People

September 1, 2009

The yankee muckraker

I rather think Britain's Members of Parliament wish I'd chosen a different career. You see, it was my freedom of information requests that lifted the lid on the MPs' expenses scandal.

Reaching out

“Where can you make the biggest difference?” It’s a question Annie Lam, ’97, senior lecturer in the University of Washington Department of Pharmacy, asks rhetorically, but her answer has been demonstrated clearly over the course of her UW career.

June 1, 2009

Teachers of the year, 2009

The seven recipients of this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards represent the broadest range of disciplines, from English to maxillofacial surgery. But they all have one thing in common: the ability to hold their students spellbound.

Saving faces

This year, Lisa Dabek, '91, '94, scored a major victory in the fight to save tree kangaroos, securing the first-ever national preserve in Papua New Guinea.

Marquis Cooper, 1982-2009

Former Husky football standout Marquis Cooper and two other passengers aboard his 21-foot fishing boat were presumed dead March 6 after the vessel capsized in rough seas near Clearwater, Fla., five days earlier. He was 26.

The first bioengineer

Wayne Quinton not only designed a laundry list of life-saving medical devices, but became the first practitioner of an entirely new field: bioengineering.

Professor of innocence

Since 1997, when Professor Jackie McMurtrie established the Innocence Project Northwest Clinic at the UW School of Law, she and her students have helped exonerate 13 wrongfully convicted people. 

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.

December 1, 2008

Spreading the word

Wanna Net doesn’t know how old he is, but he does know one thing: He’s one of the very few Western-credentialed librarians in Cambodia — maybe the only one.

Edwin O. Guthman, 1919-2008

Before earning the Silver Star, Purple Heart and Pulitzer Prize, Edwin O. Guthman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington.

Rosie Santizo, 1979-2008

Baseball lost one of its most promising stars Sept. 3 when Rosie Santizo, 29, died in a car accident in Amman, Jordan. Santizo was a UW student finishing up degrees in business administration and Near Eastern studies.

Students to the rescue

A charitable group set up by two UW students after the May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province has been as no-nonsense as its name, raising $65,000 for children in the disaster zone and winning a prestigious award

Pepper protection

In a recent study of wild chili plants in Bolivia, researchers discovered that spice levels increase in peppers growing in areas threatened by fungus-carrying insects.

Clean and green

If, in 15 years, you’re driving a car powered by pond scum, you’ll probably have Rose Ann Cattolico to thank. The UW biology professor thinks algae is the most promising source of alternative energy out there.

Brilliance unleashed

With the recruitment of luminaries like Michael Hochberg, the UW is fast becoming a nanophotonics powerhouse.

Election wrap

David Domke, head of journalism at the UW, spoke with Columns Co-Editor Eric McHenry on Nov. 6 about the presidential campaign that had ended two days earlier

Special gift

For nearly 30 years, Norris Haring led efforts to address learning challenges and develop strategies to help young people. Now, through a major planned gift, he is ensuring that this essential work will continue at the UW for years to come.

September 1, 2008

Stories for 'kids like us'

When a little boy from Yakima asked the librarian for books about “kids like us,” she couldn’t think of any. So Beverly Cleary decided to write them herself.