Get to know three of this year’s Husky 100, UW students who are making the most of their education

An Indigenous champion of the environment. A future engineer unifying humanities and technology. A keyboard-playing memory-loss researcher.

This isn’t the beginning of an esoteric joke. Those are three honorees in this year’s Husky 100, a cohort of students recognized for how they ambitiously and authentically embody the University of Washington’s ethos, by taking what they’ve learned in the classroom and using it for the good of the community and the future.

Choosing 100 exemplars from a body of more than 60,000 excellent students across the UW campuses in Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma is a Herculean effort. This year, the 10th annual Husky 100—representing 72 majors, 13 countries and 16 U.S. states—were chosen from a pool of 734 applications. Nearly half are Washington state residents. More than 70 just finished their senior year. Approximately three-quarters, including the three featured here, have received scholarships to help make their UW education possible—one way philanthropy fuels the Husky Experience, enabling access to education, research opportunities, a sense of belonging on campus, and beyond.

And every one of them brings an impressive, sometimes mind-boggling, collection of accomplishments. They are leaders, researchers, innovators, mentors and curious beyond comparison. But they’re more than their impressive achievements. It’s their community-first spirit that really sets these students apart.

Most likely to: Honor the past while shaping the future

When Elias Plaster, ’26, was a kid, eating frybread in the stands of the UW’s Alaska Airlines Arena while watching the annual UW Spring Powwows, he couldn’t have known he would one day be coordinating the event himself, as a leader in the First Nations at UW student club.

Plaster, one of the first in his family to attend college, had a challenging first year, but he attributes his UW success to finding community through First Nations, the Native UW Scholars Program, and wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, the UW’s Indigenous community cultural center.

A member of the Lummi Nation, Plaster discovered a home away from his Bellingham home at the Intellectual House, which was opened in 2015 with public, private and tribal support. To increase spaces dedicated to Native student success, culture and belonging, the University is now fundraising to create a Native arts lab, language labs, outdoor garden of traditional plants and medicines, and more.

“Working there has really helped me come out of my shell because of the community,” Plaster says. “I work with students from all different tribal nations, and building those relationships has been helpful and impactful, from homework and coursework to just being able to hang out.”

He became the Intellectual House representative to the Campus Sustainability Fund, a student-run and -funded program focused on justice-centered climate solutions. There he could bridge his cultural connections with his environmental science major.

He’s forged a similar bridge in his work as a field technician for the Lummi Nation Natural Resources Department, trapping invasive species and conducting clam surveys, and as a Climate Division intern, researching and writing a section of the tribe’s 10-year Climate Plan.

Having earned his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Resource Management, Plaster plans to eventually attend law school; he sees policy change as the path toward the greatest environmental impact. In the meantime, he’s excited to continue his work with the Lummi Nation, protecting natural resources for future generations.

“My time at the UW and the opportunities I’ve worked for,” he says, “have strengthened my understanding of the natural world, leadership, professionalism and what it means to be a Husky.”

Most likely to: Pay it forward

Zahra Hassan, ’26, didn’t always love engineering. Born and raised in the Seattle area, a first-generation Somali American, Hassan found herself at Seattle Central College after high school on a path of obligation more than passion. “I was just like, ‘I’m going to take the classes and become an engineer. I’m going to make money, and I’m going to die,’” she says, laughing at her own despondency. “I couldn’t imagine there could be so much excitement and joy.”

A self-described “humanities girl,” Hassan fell in love with engineering when she found the UW Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE). It seemed to check all her boxes: an engineering program focused on how people interact with technology to improve access, equity and sustainability—and how tech can help create community rather than break it down. She was accepted and was able to enroll thanks to scholarships like the Homecoming Scholar, Patricia G. Lynch and Theodora & Eugene Russell Memorial Scholarship, and Emerging Leaders in Engineering Scholarship.

The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, for undergrads planning to earn doctorates, was one of the many awards Hassan says shaped her success as a student. “That program didn’t simply fund my research—it proved that the life I dreamed of was possible. It encouraged me to break barriers and not let fear paralyze me because I knew I would be supported.”

Her research examined self-censorship in academic institutions—what gets said, what doesn’t and why, particularly in student publications. The idea, and her resulting independent study, were sparked in a research class called Privacy, Race and Surveillance.

So much of Hassan’s educational journey has been shaped by mentors—through McNair, in class and beyond—that she serves as a mentor herself at every opportunity. In addition to an internship with the Equitable Development Initiative and Communications for the City of Seattle, she’s a community outreach leader for HCDE and an ambassador for multiple Board organizations. After her own battles with imposter syndrome, she aims to help others, especially women of color, feel welcome in tech.

“Having someone who truly believes in you is so special,” Hassan says. “You hear it enough times and it rubs off eventually. It’s changed my life.”

Most likely to: Make you listen more closely

Leo Freedman, ’26, came to the UW with one rule: Just say yes. After all, he chose the UW over studying piano at Berklee College of Music largely because of the broad range of experiences available here. He didn’t want to miss a thing.

The California native’s chosen community at the UW reflects his willingness to jump in. He’s held leadership roles in his fraternity, Sigma Nu, as well as at Chabad UW, an organization for Jewish students. He’s kept up his piano chops by playing keyboard in local psych-fusion band Transience, where he’s drawn to the “radical inclusivity” of playing house shows.

“What’s been really cool for me is helping bridge opposite ends of the social spectrum,” he says. “I enjoy cultivating and driving a sense of community across campus.”

His studies, too, are a lesson in harmony. Freedman graduated in June with a double major in ethnomusicology and international studies and a minor in environmental studies. Thanks to a Libraries Student Employee Endowed Scholarship, he worked under John Vallier, curator of the ethnomusicology archives and the UW 2026 Distinguished Librarian, on moving the archives of music, language and sound to their home in the Allen Library. It inspired his capstone project: a seven-minute ambient audio depiction of the UW, including birdsong, student conversations, passing cars and more.

An online story about that soundscape led Sarah McKiddy, a doctoral student in nursing science, to reach out to Freedman in her research on music-based treatment for patients with dementia. They’ve spent the last year in a partnership at the Memory Hub, a community center for people with dementia, studying how chamber music affects patients dealing with memory loss.

Freedman says he’s been inspired seeing the benefit of music on people with even late-stage dementia. It’s reinforced his belief that music is an essential part of human nature. “Making music is a biological thing no different than breathing and walking and eating,” he says. “It’s just something humans do.”

And it’s something he plans to continue. He hopes to make more soundscapes around the world, capturing a sense of place, time and community in audio waves.

Make education accessible to every student. When you support UW scholarships, it gives students like these three go-getters the space and confidence to build community, pursue research and inspire the world around them.