MBA Global Trip: South Africa

As part of our Meet Our Current Students series, first-year real estate MBA student Andrew Toby reports on student real estate activities and life in general. Also, news stories such as this are available in our monthly newsletter, which you can sign up to receive via Constant Contact.

Each year, the Wisconsin School of Business provides students the opportunity to take an international business class that focuses on a specific country. In this class, the economy and business environment of the particular country are researched and discussed in anticipation of actually traveling to the country and visiting local businesses.

I, along with fellow Real Estate student Jay Jambor, joined 8 other WSoB students in one of this year’s International Business courses: South Africa. Each week in October and November we met for an hour and took turns educating each other on the pressing issues that the South African economy currently faces: post-apartheid racial segregation, unemployment, educational barriers and disparity, distribution of wealth, crime, AIDS epidemic and other healthcare issues, etc. These classes enabled us to having a better foundation of knowledge prior to visiting local companies and allowed us to ask more pertinent, focused questions during the presentations.

The trip to South Africa (“SA”) began in Johannesburg. During our 3 days in SA’s largest city, our company visits included Eskon (the dominant electricity provider for the country), Munich RE, the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Each organization began with a comprehensive overview of their operations as a preface to the most pertinent question: what are the challenges of doing business in SA? We found it very insightful to hear the opinions of the executives that we spoke with (which included both men and women of different ethnic backgrounds). In fact, most of these viewpoints on the pros and cons of their country’s economy were drastically different from one executive to the next. While opinions on certain issues remained consistent (the fact that near 40% unemployment is unhealthy and the AIDS presence is overwhelming are facts that are pretty easy to agree upon), other topics brought on entirely different perspectives.

This however, in reality, doesn’t come as a surprise. As time passed in Johannesburg, I became more and more acutely aware of how divided the population is. Joburg seemed to function as a relatively normal city would (with perhaps an even greater amount of expensive cars on the highways – another thing I discovered is that the South Africans opt to display their wealth in the form of a BMW or Audi). However, when traveling to the nearby town of Soweto to visit Nelson Mandella’s old home, we were amidst a sea of shanty towns, a level of poverty beyond anything I had seen. Our driver put it into perspective when he said this: “Take this man here [pointing to a black man sitting in the back of a pickup truck driving down the street]. I know nothing of this man’s life, his background. I have no idea what he does to operate in this country, to make a living for himself, but I can be almost certain that the way he operates in this country and the way that I operate are entirely different, even though we live in the same city. We speak different languages. We both exist here, but we exist separately”. A fact to consider here is that South Africa has 11 official languages, which doesn’t even include a plethora of local dialect differences. This, coupled with decades of legal racial segregation that just ended in 1994, create a divide that makes it no wonder why the population disagrees on political issues.

Johannesburg served as an extreme juxtaposition to our next destination within the country: Cape Town. In between cities, however, we made a quick weekend trip to a game reserve in Kruger Nation Park, or “The Bush” as it is known locally. I suppose a trip to Africa isn’t complete without seeing the “Big 5” - the elephant, leopard, lion, rhino, and buffalo. Our adventures out on the jeep provided us with up close interactions with all of these animals and many more.

With its stunning beaches, beautiful landscape, and expanding vineyards, Cape Town easily draws tourists from around the globe despite its remote location. Although too far for many to have a weekend getaway home, we found that many of the rich and famous of the world opt to buy a second home in the spectacular Clifton area of the city (pictured). I asked around to get an idea of what some of the prime pieces of real estate cost in that location, and was given the answer of about R30-R40 million (The “R” stands for Rand, the local currency which trades at about 8:1 with the US dollar currently). Still pretty pricey, but given the fact that the cost of living is far cheaper that in America, I can see how it is an appealing option for those who can afford it.

Our main company visit in Cape Town was Lomold, the largest plastic recycler in the country. While plastic recycling may not seem all that interesting, what sets this company apart is what they are doing with the recycled plastic. They’ve spent over a decade pumping their earnings into the research and development of a machine that will create complex long-fiber plastic palettes. The longer the fiber, the stronger the plastic, and according to the company founder, Lomold is the first company to be able to produce such a strong plastic in a complex form (that is, rather than just sheets of plastic or other basic molds). It will be interesting to continue to follow this company as it hits the global markets with its revolutionary product.

Further highlighting our stay in Cape Town was a boat trip out to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned for about 27 years. Similar to Alcatraz but on a larger scale, Robben Island imprisoned the individuals whom threatened or otherwise spoke out against the Apartheid government.

Adding in some leisure time for beach lounging, wine tasting, fine dining, and even a cage dive with great white sharks, the trip really rounded out to be an amazing experience both personally and professionally. A big shout out goes to our class advisor, Assistant Dean Blair Sanford, whose steadfast leadership kept us organized and was key in the trip’s success.

Andrew Toby is a first-year MBA student in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. A CPA from California, Andrew hopes to utilize both his accounting background and the knowledge gained in the MBA program to pursue a career in private equity investments in real estate.

Wisconsin full-time MBA ranks in top 25 in new survey

In case you missed this item last month from the Wisconsin MBA program, here is some good news from a new survey of U.S. MBA programs:

The Wisconsin School of Business placed 24th in Poets and Quants’ MBA rankings for 2011. Last year, the school held 30th place. This six-point gain was the most notable increase in the list's Top 25.

P&Q’s list is a composite of the rankings done by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, and U.S. News & World Report. These rankings, in turn, rely on surveys of recruiters, graduates, and deans - as well as other qualitative and quantitative data.

Poets and Quants is headed by John A. Byrne, former BusinessWeek.com editor-in-chief and creator of BusinessWeek’s rankings of business schools.

This is the first time the Wisconsin School of Business has placed among P&Q’s Top 25. Click here to see the Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs of 2011.

Click here to visit the Newsroom at the Wisconsin School of Business.

What's next for the economy?

The Graaskamp Center publishes a monthly newsletter on issues and events in the real estate industry and UW real estate community. The January 2012 issue includes this look at the year ahead by members of our faculty and executive Board of Advisors.


With 2012 upon us and a presidential election fast approaching, many of us are trying to make sense of economic news and data that alternately points to a potential stabilization and recovery or to a double-dip recession and a global debt crisis. What should the next administration do about to support economic growth? And how will the spill over from the debt crisis in Europe impact the U.S. economy now and in the future?

To get a better idea of what to expect, we asked a panel of Graaskamp Center board members and our own faculty experts to share their insights and wisdom on these important topics.

David Neithercut, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a Trustee of Equity Residential, assumed the CEO title on January 1, 2006 and has served as President since May of 2005. From January 2004 to May 2005 he served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, leading the company's Transactions, Portfolio Management, Development, Condominium and Research groups. From 1995 until August 2004, he served as Equity Residential's Chief Financial Officer. In this role he was responsible for all of the company's capital market activities and participated in debt and equity offerings as well as merger and acquisition activity with a combined value in excess of $10 billion. Mr. Neithercut is a member of the Board of Directors of General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP), a leading owner and operator of shopping malls.

Timothy Riddiough is the E.J. Plesko Chair of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics, Director of the Applied Real Estate Investment Track (AREIT), and Professor of Real Estate at the Wisconsin School of Business. He teaches courses in Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Capital Markets, and Microeconomics and is best known for his research on real options, mortgage pricing and strategy, and land use regulation. Professor Riddiough is best known for his work on credit risk in mortgage lending, mortgage securitization, real options, REIT investment and corporate finance, and land use regulation.

Michael Robb is Executive Vice President for the Real Estate Division of Pacific Life Insurance. He joined Pacific Life in 1976 and after holding a variety of executive positions with the company, Mr. Robb was elevated to his current position of Executive Vice President of Real Estate Investments in January of 1995. He is responsible for managing a real estate portfolio of commercial mortgage loans, commercial mortgage backed securities, unsecured REIT debt, equity real estate, and servicing portfolios of over $19 billion dollars.

David Shulman is Adjunct Professor and Advisor to the Applied Real Estate Investment Track (ARIET) for the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. He is also Managing Member of David Shulman, LLC. Shulman was formerly a REIT analyst and managing director at Lehman and was employed by Salomon Brothers, Inc. in various capacities. Professor Shulman has been widely quoted in the national media and coined the terms "Goldilocks Economy" and "New Paradigm Economy." In 1990, he won the first annual Graaskamp Award for Excellence in Real Estate Research from the Pension Real Estate Association.


Question: Since becoming President, Barack Obama and his administration have implemented many fiscal/economic programs and initiatives to jumpstart the U.S. economy. In your opinion, what were the actual results of these programs? Have they helped or hurt the economy?

Neithercut: I think that much of what took place at the onset of the financial crisis was necessary to avoid a total collapse of the global financial system. The government did what it needed to do to stop the problem. From that point forward, I think the government's programs have not harmed nor helped but have been totally ineffective and is a pretty clear example of the government impeding the market's ability to right itself.

Riddiough: At the macro level, results have been mixed at best. Let me focus on one of his particular initiatives, as it illustrates what I believe has been Obama's biggest problem with managing the economy. His whole approach to addressing the foreclosure crisis, although well intentioned, has been confusing and inconsistent. Worse, it has been ineffective and has created additional uncertainty in housing and banking markets. Ineffective and inconsistent policies have created additional uncertainty in an already very uncertain economy.

Robb: I have seen no result whatsoever. There is the Canadian shale fracking project "shovel ready" which would create thousands of jobs which he and the environmentalists won't approve. The housing fix or lack thereof is a joke and he still does nothing but blame the Republicans for the mess we are in.

Shulman: The initial stimulus marginally helped, but the whole notion of "timely, temporary and targeted," is very difficult to implement. Moreover too much of the spending represented the accumulated wish list of the House Democrats. Indeed the support for state and local government probably hurt because it delayed the ultimate restructuring that has to take place. The biggest failure is that "reform" is the enemy of economic growth in the short run. As a result the healthcare legislation likely slowed the economy along with all of the uncertainty associated with the energy bill that failed in the Senate.


Question: Given the current state of politics and the economy, what should Obama or the next administration do to improve and stabilize the economy? In other words, where do we go from here, and how do we avoid making the same mistakes in the future? Please outline three or four points that you feel are most pertinent to you as a real estate professional or to the real estate industry in general.

Neithercut: The answer to our problems can be found in economic growth. We can't tax our way out of it and we can't spend our way out of it. Growth is the answer and I think that growth has been hampered by uncertainty on tax policy, etc. Real estate needs growth to prosper--growth in jobs, growth in income and spending, etc. Economic growth is not evil but is the means by which all else is possible. We need to facilitate credit to small business and have a tax policy that is consistent and fairly applied.

Riddiough:This is a hard question to answer because there is a big difference between what should be done in theory and what will actually get done in the current political environment. Given that the U.S. economy does not slip back into another recession, I do not expect that Obama will be able to get much done until after the next election (should he be reelected). I anticipate that only the Fed will execute policy initiatives over the next year in an attempt to improve and stabilize the economy.

Robb: Approve the Canadian shale project. Spend money to retrain factory workers for 21st century job skills. Do away with ALL tax deductions, including mortgage interest , and only keep ones that actually create jobs and finally, go to a 3 or 4 simple tax rate structure, again with virtually no deductions and exempt from taxes anyone making less than $50,000, but force people off the welfare rolls by getting them the under $50,000 jobs. A lot to ask for but would stimulate both individuals and corporations.

Shulman: Policy is trapped because we probably live in world of "Ricardian Equivalence" which means that deficits today mean tax increases and/or program cuts in the future. A new administration should be supportive of domestic energy and the Keystone XL Pipeline should go forward. A real program would include a major infrastucture expansion that would waive or fast track environmental approval and waive the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act.


Question: Do you think the Europe and United States are headed toward a debt crisis? If so, how will this affect the real estate markets?

Neithercut: Is there anyone who doesn't think that Europe has a debt crisis?!? And we will have one soon if we are not awfully careful. To not learn from the mistakes in western Europe would be criminal. A debt crisis will inhibit growth and that will be very bad for the real estate markets.

Riddiough: There is already a debt crisis, and it has already shut down the CMBS market after that market had reemerged over a year ago. All very bad news. Be aware of the coming crisis in refinancing a mountain of commercial real estate mortgage debt coming due over the next five to six years.

Robb: They are not headed towards a debt crisis; they are IN ONE. Will only hurt real estate if rates go way up-right now, in this artificial low rate environment, it is actually helping commercial real estate.

Shulman: Europe is in a recession. The U.S. will escape its worst effects providing the Euro crisis does not morph into a banking crisis. Obviously a banking crisis would bring back memories of the Lehman crisis in 2008.


The Graaskamp Center's newsletter The Real Estate Connection is published monthly. You can subscribe (via Constant Contact) here.

Terence Wall Articulates the Entrepreneurial Mindset to the REC

This past Thursday, following the elections for new officers of the Wisconsin Real Estate Club, we were pleased to have Terence Wall as our distinguished speaker for the evening. Wall is a dedicated alum of the Wisconsin Real Estate program, and offers his time to mentor students and to share his insightful experiences as a self-starter in real estate. His company, T. Wall Properties, is an award-winning development firm based here in Madison that owns more than 2.4 million square feet of space and over 750 acres of land.

To start the evening, he gave us somewhat of a mock “pitch” presentation, similar to what we would see as potential equity investors. This included information about the due diligence performed on his recent project, the facts and specifications about the buildings and surrounding area, and his persuasive evidence as to why this development is sure to succeed.

Wall shared insider tips and tricks to his practice - the type of information that us Real Estate Club members really get to benefit from. This information ranged from his tactics of attracting new investors, retaining old investors, accumulating relevant data, and raising the proper amount of capital. He also shared cost saving techniques from a development standpoint, particularly relating to taxable income and the ability to take advantage of flexible depreciation standards.

When asked to share a one of his greatest learning experience, Wall reflected on his endeavor to develop property in Phoenix, AZ. This began as a favor for a friend that was looking to house his business, and turned into a very profitable investment. Wall proceeded with another opportunity in the area, and was again hugely successful in turning the property over in a very short period while doubling his money. When another opportunity came, he decided to press his luck as a result of pressure from the individuals surrounding him in his company, and reinvest in another large industrial property. “This was against my better judgment” he added, “but I went ahead and did it anyway.” As you might’ve guessed, the recession hit shortly after the investment, and the property sat unoccupied. It was eventually sold for pennies on the dollar. Wall reflected on his decision, and how a string of successful developments might cause one to deviate from their established strategy and push the envelope too far.

A key take away from the evening: “Go with your instincts”.

Mustache Season Has Ended

Seen an unusually low number of mustaches recently? That’s because Movember is over. If your memory needs to be jogged, then see Andrew Toby’s blog post from November.

A group of 20+ MBAs were able to collectively raise $2,590 to aid in the research for men’s health issues like prostate cancer. The Wisconsin MBA group competed in a group of 17 business schools from across the world to see who could raise the most money. Wisconsin ended up finishing in the middle of the pack at number nine in the earnings rankings. The London Business School dominated the competition by raising $32,574 (we here at Wisconsin like to think that some of those gains were resultant from a favorable exchange rate). Overall, teams raised a total of $119,176!

Generous donations were made from faculty, classmates, family, friends back home and even a few anonymous donors. The lady that cuts my hair even said she was going to donate, but she failed to come through. I finished with a paltry $30, but I know that every little bit helps, so I can’t let myself be too discouraged for my miserly family and friends back in Texas. The top fundraiser was from our Brand Management center and his contributions grew to $420 (which is more than can be said for how well his mustache grew). For worthy reasons such as interviews, and more ignoble reasons such as personal vanity, some MBAs were not able to stay the course for the full 30 days. The real estate guys started with six mustaches, but sadly ended with only four. Proudly I can say that my fellow-blogger Andrew Toby and I stayed the course.

I proudly wore my mustache back to Texas over the Thanksgiving break. Many laughed in my face, at my face. I thought it appropriate to wax my mustache, à la Rollie Fingers, per it reaching an envious length. However, on the flight back to Texas, I ended up explaining that this was not normally the way I looked to the couple on the plane next to me. I decided that I couldn’t handle the mustache was through the holidays, so I trimmed it down to the standard Tom Selleck-esque. In response to this new look, the TSA officer at the airport on the way back to Madison said, “Tom Selleck mustache…aviator sunglasses…that is not a safe look.” Despite that comment, he let me on the plane. Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to November next year. I think the real estate guys might have to be in charge of the campaign in 2012…that is so long as the Fed can give us a good exchange rate to work with, so that we can beat those guys at London Business School.

Jordan Denzer comes to Madison from Dallas, TX (it is often joked that he is one of the international students). Previously, Jordan managed corporate flexible spending accounts, but decided that he wanted to get into real estate development, which initiated the move to Madison. Currently, Jordan is interested in getting into historic redevelopment and/or mixed-use development projects.

MBA Team Project

In the first semester of the Wisconsin MBA, students across specializations are grouped and tasked with “creating” a new product for a publicly traded company. This is known as the “Integrated Company Analysis” project or “ICA” for short. ICA projects are worked on throughout the semester, and final presentations are made after final exams. Our grades from these projects constitute a percentage of our final grade for each of our four core classes.

The project begins with a list of the companies that were chosen for projects last year which aren’t allowed to be used again. This policy is so that you can’t get assistance from second year MBA students who previously reviewed that same company. Companies that are chosen for ICA projects are actually notified and invited to attend the presentations. On average, about three companies come each year to view the presentations. This is a unique opportunity, as it provides the company with a vision for a possibly unconsidered new product offering, and it allows the MBA Office to show off its students and build employment opportunities.

My team of five proposed to create an internet radio, much like Pandora, for Amazon. We thought that this would complement Amazon’s existing MP3 purchasing platform. In our concept, a shopper could browse through Amazon while listening to the radio functionality, exposing the shopper to new artists or popular hits, and then songs could be purchased via Amazon MP3. Unfortunately, no representatives from Amazon were available to come and view the presentation.

The members in our group represent the following specializations: Human Resources, Supply Chain, Brand Management, Corporate Finance, and of course, Real Estate. This project fell right into the wheel house of our Brand Management and Corporate Finance team members, but the rest of us had to recreate our areas of expertise. Our Supply Chain team member was a lawyer in his previous life, so he handled all of the legal elements regarding streaming a record company’s music for free over internet radio. The Human Resources team member and I were tasked with evaluating the competitors and the marketplace as a whole for internet radio. Initially this didn’t seem like too daunting of a task, but it is becoming apparent that I was mistaken. Primarily because the internet radio/streaming music industry is so new, we are having trouble finding any applicable resources. We are working with librarians in the business library to help us with research in industry specific publications. This is a critical piece of information so that we can make projections on revenues that could be gained from advertising.

We have another week until our slide deck for our ICA projects are due, just a few days after we finish exams. Then we’ll meet with a business communications specialist and go over our presentation. Finally we’ll do our final presentations that following week.

The semester is definitely going to end with a bang. I’ve gained extraordinary experience from it, but I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to a little R & R over the Christmas break.

Jordan Denzer comes to Madison from Dallas, TX (it is often joked that he is one of the international students). Previously, Jordan managed corporate flexible spending accounts, but decided that he wanted to get into real estate development, which initiated the move to Madison. Currently, Jordan is interested in getting into historic redevelopment and/or mixed-use development projects.

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Roses and Badgers are red!

What a weekend for Badger fans! With Saturday night's win against Michigan State, Wisconsin is the Big Ten champion and headed back to the Rose Bowl. This is the second-straight trip to Pasadena where the Badgers will face off against Oregon on January 2nd.

Fans had to act quickly for tickets; the university said today that its allotment sold out as of 9:00 this morning.

For more details of the game and information on the Rose Bowl trip, visit uwbadgers.com.

Photo by Aaron Stroot via Flickr

Real estate alum Jake Wood, co-founder of Team Rubicon, to speak at Dec. 18 Commencement

MADISON - Jake Wood, president of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit veterans' service organization that he co-founded following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, will speak at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's 2011 mid-year commencement.

Commencement ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Kohl Center, 601 W. Dayton St. No tickets are required for admission and the ceremonies are open to the public.

Wood's organization provides military veterans with purpose, community and self worth through volunteer service, and gives them the opportunity to use their skills in disaster zones.

The organization aided tornado victims in Joplin, Mo. in May. Team Rubicon plans to begin operating out of 10 U.S. geographic regions in 2012, each carved out according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's regional model.

Wood, a UW-Madison graduate, served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2007, he was deployed to Iraq's Anbar Province and in 2008 to Afghanistan's Helmand Valley. He is a leading advocate for veterans and speaks around the country about issues they face on their return home. He also serves on several veteran-focused committees at the national level.

Wood received his bachelor of business administration degree in 2005 with a double major in real estate and urban land economics, and political science. He was an offensive lineman on the Badger football team from 2001-04. Last year, he was honored with a "Forward Under 40" award from the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

This year Wood received GQ Magazine's "Better Men, Better World" award, and the Big Ten Conference honored him with its "Live Big" award for his work with Team Rubicon.
- Liz Beyler, (608) 263-1986, lbkraak@wisc.edu

UW-Madison delegation finds optimism and opportunities in Asia

“Cautious optimism” is the economic outlook from Asia, according to a survey conducted at MIPIM Asia last week by the Wisconsin School of Business in cooperation with HKUST Business School.

“The strong sense of optimism that we’ve seen in the last two years in Asia has been justified,” says François Ortalo-Magné, Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, who presented the survey findings at the annual real estate and investment conference in Hong Kong, which is attended by 1,800 senior real estate executives, retailers, government officials and city administrators from 41 countries. This is the third annual investor survey led by Ortalo-Magné at this conference.

An obvious reflection of this optimism is the fact that more than half of the participants surveyed at the conference reported improved or at least the same level of business activity in the current quarter compared to the same quarter last year.

“China is the unavoidable market because of the scale and the performance of the economy,” says Ortalo-Magné.

Ortalo-Magné’s visit is part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s broader efforts at deepening relationships with government, business and education leaders in China. He accompanied Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies and vice provost for globalization, and Laurie Dennis, associate director of the Wisconsin China Initiative (WCI), to meetings in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

“The sense that I get each time I visit Asia is that the center of gravity in the world is moving here,” says Ortalo-Magné. Last November, he accompanied former UW–Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and her delegation on a trip to Asia intended to strengthen academic relationships in the region and promote collaborative economic development.

Bousquet adds, “We are seeking to create a unique UW presence that is consistent with the Wisconsin Idea and highlights the strengths of our world-class university, matched to the needs in China.”

UW–Madison already has a variety of connections with many of the top Chinese universities, including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

HKUST Business School is among three of the world’s leading business schools (along with HEC Paris and INCAE-Costa Rica) in a ground-breaking partnership with the Wisconsin School of Business to offer the Global Real Estate Master (GREM) degree program. Joe Walsh, director of the program, joined Ortalo-Magné for part of his Asia trip.

“There is strong demand for high-level education in real estate in Asia,” says Walsh.

Ortalo-Magné and Walsh are working to expand the GREM program, which combines graduate-level instruction in economics, finance, and business administration at one of the partner schools with training in the principles of international real estate during a capstone semester at Wisconsin. They met with university officials, local real estate industry leaders and prospective students.

While in Hong Kong, Ortalo-Magné also addressed the American Chamber of Commerce and met officials with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a prominent worldwide organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues. Wisconsin’s BBA and MBA real estate degree programs have been accredited by RICS.

“When I hear this time referred to as the ‘Decade of the Pacific,’ it reinforces to me how much smaller our world is getting and in turn how important it is to have a global awareness in all we do,” says Ortalo-Magné.

-- by Kris Hammargren

Graaskamp Center Thanksgiving holiday hours

The Graaskamp Center will be closed Thursday and Friday November 24-25 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Grainger Hall will be closing at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 23 and will be closed on Thursday, November 24 and the weekend following, November 26-27. Grainger will be open on Friday, November 25 from 7:00 am- 5:00 pm.

Have a good holiday everyone! You can also join the conversation on Twitter:

@UWMadison It's #Thanksgiving week: Before you leave town, tell us what you're thankful for on campus! #thanksuw