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Rebecca Blank, who was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison for nine years, died of cancer Friday. She was 67.

In July, Blank announced her diagnosis, on what would have been the first day of her presidency at Northwestern University. She had learned of her cancer a week before.

Under her leadership, the Madison campus created new programs, most notably, Bucky’s Tuition Promise, to further open the doors of the university to lower-income students across the state. She also led increases in undergraduate enrollment, made strides expanding campus diversity and helped reduce the average time it takes students to graduate from the state’s flagship campus. She helped raise more than $4 billion.