New head of UWAA is hardly a new face
Chuck Blumenfeld’s new job title is long—executive director of the UW Alumni Association and associate vice president of alumni relations—but he will tell you his role is simple: to keep the connection strong between the University and its graduates.
And he should know. Charles R. “Chuck” Blumenfeld, ’66, ’69, is a life-long Husky with deep ties to the UW going back six decades. His father, Irwin Blumenfeld, ’30, was the University’s main spokesperson for 34 years. The younger Blumenfeld was a leader as both an undergrad and a law student, and later became a top volunteer on two alumni boards.
The pull is so strong that on Feb. 5, Blumenfeld left his practice as one of Seattle’s best environmental law attorneys to become the alumni association’s new leader.
“The alumni association is the only organization that has the ability to bring former students back to campus, to reengage them in what is going on at the University,” he says. Not only does that connection enrich the lives of alumni, it also strengthens support for their alma mater. ”Alumni are wonderful ambassadors,” Blumenfeld says.
The new alumni executive director has been connected to the University from the day he was born. Through his dad, Blumenfeld has met every UW president since Raymond Allen, who served in the late 1940s.
Though he considered going away to college, his father insisted on the UW, a move that Blumenfeld later said was “the best decision of my life.” As a freshman, he joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and by the time he was a senior, he was president of the UW Interfraternity Council. That same year, the UW fraternity system won an award from the North American Interfraternity Conference as the best in the U.S. and Canada.
A political science major and Congressional page for Sen. Warren Magnuson, ’29, Blumenfeld had a passion for politics. After graduation, it seemed natural to apply to the UW law school, where he was president of the student bar association.
Once he had his law degree, he joined the staff of Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson, ’32, in Washington, D.C., and later worked on Jackson’s unsuccessful run for president in 1972. He came back to Seattle in 1973 to join the Bogle and Gates law firm and soon became one of the first lawyers in Seattle to specialize in environmental law.
Though the other Washington occasionally beckoned, Blumenfeld stayed true to his roots. When Bogle and Gates dissolved in 1999, Blumenfeld became a partner at Perkins Coie.
His community involvement includes serving on the ACT Theatre board and as a committee member for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. But his strongest connections go back to his alma mater. He first served on the law alumni board and then spent six years on the UWAA board.
Blumenfeld was president of the UWAA board for 2005-06. Just a few months after his term expired, the UWAA’s executive director—John Buller, ’69, ’71—announced he was leaving to become CEO of Tully’s Coffee.
There were more than 50 applicants for the position. “We conducted a nationwide search for the right leader to take our association to the next level,” says Gregg Blodgett, ’76, UWAA board president. “The candidate pool was very impressive. At the end of the day, Chuck was the candidate that stood out from the field.”
“Chuck brings a lifetime of commitment to his alma mater. He became a life member of the alumni association immediately after graduating—a remarkable thing for a young person,” says UW Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Connie Kravas. “Chuck also values the close relationship that has been forged between the UWAA and the rest of the UW, especially his colleagues in development.”
“I was greatly interested in this position because I felt I could give something back to this great University,” Blumenfeld says.
Blumenfeld applauds the growth at the alumni association. In the last five years, there has been more programming beyond traditional alumni events and stronger partnerships across the University. ”I’ll be working to develop even more effective ways to accomplish our goals,” he says. Among the challenges he faces are increasing alumni participation and the possibility of a new home for the alumni association.
As the new UWAA executive director travels, Huskies will also meet another UW graduate, his wife, Karla Axell, who holds a 1983 degree in molecular and cellular biology. His daughter, Lisa, is a 1999 graduate in speech communication. (David, Blumenfeld’s son, broke family tradition by going to UCLA.)
Blumenfeld says his dad, who died in 2002, would have been thrilled to learn of his son’s new position. “He would be very proud, but I’m not sure he would be surprised. The University was a big part of his life,” he says. The UW has now become an even a bigger part of his son’s life as well.