Editor’s Eye

February 23, 2024

Collage of images featuring David Plunkert smiling, a green grassy field, a seascape, and a grid of animals and plants, including a bear, a goose, a bee and a tree.

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.


Captain Fantastic

The late Jerry Thornton was a great ballplayer and a real family man.


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

Illustration of a person's head with the top removed, exposing a metal foundation like that of a large building.

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.


March 11, 2020

Key ingredients

Meet our art director and staff photographer.


December 9, 2019

Power of pictures

Our new-look magazine is a showcase for visual storytelling.


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.


December 1, 2018

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

Gizmos

The innovations that come out of the UW are nothing short of mind-boggling.


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

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

A love affair with libraries

Last year, the UW Libraries were visited 6 million times in person.


June 7, 2017

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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.


December 1, 2012

Family matters

It’s holiday time, and that always brings back memories.


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.


June 1, 2012

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

Rooting interests

The London Summer Olympics are another reason to celebrate the UW.


March 1, 2012

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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

Jon Marmor, Columns Magazine

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.


December 1, 1998

Artist’s eye

Art Wolfe's artistry is so powerful, it even captures the attention of a 4-year-old or a 15-year-old.


June 1, 1998

Past, present, future

Somehow, despite budget cuts, student riots, two world wars, the Great Depression and the Internet, this magazine has survived for 90 years.


March 1, 1998

Heated reactions

I expected some reaction from our readers. I was not prepared for an onslaught of letters, faxes, e-mails, phone calls and even personal visits as a result of running a piece on the firing of three UW professors during the Red Scare.