UW News

UW News blog


April 28, 2017

Class on Black Lives Matter examines ideas behind the slogan

At first, La TaSha Levy was worried her class on Black Lives Matter would be almost out of date. After all, who hasn’t seen the signs, heard the slogans, watched — or perhaps even participated in — marches to protest racism and violence against African Americans? But that was just it, realized Levy, a new…


April 24, 2017

UW Law School hosts ‘How We Police in America: A Case for Reform’ May 4

Officer-involved shootings. Federal investigations. Body cameras. Civilian review boards. Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. In cities around the country, the relationship between police and community is fraught with tension — sometimes the direct result of violent incidents, sometimes the reverberations of problems elsewhere. And almost always, talk of police reform is in the air….


April 19, 2017

Two UW faculty named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Two University of Washington faculty members are among the leaders from academia, business, philanthropy, humanities and the arts elected as 2017 fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.


Proxima b discoverer to join UW astrobiologists for May 3 lecture, discussion

The lead investigator of the research team that discovered Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet, will join UW astrobiologists May 3 to discuss the planet’s potential for life and even the possibility of sending spacecraft to the world.


April 17, 2017

Remembering Ernest Henley, physicist and UW College of Arts & Sciences dean emeritus

Ernest Mark Henley, a celebrated nuclear physicist and University of Washington administrator, died on March 27, 2017, at age 92.


April 12, 2017

Undergraduate Theater Society unleashes ‘Wolves’ April 13-23

Actors in the Undergraduate Theater Society's production of "Wolves," April 13-23 in the Cabaret Theater of Hutchinson Hall. In back, from left, are Colin Kolbus, Willy Picton and Andrew Forest; in front is Ashley Lobao.

The story of Little Red Riding Hood takes on a new dimension in the UW Undergraduate Theater Society’s new production, “Wolves,” by Steve Yockey, running April 13 to 23 in the Cabaret Theater in Hutchinson Hall.


April 11, 2017

New cloud-based payroll system coming to UW in June

In June, the UW’s antiquated, 35-year-old payroll software system will be replaced by Workday, a modern, easy-to-use, cloud-based software system. Workday has the potential to transform the way we work at the University, making us more streamlined and employee friendly.


April 4, 2017

The science of sight: Transplant recipient, UW professor to share perspectives on vision restoration

UW psychology professor Geoffrey Boynton and corneal transplant recipient Michael May to speak April 5.


March 31, 2017

Music played by EEG featured in DXARTS Spring Concert April 6

UW Music School Director Richard Karpen plays an electromagnetic piano called a Disklavier. Though he is shown performing on the keys, some of the music for the April 6 DXARTS Spring Concert will be played hands-free, with only the EEG.

The Disklavier is an electromagnetic piano that — like the UW-created encephalophone recently reported on by the Seattle Times — is played by brain waves alone, via an electroencephalogram. UW audiences can see and hear this new technology in “Music of Today: The DXARTS Spring Concert,” April 6, in Meany Hall.


March 23, 2017

Jackson School to offer lectures for students on ‘Trump in the World’

Faculty with the UW Jackson School of International Studies will explore the impact of the 2016 election on their respective areas of expertise in a new two-credit class titled “Trump in the World: International Implications of the Trump Presidency.”


March 13, 2017

New from author David Shields: ‘Other People: Takes & Mistakes’

"Other People: Takes & Mistakes," by UW English professor David Shields, was published by Knopf in February.

UW English professor and New York Times best-selling author David Shields has a new book out and — perhaps unsurprisingly — it’s getting excellent reviews. Shields has a couple of local book events coming up for “Other People: Takes & Mistakes.”


March 7, 2017

‘Pippin’: Dance, drama, music team for UW Musical Theater Program’s third production, March 8-19

The UW Musical Theater Program presents "Pippin" March 8-19 at the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse.

Director Wilson Mendieta discusses “Pippin,” the third production of the UW’s Musical Theater Program, running March 8 – 19 in the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse Theater.


Round 2 of UW cherry blossom season is underway

Cherry trees in full bloom last spring.

Full bloom for the iconic cherry trees in the UW’s Quad is expected the week of March 26, 2017.


March 3, 2017

‘Poor writing makes for poor science’: Scott Montgomery publishes new edition of popular ‘Guide to Communicating Science’

The second edition of "The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science" by Scott L. Montgomery, published in February 2017 by University of Chicago Press Books.

Scientific research that doesn’t get communicated to the public may as well not have happened at all, says Scott Montgomery in the second edition of “The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science.”


March 1, 2017

Polar Science Weekend attractions range from old-fashioned ice sled to future NASA satellite

Polar Science Weekend poster

University of Washington polar scientists are holding the 12th annual Polar Science Weekend, Friday through Sunday, March 3-5, at Pacific Science Center in Seattle. This year’s lineup includes a simulation from NASA of its new ICESat-2 instrument. Visitors can get scanned by an instrument above their head that measures a person’s height using an infrared…


February 28, 2017

Eisenhower up, Wilson down, Roosevelts rule: UW historian Margaret O’Mara part of CSPAN 2017 presidential ranking survey

Margaret O'Mara

UW historian Margaret O’Mara discusses the CSPAN 2017 Presidential Historians Survey. She participated in this ranking of the nation’s presidents in 10 categories of effectiveness.


February 23, 2017

University of Washington named a ‘top producer’ of Fulbright scholars, students

Bronze W

Twenty-one UW undergraduate and graduate students received a Fulbright award and six scholars from the UW were awarded Fulbright grants for 2016-17.


UW CSE announces the Guestrin Endowed Professorship in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Photo of Carlos Guestrin

University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering announced today the establishment of the Guestrin Endowed Professorship in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This $1 million endowment will further enhance UW CSE’s ability to recruit and retain the world’s most outstanding faculty members in these burgeoning areas.


February 22, 2017

UW astronomer Eric Agol assists in new seven-planet NASA discovery using ‘distracted driving’ technique

This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets’ diameters, masses and distances from the host star. UW astronomer Eric Agol assisted with the big new discovery.

UW astronomy professor Eric Agol is part of the large team of researchers that has just announced confirmation of several Earth-sized, potentially habitable planets orbiting a star about 40 light-years away.


Love, parenting and murder: Undergraduate Theater Society stages ‘Medea’ from translation by UW classics professor

The Undergraduate Theater Society will present "Medea" Feb. 23 through March 5 in the Cabaret Theater of Hutchinson Hall. Shown from left are student actors Ariaga Mucek, Jordan Kerlaske (in the title role), Annika Knapp, and Anaïs Gralpois.

The UW Undergraduate Theater Society will present “Medea” Feb. 23 through March 5 in the Cabaret Theater of Hutchinson Hall, home of the School of Drama.


UW’s Kristin Laidre awarded Pew marine fellowship to study effects of climate change, subsistence hunting on polar bears

Kristin Laidre

A new, two-part project led by the UW’s Kristin Laidre aims to explore the interacting effects of climate change and subsistence hunting on polar bears, while also illuminating the cultural value of the species to indigenous peoples and the role they play in conservation.


February 15, 2017

UW affiliate faculty member in anthropology presents her book, ‘Seawomen of Iceland’

Maritime communities take various forms around the planet and through the centuries. Margaret Willson, affiliate associate professor of anthropology and Canadian Studies Arctic Program at the University of Washington, is the author of “Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge,” published in 2016 by University of Washington Press. UW Today asked Willson a few questions…


Early Earth as exoplanet: NASA highlights just-published UW Virtual Planetary Laboratory research

When haze built up in the atmosphere of Archean Earth, billions of years ago, the young planet might have looked like this artist's interpretation - a pale orange dot. A team of astronomers including members of the UW's Virtual Planetary Laboratory thinks the haze was self-limiting, cooling the surface by about 36 degrees Fahrenheit – not enough to cause runaway glaciation. The team’s modeling suggests that atmospheric haze might be helpful for identifying earthlike exoplanets that could be habitable.

Recently published research from the UW’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory (VPL) using ancient Earth as a stand-in for hypothetically habitable exoplanets has been highlighted by NASA in a feature article. Leading the research was Giada Arney, who was a UW astronomy doctoral student when doing the work and is now with NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center.


February 10, 2017

Ralina Joseph co-edits special journal issue on race, respectability and the media

Ralina Joseph

Ralina Joseph, University of Washington associate professor of communication, has guest co-edited a special triple issue of the interdisciplinary journal Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society with her former mentor and dissertation adviser, Jane Rhodes of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Joseph’s own article in the issue focuses on the…


February 6, 2017

‘Overwhelming’ response, global press attention for new UW Information School course, ‘Calling BS’

It’s almost unheard-of for a university class to spark global press attention — and offers of book deals — before instruction even begins. But such is the case with the UW Information School’s new course, “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”


February 3, 2017

New digital collection from UW Libraries: Glaciers and Landforms

ridged ice

Thousands of photos of glaciers, volcanoes, rivers and other natural phenomena are now easily viewed by the public through the University of Washington Libraries. UW Libraries’ Special Collections this fall released a new Glacier and Landforms Photograph Collection. The collection is designed to provide online access to photos of glaciers, geology and related subjects. At…


January 30, 2017

Artists in the lab: Talk will highlight a creative partnership between art and science

a work of art

Jennifer Nemhauser leads a research laboratory of scientists, all immersed in the complex world of plant hormones. But last year, the University of Washington professor of biology boosted her lab’s roster with some unexpected talent. Claire Cowie — an artist, UW alumna and lecturer — spent three months in 2016 as a part-time artist-in-residence in Nemhauser’s lab….


January 27, 2017

UW statement regarding purported Red Square event Monday

A statement from Denzil Suite, vice president for student life at the University of Washington, regarding an event purported to be taking place Monday on Red Square.


January 25, 2017

Monsoons to mosquitoes: UW researchers attend national weather conference in Seattle

satellite image of clouds

Researchers from across the UW are presenting their work at the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting this week in Seattle.


Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation boosts vital work of the UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) announced today the foundation’s commitment to invest $279 million in IHME to expand its work over the next decade.


January 18, 2017

Listen to the Earth smash another global temperature record

upward-sloping line

The year 2016 was officially the hottest in recent history, beating previous records in 2014 and 2015. UW scientists let you hear the data speak for itself.


January 17, 2017

Three unique pieces comprise 2017 Dance Faculty Concert Jan. 20-22

The UW Dance Program will team with the “vertical dance company” BANDALOOP for part of its annual Dance Faculty Concert, to be held Jan. 20 – 22 in Meany Hall.


January 12, 2017

UW law professor leads group defending ‘aural tradition’ of creativity in famous ‘Blurred Lines’ copyright case

Marvin Gaye

UW School of Law professor Sean O’Connor has filed a brief in the famous “Blurred Lines” music copyright case, arguing for full composition credit for those who worked in the “aural tradition” and did not use traditional musical notation.


Big data to help homelessness: Topic of UW, City of Seattle event Jan. 17

Using big data to address human services ― including health, foster care and the challenges of homelessness ― will be the focus of a workshop next week at Seattle City Hall hosted by the University of Washington and City of Seattle along with MetroLab Network, a recent White House initiative to improve cities through university-city partnerships.


LATTICE connects women engineers in early academic careers with peers, support

LATTICE logo

A new national program at the UW — LATTICE — aims to diversify the national engineering faculty population by building supportive communities during the critical transition from graduate studies to permanent tenure-track positions.


January 11, 2017

UW oceanographer dropping robotic floats on voyage to Antarctica

people lifting sensor

Autonomous floating sensors built at the UW are being deployed to track conditions in the waters surrounding Antarctica.


January 10, 2017

Two UW professors win Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

Emily Fox and Catherine Karr

Two University of Washington professors have received the 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the U.S. government to early career scientists and engineers.


January 5, 2017

UW President Ana Mari Cauce on board first West Coast commercial flight to Havana

Ana Mari Cauce

UW President Ana Mari Cauce, the first Cuban-born president of a major American university, was on board the first West Coast commercial flight to Havana on Thursday. Cauce left Cuba with her family when she was 3 years old. “I’m thrilled at this new spirit of openness and the opportunity for us to build greater ties…


December 27, 2016

Year in review: 2016 news from the University of Washington

collage of year in review stories

The research happening here at the University of Washington — across all three campuses — is exceptional and selecting only a handful of stories to feature from the hundreds, if not thousands, that came out this year is a monumental task. Using UW Today’s page view data, social media reach and news coverage, we have narrowed it down to these highlights showcasing the impact and ambition of the UW’s work regionally and around the world — listed here in chronological order.


December 21, 2016

Documents that Changed the World: Sir Ronald Fisher defines ‘statistical significance,’ 1925

Editions of Sir Ronald Fisher's 1925 work "Statistical Methods for Research Workers." Story is about an episode of Joe Janes' podcast "Documents that Changed the World"

Joe Janes’ latest Documents that Changed the World podcast is about Sir Ronald Fisher, the man who set the mark of “statistical significance” for ages afterward at 5 percent, no more no less.



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