Editor’s Eye
March 11, 2025
Facing down COVID-19
The UW's contributions to testing, vaccinations and research have been groundbreaking over the past five years.
September 11, 2024
Learning from disaster
Along with Oregon State, Virginia Tech and the University of Florida, researchers from the UW are studying natural disaster data to better respond to these hazards.
May 31, 2024
Homing in on smart solutions
Student housing is—and always has been—a hot topic for UW students and leaders. Smart solutions are in the works.
February 23, 2024
The nature of nature
It’s no surprise that the federal government turned to the UW to head up an assessment of America's lands, waters and wildlife.
November 24, 2023
Rousing research
UW leaders thought having students do research would prepare them to take on the future. It became a national model.
September 2, 2023
Better building blocks
Founders Hall is the only University building fully constructed of mass timber, which has the promise of reducing the costs of construction while increasing a building’s sustainability.
May 28, 2023
A gleaming partnership
The UW School of Dentistry partnered with Shoreline Community College to increase the number of dental hygienists.
February 25, 2023
Reaching rural communities
The School of Dentistry gets amazing results from a program bringing health care to rural areas.
February 13, 2023
Hall of famer
It took 36 years, but Don Coryell, the former Husky defensive back-turned-offensive genius in the NFL, gets the glory he long deserved.
January 27, 2023
Fond farewell to Fennema
Former New York Giants player Carl Fennema attended Husky football games for decades; his love for his alma mater never flagged despite age and injury.
November 27, 2022
Driving innovation
The UW team earned the EcoCAR Collaboration Award at last spring's Mobility Challenge.
September 11, 2022
Huskies in our hearts
On a tragic anniversary in UW history, editor Jon Marmor pays tribute to the 17 Huskies who lost their lives on 9/11 and 9/12.
September 8, 2022
Farewell, Queen Elizabeth
Nearly 40 years ago, when Jon Marmor was a newspaper editor, he met the queen during an assignment in the Bahamas. No kidding.
September 3, 2022
Equity in education
For the past 2½ years, nothing was turned more upside down by the pandemic than education.
May 29, 2022
Commencement countdown
The UW’s newest class of alumni will have their day. And so will those from the two years prior.
March 5, 2022
Power of innovation
A new UW facility will bring together scientists, engineers and students to develop clean-energy solutions for a healthy planet and a sustainable future.
December 4, 2021
All in alignment
The impact of the University of Washington was never more clearly on display than when the Legislature turned to it to tackle the state’s mental health crisis.
September 11, 2021
The you district
When the University of Washington community makes its jubilant return, we are returning to a U District that has been forever changed.
June 14, 2021
Fond farewells
As we celebrate 12,000 new University of Washington graduates, we also have the special opportunity to honor three academic leaders who are retiring.
March 11, 2021
Is normal near?
A year after COVID-19 arrived, there are promising signs that we’ll be back on campus soon.
December 9, 2020
He taught us how to care
The impact of Bill Gates Sr. will continue to be felt throughout Western Washington, and that is a tribute to his ambition to make this a better world.
September 16, 2020
The power of community
With the world turned upside-down, the bond between the University of Washington and its community has never been stronger.
June 24, 2020
Stories of resilience
In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, our June 2020 issue tells stories of hope and resilience that are at the core of our UW community.
September 6, 2019
The agony of September 12
Our editor reflects on the lives lost on 9/12/2001, the day a sightseeing plane full of Husky football fans crashed in Mexico.
August 21, 2019
25 years of Columns
As our publication evolves into University of Washington Magazine, our editor looks back on a quarter century with Columns.
June 3, 2019
Change is afoot
The name Columns will soon be retired and the magazine's look will be completely refreshed.
March 7, 2019
Editor’s Eye: Unease
I fear that part of the University is in peril—the humanities, arts, social sciences, museums, libraries.
October 3, 2018
Editor’s Eye: Moonshot
More than 8,000 first year and transfer students starting at the University this fall. How in the world will they decide what to do?
June 6, 2018
The story of Thomas Peter Lantos
Lantos, the first and only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, was perhaps the unlikeliest UW graduate of them all.
March 7, 2018
A Rather uplifting experience
Our editor reflects on meeting one of his journalism heroes, Dan Rather, during the legendary newsman's visit to the UW.
December 14, 2017
Farewell to the Boeing 747
The Boeing 747, once the Queen of the Skies, is a winged monument to the University of Washington.
September 14, 2017
A love affair with libraries
Last year, the UW Libraries were visited 6 million times in person.
June 7, 2017
Zigzagging to the stage
For nontraditional students, commencement comes with a feisty pride.
September 1, 2016
Nourish
In a world gone mad with terrorist attacks, mass shootings, racial profiling, police assassinations and baffling presidential election rhetoric, thank goodness there’s an oasis of sanity in the University District that will renew your faith in humankind. At least it does for me.
June 1, 2016
Editor's Eye: Quandary
When quitting school was the easiest path, it wasn't the right one.
March 1, 2016
Editot's Eye: Grateful
Each name on the UW's World War II memorial tells a story of sacrifice.
December 1, 2015
Editor's Eye: Montlake memories
The parking lot known as E-1 holds a lot of memories in its pavement.
September 1, 2015
A new U-District
This is not a fuddy-duddy column about how great the old days were in the U District. It’s just that with every passing week, the area becomes a bit more unrecognizable.
June 1, 2015
Editor's Eye: Aha
The best teachers get under our skin, in a good way. They get us up in the morning when we would rather linger in bed after a late night because who would want to miss that infectious enthusiasm? Our favorite teachers make us think and grow and smile. And they push us.
March 1, 2015
Editor's Eye: Jim
I first met Jim Long five years ago after he'd celebrated his birthday—his 100th. He wanted to touch base with the person who holds the same job he once held. Ever since that day, Jim became a mentor to me.
December 1, 2014
125 years together
November saw two major milestones—the 125th anniversary of Washington’s statehood for Washington (with a celebration in Olympia run by one of our alums, Gov. Jay Inslee, ’73), as well as the 125th birthday for the UW Alumni Association. Coincidence?
September 1, 2014
Editor's Eye: Quake
A lot of Husky fans feel something new is in the air, something we haven’t really felt in a long time: hope.
June 1, 2014
Editor's Eye: Commencing
You have to be bold to be an innovator. You have to have confidence. You have to take a chance. And who better to face that head-on than the thousands of students who will be marching into Husky Stadium on June 14 for Commencement.
March 1, 2014
Editor's Eye: Conviction
One hundred twenty-five years ago, the stuff of history books and museum displays happened: Washington was admitted to the union as the 42nd state and the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed most of downtown. That was also the year the UW Alumni Association was formed.
December 1, 2013
Editor's Eye: Reimagining
It should come as no surprise that a 2009 CHID graduate makes up half of one of the hottest names in hip-hop music today: the local tandem of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
September 1, 2013
Homecoming
In a few short days, we get to come home to our spiffed up Husky Stadium, and boy, will that feel amazing.
June 1, 2013
Positive power
For me, positive thinking happens more in June than just about any other time of year. That’s because we get to honor our new graduates and recognize those people who make the UW what it is today: a shining star of a public university that serves our citizens in so many ways it’s hard to count.
March 1, 2013
Everyday Huskies
What amazes me is how many times a day my life is made better by what I call Everyday Huskies.
September 1, 2012
Making change
By educating our state's citizens, searching for solutions to overcome the vexing problems of our time, and creating art and culture that uplifts and challenges us, the University of Washington serves us in many ways.
March 1, 2012
Magic in our midst
The University of Washington is a place that nourishes us with its stunning, gorgeous physical space as well as the mind-expanding challenges we get in the classroom.
December 1, 2011
Purple, gold and green
In August, the Sierra Club named the UW as the nation’s most environmentally friendly university in its ranking of the nation’s “Cool Schools.”
June 1, 2011
Editor's Eye: Celebration
Michael Young’s selection as president-designate of the University of Washington (he starts July 1) turned a glum spring into one of celebration.
March 1, 2011
Husky pride
One of the most disappointing aspects of the terrible state budget cuts isn’t just that the University of Washington will take a big hit. It’s how easily the state Legislature aimed its budget-cutting ax at the University.
December 1, 2010
Under the radar
A question we hear a lot at the University of Washington is: What does the state get in return for its investment in the UW? The answer: more than you know.
September 1, 2010
Learning without end
When you hear questions posed by people outside our campus about the UW, you realize just what an impact this institution has. It fuels the economy, helps us get jobs, provides health care.
June 1, 2010
UW endures
The President is leaving, the state government doled out yet another discouraging budget cut, and there’s a bit of uncertainty in the air at the University of Washington. But the truth is, that’s only part of the story.
March 1, 2010
Ingenuity reigns
The UW I find myself returning to is innovative, entrepreneurial, alive. I am lucky to be here, helping tell its stories.
December 1, 2009
Editor's Eye: Everyday heroes
Devotion to making this world a better place seems to be in the DNA of alumni, staff and faculty at the UW.
September 1, 2009
Words touch our hearts
One of the things I particularly admire about a place as big and complex as the University of Washington is how it can touch us on an intimate manner: through the written word.
June 1, 2009
Genius abounds
Working at the UW, particularly, it's easy to forget how much of the day one spends surrounded by geniuses.
March 1, 2009
Just call her a scholar
Ellen Dissanayake is working in a field she invented: evolutionary aesthetics, the study of art-making as an innate human behavior that helps us survive.
December 1, 2008
Bold moves
A pair of stories are a humbling reminder of just how much people will sacrifice for freedom, whether from an oppressive government or an intolerant culture.
September 1, 2008
Ramona's world and ours
Small wonder we use the same word to describe generosity that we use to describe Beverly Cleary’s imagination: It’s a gift.
June 1, 2008
‘Legend’ has it
With this issue, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the UW's alumni magazine by celebrating the living legends among us.
March 1, 2008
Part of the story
Luis Sinco doesn’t hold back, whether it’s getting the best picture possible in the middle of a war zone or telling the story of how post-traumatic stress disorder has crushed the life of a 23-year-old former Marine.
December 1, 2007
One for the Rhodes
DeLaine Emmert, wife of President Mark A. Emmert, '75, asked a simple question: How many Rhodes Scholars does the UW have? No one knew the answer.
September 1, 2007
$1 billion for research
Word came in August that the University of Washington finally had hit an elusive target—last fiscal year, more than one billion dollars in research funding poured into the University.
June 1, 2007
Call and response
While the University of Washington is a leader in researching this and other aspects of carbon emissions, it is doing more than just studying this problem.
March 1, 2007
Senseless losses
To dwell on anger would be to deny the legacies of Mary Cooper and Pamela Waechter, who had devoted their lives to community service and to education.
June 1, 2006
Starting over
Education is not a manufacturing process. It can seem messy and wasteful, but it also transforms lives. The system forgives false starts and changes in direction.
March 1, 2006
Long memory
"I don't think the majority of Americans are aware of the internment camps," Ruth Purkaple says. "Some have learned about it in school, but it's still pretty unknown."
December 1, 2005
Detective story
The assignment was straightforward, but it felt like mission impossible: Find out what happened to more than 400 students forced to leave the University of Washington when the federal government incarcerated Japanese Americans in 1942.
September 1, 2005
Trophies pile up
We call our awards section “Milestones,” but there is always a problem with that page, even though readers don’t know it. There isn’t enough room to list all the awards—or even to give many details on the achievements listed.
June 1, 2005
Magic carpet
When Meany Hall opened its doors in 1996, there was plenty of drama in the lobby as well as on stage. The carpet was extraordinarily beautiful.
March 1, 2005
Making waves
On Dec. 21, UW Bioengineering Professor Henry Lai could be found with a big smile across his face. Research into cell phone radiation that he and N.P. Singh had pioneered 10 years ago at the UW was finally being corroborated.
June 1, 2004
High gear
Three decades after he said good-bye to his Sprite, Mark Emmert will be taking the wheel of a huge educational enterprise that has hit some potholes recently in its sports program and academic medical center.
March 1, 2004
One student at a time
With luck and perseverance, I was able to interview 11 of the living UW Rhodes Scholars.
December 1, 2003
Paul Allen's gift
Paul Allen saw the potential for computers when most of us didn't.
September 1, 2003
Rocky marriage
The alumni were angry. They had had enough of the rampant commercialism of intercollegiate athletics—especially the salary of the football coach. The time was almost a century ago.
June 1, 2003
Gift and grumbling
When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it was giving a record $70 million to the University of Washington to further genetic research, everyone on the campus was ecstatic. But on the second floor of Gerberding Hall there was one senior official who felt that his job just got a little harder.
March 1, 2003
Too many losses
For Columns over the past 18 months, there has been a disturbing trend when obituaries needed to be moved into the news or feature sections of the magazine.
December 1, 2002
Golden oldies
For the past three months, Associate Editor Jon Marmor and I have been trying to put together our own selection of greatest hits—101 achievements by UW faculty, alumni, staff, students and even the institution itself.
September 1, 2002
Why it's named Suzzallo
Henry Suzzallo felt that a campus of beauty would enhance the intellectual and moral growth of his students.
June 1, 2002
A gift of hope
I hate everything about pancreatic cancer, but what I hate the most is its lack of hope. It is a death sentence with no prospect of a pardon. But that may be changing.
March 1, 2002
Inspiring sights
Asked if they had ever been inspired by a campus view or the quality of a campus space, 96.5 percent of the faculty answered “Yes.”
December 1, 2001
Ribbon of hope
After tragedies, Columns traces the impact on the University of Washington.
September 1, 2001
Bragging rights
With four Nobel Prize winners on our faculty, the No. 1 ranking among public universities receiving federal research dollars, and one of the top 15 undergraduate programs among public universities, there is a lot to be proud of.
June 1, 2001
'Earthquake Guy'
Bill Steele's official title is coordinator of the UW’s Seismology Laboratory, but you’d know him as the “Earthquake Guy.”
March 1, 2001
Space force
Throughout the history of the space program, our alumni have pushed back the boundaries of the final frontier.
June 1, 2000
Here to stay
How certain is Richard McCormick that he is here for the long haul? "You can schedule the interview for my 10th anniversary right now as far as I'm concerned."
March 1, 2000
Bittersweet taste
Tom Stockley, '58, and his wife, Margaret "Peggy" Hodges Stockley, '59, died in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.
December 1, 1999
Down to 100
When it came to putting together our last issue of the century, it seemed fitting to run a list of 100 famous, influential or fascinating people.
September 1, 1999
Truth is finally told
As an editor constantly trying to judge the interests of his audience, my bet is that Columns readers will want to learn about Tom Lantos.
March 1, 1999
Trees show their age
While the aging trees in the Quad will put on a majestic display, the blossoms can't hide the fact that they won't be around much longer.