A new era for Washington Athletic Club A new era for Washington Athletic Club A new era for Washington Athletic Club

The legendary Washington Athletic Club has been serving the Emerald City and Western Washington for over 95 years. In 2025, the club made history by appointing Suzana Sakay, ’10, ’13, as its first woman president and chief executive officer. Like many of the club’s members and activities, her UW connections run deep.

Besides earning two degrees from UW Bothell (a bachelor’s degree in global studies and an MBA), she has taught retail management courses there for the past 10 years. At the WAC, she succeeded Chuck Nelson, ’82, the former Husky place-kicker who retired last year after 13 years at the helm of the downtown Seattle club.

Sakay has held leadership roles at the club since 2011, serving most recently as vice president of business excellence and development. Before that, she gained years of experience working in the health and wellness industry. What is particularly eye-opening—and why her first college degree was in global studies—is that before she moved to the U.S., she spent two years as a translator and interpreter for the NATO peacekeeping mission following the conflicts in the Balkans.

Born in Germany, Sakay and her family moved to the former Yugoslavia, living in a border town between Bosnia and Croatia. During the height of the conflicts, “Everything was upside down,” she recalls. They lost their home and spent time as refugees.

Before the Dayton Peace Accords ended the crisis in 1995, Sakay was one of many translators who worked with local authorities and NATO generals as they drew up borders between the newly established states. After the war, she and her husband, Robert, whom she met in Croatia when he was deployed there, moved to Seattle. Going to college was on their minds. And the UW was on their minds, too. “The UW is a family institution,” she says.

The WAC is also an institution. “We need places to congregate,” she explains. “When society shifts,” such as in the pandemic, “we need a place that feels like home.”

Check out the WAC: UW alumni are invited to enjoy a complimentary beer in the WAC lobby during the club’s Tuesday on Tap event from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20.