We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the UW Aquatic Sciences Center’s new assistant director for operations.
She’s been working here for the last 15 years.
Terri Liebmann, who was recently named to this newly created position, had served as the center’s program assistant supervisor since 2003. In her new role, she’ll be responsible for oversight of all of the center’s financial activities, grant management and reporting, as well as day-to-day office and information technology operations.
Her appointment is the first step in an ongoing reorganization of administrative structure being implemented by Center Director Jim Hurley, a shift that will see the hiring of new assistant directors of research and extension before year’s end.
“Terri’s been involved in just about all things administrative at the Aquatic Sciences Center over the last decade, and I’ve been especially appreciative of the excellent work she’s done during my first two years as director” said Hurley. “I’m really pleased she’ll be taking on this critical leadership role and I’m confident she’ll do a great job with the many diverse challenges that lie ahead.”
Liebmann joined UW Sea Grant in 1999 as a financial specialist, fresh off a frantic stint with UW-Madison’s transportation department, were she helped to schedule and oversee special events parking surrounding the construction and opening of the Kohl Center, an athletics venue also used for large lectures and other functions.
An aquatic sciences environment proved a perfect match for a woman whose family spent more than its share of time recreating on and near the Great Lakes.
“It’s the water,” Liebmann said of what first drew her to Sea Grant and the Water Resources Institute. “I grew up with a dad who was a diver—he spent lots of time diving near Point Beach on Lake Michigan. My siblings and I were the rug rats playing around on the barge.”
When she began, Liebmann worked under Dan Marklein, who recently retired as a finance and grants administrator. Marklein served as a mentor to Liebmann, and inspired her to return to school to earn a degree. Liebmann adopted that advice and earned a B.S. in management in 2011.
When she’s not working, Liebmann and her husband, Tim, tend and enjoy a 53-acre property in Blue Mounds, Wis., a tract of land that features a sizable stream and pond. One of the Liebmanns’ oak trees was actually part of an ongoing Water Resources Institute study that is using ancient tree rings to measure the effects of changing climate on the environment.
Liebmann said she was happy to be able to aid the center’s research mission in a direct way, and is looking forward to the challenges and promise of her new position.
“I appreciate my talented co-workers and Jim’s leadership,” Liebmann said. “I am pleased to be able to contribute through this new role to our longstanding mission—fostering understanding and stewardship of all of Wisconsin’s water assets.”
