Alumni
April 5, 2018
Jamming through Japan
Jazz drummer Adam "Von" Baron, '97, is headed to Japan to tour his latest albums.
March 14, 2018
Our man in Turkmenistan
We talk with Ambassador Allan P. Mustard, ’78, America's top diplomat in Turkmenistan.
March 13, 2018
92 years of purple and gold
Pat Miller Evans, ’51, came from a family with strong Seattle and UW roots. Evans, who died on July 4, 2017 at age 88, lived until May in her Lake Forest Park home. She attended Roosevelt High School where she served as Girls’ Club President and won the Outstanding Senior Woman’s Award. Evans went on...
March 6, 2018
Cyber safe
Stefan Savage, ’02, earned a MacArthur "genius" grant for his work on cyber security.
March 3, 2018
Perfectly Claire
Best-selling feminist author Claire Dederer, ’93, on growing up grunge, creating a literary canon for the Northwest, and bad men who create great art.
OMA&D at 50: The people behind the movement
Student activism in 1968 led the UW to create one of the nation’s first office of minority affairs. Here’s their story. And their outlook for the future.
February 26, 2018
Nurturing higher education
Under the leadership of David Mitchell, Bremerton's Olympic College grew into one of America's best two-year institutions.
February 14, 2018
A story in every bottle
Jackson Rohrbaugh, ’09, is the newly minted master sommelier at Canlis, one of Seattle's premier fine-dining spots.
January 11, 2018
Woman in blue
After 30 years with the Seattle Police Department, Noreen Skagen, ’52, became the first woman U.S. Marshal of Western Washington.
January 9, 2018
The lunch guy
Fueled by an appetite for social justice, Jeffrey Lew, ’06, set out to end the stigma of school lunch debt.
December 15, 2017
Community conscience
Life lessons from newspaper publisher Assunta Ng, ’74, ’76, ’79.
December 14, 2017
No more number 16
The best volleyball player in UW history, Krista Vansant, '15, had her jersey retired.
December 7, 2017
A bike with a boost
A UW-trained engineer quit his job to shake up the burgeoning world of electric bikes.
New Northwest
The first Northwest history textbook written since 1989 isn't a boring list of facts—it's a compilation of riveting, high-stakes stories.
November 30, 2017
Thinking positive
An undiagnosed traumatic brain injury rocked her life. By thinking positive, Shanda Taylor Boyd, '94, took back control.
September 27, 2017
Family fare
Screenwriter Temple Mathews teams up with his daughter to produce a romantic comedy for all ages.
September 20, 2017
Five generations of Huskies
A 1962 grad reflects on her family's history at the UW.
September 13, 2017
Humanities anyone?
Society’s focus on STEM careers has contributed to a precipitous drop in liberal arts majors. It could be a problem.
September 12, 2017
Give Me 5: Staying on the track
Five questions with Anita Campbell, the former Husky running star who came back to UW to coach.
Scions of Spokane
Ted and Jeremy McGregor operate one of the best alternative weekly papers in the nation.
September 7, 2017
Birdman
“We’re in the ideal spot for owls,” says Paul Bannick, a wildlife photographer who climbs trees and hikes tundra to capture images of the nocturnal predator.
August 18, 2017
Audobon honors
Heather Roskelley, ’83, made a magical image of a notoriously elusive bird.
Bill Hardwick (1944–2017)
The ’67 grad "put his heart and soul" into carrying on his family's legacy in the U District.
'We came here to contribute'
As an undocumented immigrant, he dreaded going to the dentist. Now he goes the extra mile to put his patients at ease.
July 26, 2017
Romance under wraps
Theodore R. Anderson Jr. (1937-2017) met his wife when they both were applying for positions at Ski Patrol.
June 15, 2017
A champion for higher ed
Rep. Helen Sommers protected funding and expanded opportunities.
June 13, 2017
A conscious connection
Denise Attwood, '88, helped raise $130,000 for relief efforts after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
June 7, 2017
A youthful voice
At 26, State Rep. Melanie Stambaugh is the youngest member of the Washington Legislature.
Flowers of power
Laura Dowling, ’81, ’91, served as the Chief Floral Designer in the Obama White House.
June 1, 2017
Finals week
Rick Welts, president of the Golden State Warriors, returns to the NBA's biggest stage.
May 30, 2017
Plum gets picked first
Kelsey Plum, '17, is the first UW player to be picked first in a professional basketball draft.
May 29, 2017
Man of the city
In his five decades of public service, Norman Rice has helped build a community we are all proud of.
May 10, 2017
A life of Joy
Joy Plein received this year's UW-UWRA Distinguished Retiree
Excellence in Community Service Award.
May 1, 2017
Golden Grad
It's almost like Gary Ausman, ’63, ’74, has never left campus. Because he hasn't.
Young alum takes on role of parent after mother passes away
Overnight, 25-year-old Jenya Dokukina, '14, became the parent of her 11-year-old sister.
Libretti librarian
Emily Bolton Cabaniss, ’14, is the librarian for the Seattle Opera, one of only three opera companies in the entire U.S. to have their own librarian.
A one-inch autograph
A high school essay by Bruce Lee is one of the earliest examples of his handwriting.
December 15, 2016
Man of honor
Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, ’80, receives the 2016 UW Distinguished Alumni Veteran Award.
Mayor Marilyn
Tacoma native Marilyn Strickland, '84, wants to be her city's most vocal advocate for education.
September 1, 2016
Cultivating peace
Christopher Brown, ’16, a Marine combat veteran, works alongside men and women veterans from all military branches. With them in mind, he co-founded Growing Veterans, a nonprofit farm that grows produce for farmers markets and food banks.
June 1, 2016
A career making miracles in the classroom
“It’s been a dream career impacting so many people’s lives.” Jill Wakefield, ‘83, retires after 40 years with Seattle Colleges.
True hued
Brock and Damon Huard both found NFL careers and success after their UW playing days, and both felt drawn to come home.
Crossing the aisle to save lives
UW faculty member Jennifer Stuber is part of a bipartisan effort to prevent suicides.
Always in her element
Whether on a mountain, in a boardroom or on a boat, Sally Jewell is leading the way.
March 1, 2016
When compassion was policy
With five children and a sixth on the way, the Nguyen family fled Vietnam. Washington Governor Dan Evans opened the door to a life the family never would have imagined.
Author preserves memory of his great-grandfather, a slave
Carver Gayton, ’60, ’72, ’76, authors a gripping biography of his great-grandfather, Lewis G. Clarke, who escaped slavery and inspired a key character in “Uncle Tom's Cabin.”
December 1, 2015
Restaurateur Renee
She wants to serve the world’s best steak. That’s why chef Renee Erickson, ’95, is now in the ranch business.
Distinguished Alumni Veteran
Grethe Cammermeyer, ’76, ’91, challenged the ban on gays in the military and, eventually, she won.
Northwest at heart
Author Langdon Cook infuses his writing with a message of caring for the environment he calls home.
September 1, 2015
Fearless humanitarian
When disaster strikes, Mercy Corps co-founder Dan O'Neill, ’72, dives in to help.
June 1, 2015
Norm Dicks, retired?
His 36-year career as a Democratic Congressman for Washington’s 6th District may have ended in 2012, but he’s still on the case protecting wildlife and fighting to bolster the economy in his native region.
Career in service
In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” Lloyd Hara took it to heart. It’s why he went to graduate school to study public affairs and spent the past 40 years in public service.
March 1, 2015
Second act
Ron Simons is having one hell of a second act and he’s got three Tonys, a Drama Desk Award for Best Play, a Drama League Award, and even a prize for best documentary to prove it.
December 1, 2014
Film buff
Cinema Books owner Stephanie Ogle reintroduces classics, champions new treasures and plays a starring role in celebrating film.
September 1, 2014
Spreading his wheels
Landscape architecture alumnus Steve Durrant is helping Seattle take a big step by unveiling the city’s first bike-sharing program.
June 1, 2014
A boost behind bars
When Laura Pavlou visits Gig Harbor’s Washington Corrections Center for Women, she sees hope and vitality. Behind the steel gates of the maximum-security prison, it is her mission to nurture potential.
March 1, 2014
Nurse, philanthropist and more
Ekene “Kennie” Amaefule is a former Nurse of the Year at Harborview Medical Center who has single-handedly improved health care, education, social services and access to clean water in her native village of Imo State, Nigeria.
'Silence is a coping mechanism'
Teresa Tamura captures poignant stories of hardship from a World War II relocation center in her book "Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp."
December 1, 2013
Undaunted
June 6, 1966 marked a memorable date in what, retrospectively, was to begin an improbable journey to the University of Washington.
Sea salt savant
Sea salt is typically made in coastal areas where the climate stays warm and dry most of the year, but Brady Ryan, ’10, doesn’t like to do things conventionally. In 2012, he started San Juan Island Sea Salt, harvesting sea salt in the Pacific Northwest using techniques he began learning at UW.
Platinum grad
For Ryan Lewis, ’09, the whirlwind of fame is only a few years removed from days ensconced in Suzzallo Library and the Parnassus cafe in the basement of the Art Building.
September 1, 2013
Info revolutionary
At the forefront of those spreading the information revolution to developing countries stands an American nonprofit called Internews. And at the head of Internews stands a friendly, straightforward Maine resident, Jeanne Bourgault, ’86, ’90.
Brewster Denny, 1924-2013
Brewster C. Denny, who died June 22 at age 88, held several key roles in the federal government before honoring the call from UW President Charles Odegaard to return home to Seattle to create an academic program in public affairs.
June 1, 2013
Moving mission
Catching up with Patrick Gallaher, ’95, founder of the School of Pharmacy’s Memorial Day weekend Border-to-Border relay race that for the past 18 years has raised money for cancer research in honor of his late father.
Bill Gates Sr.'s impact
Even at 87, the 2013 Alumnus Sigma Laude Dignatus recipient continues to serve his alma mater while leading the fight for social justice.
Fighting suicide
The multidisciplinary training Michael Phillips received at the UW made him an ideal person to pioneer research on the nature of suicide in China.
March 1, 2013
Flair for food
The blog Molly Wizenberg started for fun in the year she spent finishing her M.A. in cultural anthropology has propelled a career as an acclaimed food writer and owner of a bustling restaurant and, most recently, a cocktail bar.
Journalist and optimist
Catching up with Robert Merry, ’68, political journalist, former CEO of Congressional Quarterly and author of "Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians."
Top cop
Jim Pugel, ’81, keeps mementos from the sometimes-grueling adventures he completes each year with his former University of Washington crew teammates.
December 1, 2012
Drama king
Since he graduated from the UW in 1976, most of Ruben Van Kempen's days—and plenty of his nights—have been spent as the Director of Theatre at Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He recently earned a spot in the Educational Theatre Association’s National Hall of Fame.
Call to duty
Herb M. Bridge, ’47, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral retired, is the first recipient of the UW’s newly established Distinguished Alumni Veteran Award.
Martian man
When NASA’s Curiosity rover successfully touched down on Martian soil, it was a hair-raising experience, both literally and figuratively for Bobak Ferdowsi, ’01, NASA flight director.
September 1, 2012
Reporter's mission
For the past 15 years, Alex Quade has served viewers as a fearless, ethical television war reporter and documentary filmmaker covering U.S. conflicts all over the globe.
Passion for nature
In their new book, nature artist Tony Angell and UW professor of wildlife science John Marzluff disabuse the notion that the family of birds known as corvids—crows, jays, magpies—possess mere “bird brains.”
Highest honors
Two alumni were among 13 people receiving the highest honor given to an American civilian—the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Defeating disease
Dr. Bill Foege, ’61, is a global health leader, affiliate professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health, and recipient of a 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
March 1, 2009
Haunted hallways
When Kevin Rupprecht, '06, accepted the job of principal at Forks High School, he didn't realize he was signing on to be a minor celebrity as well.
A very odd year
In the early 1970s, while earning my master’s degree in political science from the UW, I lived in a halfway house for psychiatric outpatients. I was not a psychiatric outpatient myself, but it was the only place I could find that had rooms for rent.
Found in translation
Seattle native Ken Barron, ‘03, spent his middle-school years living in Japan, where baseball was big and his favorite player was Orix BlueWave superstar Ichiro Suzuki. Now he works side-by-side with his childhood idol.