alumni
December 1, 2011
Wildlife defender
Rodger Schlickeisen, ’63, made his mark leading one of the nation’s largest—and most effective—environmental organizations.
Soldier's story
As I reflect on the road that led me from the UW to the Udari Desert, it is easy for me to identify ways that my time at the UW earning a B.S. in Construction Management prepared me to lead troops.
September 1, 2011
Yoga for prisoners
Natalie Smith, 28, is executive director of Yoga Behind Bars, a non-profit organization that provides hundreds of free yoga classes inside Washington state prisons and jails.
June 1, 2011
Bee detective
Charles Wick, ’71, ’73, ’79, may not wear the trademark deerstalker hat and smoke a long-stemmed pipe but when it comes to bees, he’s an ace detective.
Get a clue
Crossword puzzle fanatic Jeff Chen, ’02, doesn’t just fill out crossword puzzles, he writes them, too. He recently had one published by The New York Times. And here he created a special crossword puzzle for Columns readers.
Screen time
Temple Mathews, ’76, describes himself as someone who never shies away from a challenge. He credits this attitude for getting him to Hollywood.
Fighting poverty
A year after returning home to Seattle from the Philippines, Christine Umayam couldn’t get those images out of her head, so she created Child United.
Helping Rwandan girls
Shalisan Foster, ’92, and Suzanne Sinegal McGill, ’91, beamed with pride as they attended the opening of the Gashora Girls Academy—a school they created as part of their Rwanda Girls Initiative.
Pulling for Paul
While Paul Dann, ’83, of Richland, received cancer treatment at the UW Medical Center, his daughter Claire got busy and organized a Relay for Life team she named “Paul’s Pals.”
March 1, 2011
Passion for policy
Tracie Stevens is the first woman to chair the National Indian Gaming Commission, the agency that regulates the $27 billion Indian gaming industry.
December 1, 2010
Virginia B. Smith, 1923-2010
Virginia B. Smith, ’44, ’46, ’50, helped shape American higher education.
Jon K. Rider, 1940-2010
Jon K. Rider was a former Marine commander who changed careers and spent six years as executive director of the University of Washington Alumni Association.
Market man
Ben Franz-Knight, '96, is executive director of the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority, the organization that oversees the 103-year-old Seattle institution.
Medicine for the masses
Using business, medical and engineering smarts, UW alumni are solving medical problems in Washington and beyond.
Rick Steves' worldview
Rick Steves, ’78, is an idealist. He doesn’t expect you to agree with him. But he’s not speaking his mind or advocating controversial legal reform to be popular.
September 1, 2010
Rounding home
Often overlooked during the Mariners' playoff runs of the 1990s was the fact that the starting third baseman was a Husky: Mike Blowers, who played two years at the University of Washington (1985-86).
Hot in Hollywood
Standing 6 foot 4, Joel McHale is a tall man in Hollywood. And now, he’s a big man in Tinseltown.
Zen UW
Three UW alumni live at Shasta Abbey, home to nearly 30 monks, all westerners who entered monastic life as adults.
June 1, 2010
Stage to screen
Lynn Shelton, ’87, parlayed a UW degree in drama into a 10-year career on the stages of New York. But she found her true calling when she opted to pursue a career behind a camera.
Pursuit of potential
Once a preppy hustler, a cocaine dealer, a drug addict, and a student in Japan, Max Hunter is now a UW Ph.D. student and has begun telling his story.