The next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison will be Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin, university officials announced today.

Ms. Martin, 57, provost at Cornell University since 2000, earned her doctorate in German literature at Madison in 1985. She will succeed John D. Wiley in September, pending her approval by the university’s Board of Regents this month.

With a $2.2-billion annual operating budget, the Madison campus is ranked among the top five public universities in research capacity. It faces recent challenges, however, most notably in lagging faculty salaries. The Chronicle reported last month that many faculty members have been hired away from Madison by private and even other public universities.

In a written statement, Ms. Martin promised to develop a plan to keep the university competitive in hiring and retaining professors.

“Faculty salaries will be a very high priority for me,” she said. “All institutions are going to face much stronger competition for their best scholars and scientists. It’s critical to get ourselves in a position where faculty are appropriately rewarded and supported to meet this problem head-on and from a position of strength.” —Paul Fain