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Our People

Meet Our People

Dr. Dan Zhu (she/her) | Executive Director, CIRCLE

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English

Favorite café in Seattle: Spicy Chongqing in Renton

Fun Fact: I am a mother of two little boys.

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Dr. Ziyan Bai (she/her) | Assistant Director for Graduate Programs & Operation Manager, CIRCLE

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Tian Fu in Northgate

Fun Fact: My research area is graduate education, including access,                                                      student experience, finance, and education outcomes.


Vacant  | Program Manager for Student Transition & Engagement, CIRCLE

 
 


David Huang (he/him) | Unite UW Program Manager, CIRCLE 

Languages Spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Hong Kong Bistro in International District

Favorite book: Dune by Frank Herbert


Xinyue Yu (she/her) | Assistant to the Executive Director

Languages spoken: Mandarin, Korean, English

Love hiking, learning about diverse cultures, and travel around the world!

 


Maja Kelly  (she/her) | Student Success and Wellbeing Coach

Languages spoken: English, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, (some) French

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: HaiDiLao Hot Pot

My favorite movie of all time is The Sound of Music.


Celia Malone (she/her) | Program Coordinator

Languages spoken: English

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Retreat in Greenlake

Fun Fact: at age 9 I memorized over 200 digits of pi, but now I can only remember around 80.


Jiayu (Catherine) Xu (she/her) | RCG Communication Coordinator

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English, Korean (a bit)

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Pipa Mountain Hot Pot

Hobbies: Love Dance; Love Sunset by the Ocean


Haeyoon Choi (she/her) | Communication Specialist

Languages spoken: English, Korean, a little bit of Chinese and Japanese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: YGF Malatang

I grew up in three different countries: U.S., South Korea, and Vietnam. Love cooking, figure skating, dancing, and traveling!


Annie Xu (she/her) | Student Communication Coordinator

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin, Japanese, a little French

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Bulldog News around UW and Santo Coffee in Roosevelt.

Fun Fact: I still brave the Seattle rain with just an umbrella.


Edward Yang (he/him) | Graduate Program Assistant

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin, a little bit Spanish

Exploring languages, diving into cultures, and chasing new experiences energize me! I enjoy spending time both outdoors and indoors.


Ellis Coulter (she/her) | Graduate Program Assistant

Languages spoken: English

I love exploring new places like farmers markets, restaurants, or parks with friends. I also enjoy staying in and watching movies with my cat, Hoshi.


Sangey Rinchen (he/him) | CIRCLE of Friends Peer Advisor

Languages spoken: English, Dzongkha, a little German

I enjoy long hikes, writing stories, and spending time with my family!

 


Erich Ang (she/her) | CIRCLE of Friends Peer Advisor

Languages spoken: English, Tagalog

I love singing, musical theater, watching TV shows (FRIENDS, Modern Family, and Grey’s Anatomy), and hanging out with friends!


Jessy Zhao (she/her) | CIRCLE of Friends Peer Advisor

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin, a little bit Japanese

I love writing song lyrics, singing, and reading novels with my friends!

 


Husna Mulyani (she/her) | Student Advisor Board Co-chair

Languages spoken: English, Indonesian

Fun fact: I can really spend 3 hours calling my mom to talk about nothing- it’s a way to decompress✨.


Ruyan Li (he/him) | Student Advisor Board Co-chair

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin, Japanese

Fun fact: I have 2 dogs and 1 cat.

 


Evelyn Hootman (she/her) | Unite UW Program Leader

Languages spoken: English, Spanish, some Chinese

Fun fact: Goal in life is to own an orange cat.

 


Chunya (Pie) Apichatpichien (she/her) | Unite UW Program Leader

Languages spoken: English, Thai

Hobby: I love playing wordhunt :D.

 


Rebekah Hinojosa (she/her) | Unite UW Program Leader

Languages spoken: English, Spanish

Hobbies: I enjoy going to museums and having movie nights with my roommates.


Heidi Nguyen (she/her) | Office Assistant

Languages spoken: English

Fun fact: I like eating tomatoes but I hate eating anything with ketchup.

 


Yishi (Reena) Zheng (she/her) | Office Assistant

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin

Fun fact: Recently I am obsessed with Young Sheldon.