prestige and resources that conferred upon Dr. Allen by naming her the Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies make a powerful difference in her ability to continue inspiring teaching and research in Danish studies here at UW-Madison. IMAGE: A map of Denmark showing Jutland, Fyn, and Sjaelland, as well as many smaller islands and waterways.
The Madsen professorship ensures that the study of Danish language, literature, history, and culture will remain a stable, well-supported field at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It allows me to introduce hundreds of undergraduate students each year to the delights of Hans Christian Andersen s fairy tales, Søren Kierkegaard s philosophy, Danish design, Danish immigration history, and many more topics. Julie Allen, Paul and Renate Madsen Professor of Scandinavian and Germanic Studies
Thank you! IMAGE: A coastal road in the small fishing village of Listed on the Danish island of Bornholm. Fishermen have used this harbor since at least 1379.
The College of Letters & Science provides the foundational teaching and research that form the heart of the University of Wisconsin-Madison s efforts to meet its mission of creating, integrating, transmitting and applying knowledge. College of Letters & Science 105 South Hall 1055 Bascom Mall Madison, WI 53706