He backed the multimillion-dollar BioStar initiative that led to the construction of key research and instructional buildings on the UW-Madison campus.

He supported faculty hiring initiatives that attracted professors who brought in many times their salary weight in research contracts.

While not a scientist, he understood the importance of biotechnology to modern medicine and the rise of genetic research during the race to map the human genome.

Perhaps most controversial at the time, Thompson supported human embryonic stem cell research in its earliest days on the UW-Madison campus.

He carried that support into the Bush administration and helped shape federal rules that remain largely in place today, even if the science itself has evolved to include mostly reverse engineered stem cells versus embryonic.

He steps into the interim presidents job with a changed R&D landscape from when he last dealt with the UW System as governor.

The UW-Madison remains one of the nations leading research institutions, with nearly $1.21 billion in annual expenditures for research across all fields, about half of which come from federal awards.

According to National Science Foundation figures released in late 2019, UW-Madisons federal research spending grew by 1.3 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

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Tom Still: Will Tommy boost UW research? - La Crosse Tribune