While many Cornell students, faculty and staff have offered both praise for Provost Biddy Martin as she prepares to assume the position of University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor in September and lamentation in the wake of her absence at Cornell, the chancellor-elect has become the brunt of harsh criticism amidst a highly publicized battle between members of Wisconsin’s state legislature.

On May 30, the National Review Online ran a blog post questioning if Martin — who the author described as an “obscure, self-indulged, theory-laden, post-modern scholar” — has what it takes to be chancellor of UW-Madison.

The “Dick Cheney” of Cornell University has just left the building,

The University’s Chief Academic Officer, Provost Biddy Martin, has been selected to lead the University of Wisconsin-Madison as Chancellor.

While she’ll be missed, you had to be living under a rock if you didn’t see Martin’s departure approaching. Typically, the Provost position at an institution such as Cornell is a stepping-stone for a presidency or chancellorship at another university (or our own). And an all-star like Biddy was destined to take over at another school.

Cornell Provosts have left Ithaca to assume the presidencies at the Universities of Chicago, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, in addition to Emory University and Clarkson University.

Following yesterday’s announcement that University Provost Carolyn “Biddy” Martin has accepted the position of University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor, the University is in the most preliminary stages of searching for Martin’s successor. Martin will continue to serve as provost during the summer.