This article was originally reported in September 2025. Later developments, including the creation of a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, are in the latest update at the end.
On September 26, 2025, the University of Wisconsin–Madison held a ribbon-cutting for Morgridge Hall, a 343,000-square-foot building at 1205 University Ave. that for the first time brings the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) together under one roof. Its units had previously been spread across three addresses. The building had already been in use for about a month; its first day of classes was September 3, 2025 (UW–Madison News, September 26, 2025).
A privately funded building
Morgridge Hall was built entirely with donor funds. The lead donors were John and Tashia Morgridge, both members of UW’s Class of 1955; John Morgridge is a former chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems. Their commitment of $140 million, including a $50 million challenge grant meant to draw matching gifts, led to the building being named for them in April 2024, when the cost was put at $260 million (UW–Madison News, April 11, 2024). The university now puts the total investment at $267 million, describing it as the largest privately funded building in UW’s history (CAI, Morgridge Hall).
Hundreds of people attended the ceremony, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who said, “This new building provides a high-quality learning space for Wisconsin’s future workforce.” Tashia Morgridge described the building’s large, undulating central staircase as a “sign to climb”: “By the time you get all the way up there, just think who you’ll be.”
What the building means for students
- One home for computing, data and information: CDIS combined the Department of Computer Sciences, the Department of Statistics and the Information School. Before this year, said CDIS director and computer sciences professor Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, many computer science graduates may never have taken a class in the old Computer Sciences Building. “We fill this building with thousands of students every hour, coming through here learning,” he said.
- Space for fast-growing majors: computer science majors at UW–Madison grew from 1,043 in 2015 to more than 3,000 in fall 2025; the data science major, launched in 2019, enrolled more than 1,700 students that fall, and the information science major, launched in 2022, about 500 (UW–Madison News, December 2025).
- Facilities: modern classrooms, research space, a central atrium with plants climbing the walls, the Rebecca M. Blank Student Commons, the Gross Learning Center and a ground-floor café.
For international students considering computing at UW–Madison
- Rankings: UW–Madison ranks No. 34 in Forward Pathway’s 2027 U.S. News national university rankings. Its undergraduate computer science program ranks No. 22 in the 2027 U.S. News list (computer systems No. 9, programming languages No. 10), and its graduate computer science program ranks No. 15 in the 2026 list.
- International community: IPEDS data for fall 2025 show 7,955 international students among 51,044 total, including 4,101 undergraduates and 3,854 graduate students.
- Work authorization: computer science, data science and statistics are STEM fields, which generally lets F-1 graduates apply for the 24-month STEM OPT extension after regular OPT; confirm your program’s CIP code with UW–Madison’s International Student Services.
Admission statistics, costs and the full ranking history are on UW–Madison’s school profile.
Latest update
- A new college: on December 4, 2025, the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved UW–Madison’s proposal to turn CDIS, then part of the College of Letters & Science, into a separate College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), the university’s first new academic division since 1983. It covers the same three units (Computer Sciences, the Information School and Statistics), with operations expected to begin July 1, 2026 (UW–Madison News, December 2025). The former CDIS website now redirects to the new college at cai.wisc.edu.
- Recognition for the building: in October 2026, Morgridge Hall received LEED Platinum certification, which the college calls the greenest academic building on campus, and a 2026 AIA Wisconsin Merit Award for design (CAI, Morgridge Hall).
References
- UW–Madison News: “A sign to climb”: Celebrating the opening of UW’s Morgridge Hall (September 26, 2025)
- UW–Madison News: UW–Madison to name new Computer, Data & Information Sciences building for John and Tashia Morgridge
- UW–Madison News: UW Board of Regents approves UW–Madison proposal to create College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (December 2025)
- UW–Madison College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence: Morgridge Hall
- Forward Pathway: University of Wisconsin-Madison profile and rankings