alumni
March 1, 2010
Helping people hear
Paige Stringer, ’96, built a platform to extend teacher training, deliver hearing aids, and improve outreach about hearing loss issues to communities in developing countries.
New approach to learning
Rob Thomas, '93, was named the 2009 Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges U.S. Professor of the Year by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement for Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Hard-hitting alumni
What comes to mind when you think of the Rat City Rollergirls? If it’s tattooed women and fast, physical action, you’re not alone. But that’s not the whole story.
Visual flair
Two reasons why the Emmy Award-winning TV series 'Mad Men' is so highly acclaimed are its visual style and historical authenticity. Assistant costume designer Allison Leach has had a big hand in both.
December 1, 2009
Peak cleanup
Brent Bishop, ’93, grew up in a climbing family and knew Mount Everest was dirty. At 27 years old, he was determined to do something about it.
Game of life
One year after his rookie season, Ty Harden walked away from his dream job playing Major League Soccer to help children in Africa.
Sharing success
Geta Asfaw measures his success by the amount he is able to help those in his community.
Blazing a trail
Even after four degrees, Eleanor Valentin craved a new challenge. She found it in the military.
September 1, 2009
The best Samaritan
To tell the story of Phil Smart Sr. is to encapsulate one of Seattle’s most beloved businessmen, philanthropists and volunteers.
Gretchen Howison Whiting, 1968-2009
When Gretchen Howison Whiting, ’90, was diagnosed with stage III melanoma in 2004, she began a journey—not just to heal herself but to educate the public about the deadly disease, push for more funding for melanoma research, and continue to live her life to the fullest.
Honoring heroes
On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2009, the University of Washington will dedicate a Medal of Honor memorial, recognizing eight alumni recipients.
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.
Books of revelation
Marilynne Robinson, ’68, ’77, has authored three novels, each of which is regarded as a major contribution to American letters.
June 1, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Market maker
Chris Curtis, ’73, launched a delicious revolution in Seattle 15 years ago, planting the seed that’s grown into the flourishing Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance with seven markets.