faculty
September 2, 2023
He can dig it
David R. Montgomery has a MacArthur “genius grant,” a handful of popular science books, and six albums with the local band Big Dirt under his belt.
November 27, 2022
A seat at the table
Gov. Jay Inslee, ’73, selected Professor Alexes Harris, ’97, to serve a three-year term on the University’s highest governing body.
September 1, 2022
State of happiness
Early each summer, the University organizes a statewide field trip to introduce new faculty and administrators to Washington.
May 16, 2022
Toward a more diverse faculty
A new campus-wide effort led by Alexes Harris supports underrepresented groups and first-generation faculty.
March 5, 2022
Living through history
UW history professor Margaret O’Mara shares her perspective on the pandemic and its echoes from the past.
December 11, 2021
Locally grown
Marie Spiker is an assistant professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health, registered dietitian and enthusiastic kayaker. We asked her about her various passions.
November 19, 2021
Remembering the Spratlens
Thaddeus Spratlen and Lois Price-Spratlen were the UW’s academic power couple—excelling as scholars and opening up opportunities for others.
September 11, 2021
Friend to veterans
Dentistry professor Theresa Cheng leads a nonprofit organization that connects veterans with resources and employment opportunities.
August 31, 2021
A distinguished legacy
Thaddeus Spratlen was a trailblazing business educator, a prolific scholar, a mentor and role model for generations of students.
June 14, 2021
Fond farewells
As we celebrate 12,000 new University of Washington graduates, we also have the special opportunity to honor three academic leaders who are retiring.
June 10, 2021
Bridging the distance
UW faculty members used innovative approaches to teaching hands-on courses during the pandemic.
June 4, 2021
Humanity and impact
Anthony Ishisaka’s impact on legions of University of Washington students as well as all of Western Washington shines as bright as ever.
May 11, 2021
High-flying professor
Cecilia Aragon’s memoir, “Flying Free,” is for “anybody who has been discouraged all their life,” she says.
May 10, 2021
Diversity takes work
In the recent years, the UW has seen the highest racial and gender diversity among students in its history, “and yet we have fallen short on our faculty diversity efforts."
March 4, 2021
Our climate future is now
Scientists spent decades warning us about what would happen during the 2020s and 2030s. Now we see it.
September 16, 2020
Book takes honors
A book by UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Emily Thuma won the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Studies.
August 4, 2020
Stars in her eyes
Astronomer Emily Levesque’s new book shares the wonder of stargazing—and the adventures it’s taken her on.
June 14, 2020
Impact from afar
The UW faculty are impactful even when they find themselves having to venture into uncomfortable territory. They “flatten the curve” while still producing and disseminating knowledge.
May 12, 2020
Vision for indigenizing
Charlotte Coté, this year’s Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, offers her thoughts on weaving Native understanding into the fabric of the UW.
March 30, 2020
Bonjour, Paris
Meredith Clausen, an architectural historian, shares her Paris apartments with UW scholars.
December 3, 2019
Happy hints
Recommendations from social psychologist Tabitha Kirkland, whose research explores strategies that nurture our happiness.
November 24, 2019
Legacy of ‘No-No Boy’
Decades ago, he built a foundation for Asian American literature; now, a UW professor is still protecting an alumnus’s classic novel.
September 10, 2019
Protecting life in Cambodia
Climate change threatens fish runs and the livelihood and food resources for millions of Cambodians.
March 12, 2019
Abolished
How UW research convinced our state's highest court to toss out the death penalty.
December 1, 2018
Robert Stevick, 1928-2018
Robert Stevick's research into early Irish and English manuscripts advanced the understanding of arts and literature more than a millennium old.
June 4, 2018
Best lesson ever
What if your class schedule put you in a room with all of this year's best teachers?
Rethinking drugs
Ingrid Walker wants to change the way media and government frame our perceptions about illicit drugs, and the people who use them.
June 1, 2016
Fueled by a liberal arts education
“I’m always looking for ways to show the value of a liberal arts education for thinking critically, connecting the dots.”
Nordic Noir
Scandinavian Studies Professor Andy Nestingen shares his research into the genre and how it contrasts with American Noir’s heroes and villains.
Urban evolution
The UW's Urban Ecology Research Lab studies how species change in response to cities.
March 1, 2016
War is sexy. Huh?
David Shields, author, essayist and UW English professor, takes the New York Times to task in his book, "War Is Beautiful."
Saadia Pekkanen watches for threats above the sky
The Jackson School's associate director says space security depends on international cooperation.
December 1, 2015
An unprecedented president
She is the first woman, first Latina and the first in a long while to be promoted from within to lead the University of Washington.
September 1, 2015
Relationships first
Genetic ethicist Wylie Burke keeps people in mind as she studies advances in medicine and public health.
March 1, 2015
‘I am art'’
“I am not a painter or a sculptor or a glass artist. I am art.” Anyone familiar with the work of American Indian Studies professor Marvin Oliver understands that this is not an egotistical statement, but a reflection of a vision that embraces an astonishing range of materials, styles and techniques.
Albert L. Babb, 1925-2014
Albert L. “Les” Babb joined the UW chemical engineering faculty in 1952 and spent more than 40 years at the UW. He led the development of a curriculum in nuclear engineering and chaired the Department of Nuclear Engineering from 1965 to 1982.
September 1, 2014
Life on stage
Scott Magelssen has had more lives than an accident-prone cat, thanks to interactive simulations.
March 1, 2014
Cultural curator
A trip in 1988 ignited Sven Haakanson's passion for preserving indigenous culture. Now he's the new Curator of Native American Anthropology at the Burke Museum of Natural History.
Hope after heartache
Jennifer Stuber lost her husband to suicide. Now she's working to remove the stigma of mental illness.
December 1, 2013
Healthy tech
Julie Kientz's sense of discovery spawned a career predicated on using technology to help others and improve their health.
March 1, 2013
Power of storytelling
A W.B. Yeats quote greets soldiers as they enter the classroom of Shawn Wong at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on a frosty, fall morning: “Write about yourself when you are most like yourself.”
September 1, 2012
Stat star
Awards and honors aren’t what it’s about for the School of Public Health’s Daniela Witten, assistant professor in the nation’s No. 1 rated Biostatistics Department. She’s in it for the work.
June 1, 2011
Off to Libya
Ali Tarhouni, a senior lecturer in the Foster School of Business, told his microeconomics class that despite the death sentence on his head, he would be moving back to Libya, his homeland.
September 1, 2009
Reaching out
“Where can you make the biggest difference?” It’s a question Annie Lam, ’97, senior lecturer in the University of Washington Department of Pharmacy, asks rhetorically, but her answer has been demonstrated clearly over the course of her UW career.
June 1, 2009
Teachers of the year, 2009
The seven recipients of this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards represent the broadest range of disciplines, from English to maxillofacial surgery. But they all have one thing in common: the ability to hold their students spellbound.
Professor of innocence
Since 1997, when Professor Jackie McMurtrie established the Innocence Project Northwest Clinic at the UW School of Law, she and her students have helped exonerate 13 wrongfully convicted people.
March 1, 2009
Just call her a scholar
Ellen Dissanayake is working in a field she invented: evolutionary aesthetics, the study of art-making as an innate human behavior that helps us survive.
September 1, 2008
Teachers of the year, 2008
The seven winners of the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award talk about what happens in their celebrated classrooms.
December 1, 2007
Strong medicine
Some governments may shun his straight talk, but Chris Murray's prescriptions for global health could ultimately help all of us live better and longer.
Who stays, who goes?
If you think that job satisfaction is the only reason you haven't left your workplace, think again, say two UW business professors.
UW ceramic arts program is in good hands with Patti Warashina
The UW’s ceramic arts program is ranked among the top five in the nation. Ceramic artist Patti Warashina, ’62, ’64, is one of the reasons why.
September 1, 2007
Statistical advantage
The skills UW Bothell Professor Clark Olson honed during his five years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are the same ones he has used to conquer the stats-heavy world of fantasy sports.
June 1, 2007
Extra credit
A great university has great teachers. This year, the UW honors seven instructors from three campuses who have touched the lives of thousands.
March 1, 2007
Mark McDermott, 1930-2006
Mark McDermott, a UW physics professor for 43 years, passed away Nov. 4 from complications related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
December 1, 2006
The black TV book
Kathleen Fearn-Banks once worked in TV, and now has written the dictionary on an important part of its history.
Daniel Lev, 1933-2006
A professor of political science at the UW and a renowned scholar of Indonesia, Daniel Lev, who died of lung cancer at the age of 72, was well loved and influential on both sides of the Pacific.
September 1, 2005
Peter Hobbs, 1936-2005
Atmospheric Sciences Professor Peter Hobbs died July 25 after 42 years at the University leading the Cloud and Aerosol Research Group.
Henry Maier, 1918-2005
Henry Maier, a professor emeritus in the School of Social Work known for his unique approaches to teaching, died in April. He was 86.
June 1, 2004
James Clowes, 1957-2004
Lecturer James Clowes, ’96, who helped revolutionize the University of Washington’s history program, died of cancer March 1, 2004. He was 47.
December 1, 2003
Theodor Jacobsen, 1901-2003
Theodor Jacobsen was for nearly 40 years was the sole member and "executive officer" of the UW astronomy department.
March 1, 2003
Dael Wolfle, 1906-2002
Dael Wolfle, ’27, a longtime UW professor who dedicated his career to making science appeal to the masses, died Dec. 26 in Seattle. He was 96.
Prize catch
A leader of the Human Genome Project joins the UW to help unlock further secrets to the code of life.
September 1, 2002
Guilty plea in probe
Former UW Neurosurgery Chair H. Richard Winn resigned from the University and pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, the first legal settlement in a two-year probe of Medicare and Medicaid billing practices.
Marc Lindenberg, 1945-2002
Marc Lindenberg was dean of the UW’s Daniel Evans School of Public Affairs and an influential scholar and practitioner in humanitarian relief and international development.
Genome chief
One of the world’s most notable genome scientists, Robert H. Waterston, will become chair of the new Department of Genome Sciences at the UW School of Medicine.
June 1, 2002
Hans Neurath, 1909-2002
Hans Neurath was one of the towering figures in the field of biochemistry and the founding chairman of the biochemistry department at the University of Washington.
Reversal of fortune
For more and more workers, the American Dream is just a mirage, say the authors of a new book.
March 1, 2002
Making it work
He transformed an obscure theater group into a legend; he nurtured three Pulitzer Prize-winning plays; he may even masquerade as a female playwright—but drama professor Jon Jory insists it's all in a day's work.
December 1, 2001
Dentistry chair
To honor his mentors, Lloyd Chapman and his wife, Kay, donated $1 million to endow the Lloyd and Kay Chapman Chair for Oral Health at the UW School of Dentistry.
June 1, 2001
Professor's gift
Howard Nostrand, professor emeritus of Romance Languages and Literature, and his wife, Frances, are giving the UW $500,000 for an endowed professorship in the Department of Linguistics.
March 1, 2001
Record gift
Don Matthews, retired chair of the UW’s political science department, donated $800,000 for an endowment in the Department of Political Science.
September 1, 2000
Paul Heyne dies
Economics Lecturer Paul Theodore Heyne did not let his diagnosis with kidney cancer get in the way of his love for teaching.
March 1, 2000
Gene expert departs
Leroy Hood, chair of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology, announced he is leaving the UW to form the Institute for Systems Biology.
December 1, 1999
True West
Most of us don't have a clue about the African-American experience in the West. Quintard Taylor's goal is to set us straight.
Botany legend dies
Bastiaan J.D. Meeuse was a UW botany professor whose five decades of research on the exotic but stinky voodoo lily resulted in numerous contributions to science.
March 1, 1999
History fellowship
History professors Richard Johnson and Carol Thomas created a $100,000 endowed fellowship to support graduate students in their department.
December 1, 1998
Martyrs and myths
The early Christians weren't all martyrs and they weren't all poor, says a UW sociologist whose book sheds new light on the rise of the Christianity.
Brain drain
Some top UW professors are leaving, and more will follow if nothing is done about the faculty pay gap.
March 1, 1998
Bonded by research
While research expands knowledge, it also forges bonds between professors and students that can't be broken by fires, disabilities or even death.
Carol Eastman dies at 56
Carol Eastman was a respected anthropology professor, graduate school dean and administrator who served the University of Washington for 27 years.
December 1, 1997
Seeing red
Fifty years ago, a hearing on “un-American” activities tore the UW campus apart, setting a precedent for faculty firings across academe.
Passing grades
Despite the economic boom of the late 1990s, higher education is under the microscope. Business leaders, legislators and some educators feel our colleges and universities are just not efficient.
June 1, 1997
Gregory Falls, 1922-1997
Gregory A. Falls was a former chair of the UW School of Drama who is credited with creating Seattle's vibrant theater scene.
March 1, 1997
Microsoft matches quarter-million in faculty giving
The Microsoft Challenge 2000 will provide $200,000 annually until the year 2000 to match faculty gifts supporting graduate and professional students.
December 1, 1996
Medical School dean, wife and guides killed in Nepal
The Fialkows had been vacationing in Nepal on a trek with six guides to visit the 800-year-old Tse Gomba Buddhist monastery.
September 1, 1996
Donald Bevan, key figure in UW School of Fisheries, dies at 75
Donald Bevan helped lead the University of Washington School of Fisheries to national prominence and worked to save the Northwest salmon from extinction.
UW computer scientist awarded National Medal of Science
Computer Science and Engineering Professor Richard M. Karp, known for tackling seemingly insoluble problems, received a 1996 National Medal of Science.
Cancer detective
After discovering the gene linked to breast cancer, Mary-Claire King now is on the hunt for ways to combat the disease.
June 1, 1996
Faculty debate new ethnic studies requirement
Students who enter the UW in 1998 may have to meet a five-credit Cultural and Ethnic Diversity requirement.
UW honors the best of 1996
Every year faculty, students and alumni meet to decide who are the top UW teachers, public servants and volunteers, and this year they came up with a remarkable list.
December 1, 1995
UW physicist Hans Dehmelt awarded National Medal of Science
Physics Professor Hans Dehmelt, the University's first Nobel Prize-winning professor, received the nation's highest scientific honor.
Environmental scientist joins faculty, thanks to gift from alumnus
Mary Lidstrom, who joins the UW faculty thanks to the Frank Jungers Endowed Chair in Engineering, studies bacteria that can help clean up soil and water contaminated by toxic spills.
June 1, 1995
The real McCabe
She made her Carnegie Hall debut in her 20s, but UW alumna Robin McCabe faces her greatest challenge today—running the School of Music.
March 1, 1995
Meet Pepper Schwartz
A conversation with the UW sociologist, known for her frank talk about sex and relationships.
Faculty philanthropy
Over the last three years, faculty members at the University have contributed more than half a million dollars to support graduate and professional students.
September 1, 1994
Freshman connection
A group of professors and administrators is working hard to transform the first year at the University of Washington from lonely to inspiring.
June 1, 1994
Diversity test
Starting in fall 1994, UW students can be part of a test to see if a five-credit requirement in cultural and ethnic diversity can work at the University.