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 with the people of Cuba,” said Cauce. “We have much to share and learn about the Cuban people’s work in health care and education. This…
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.
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.
Miqin Zhang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington, is looking for ways to help the body heal itself when injury, disease or surgery cause large-scale damage to one type of tissue in particular: skeletal muscle. Her goal is to create a synthetic, porous, biologically compatible “scaffold” that mimics the normal extracellular environment of skeletal muscle — onto which human cells could migrate and grow new replacement fibers.
On Dec. 10 in Stockholm, David James Thouless, University of Washington professor emeritus of physics, received the Nobel Prize in Physics from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Provost Jerry Baldasty kicked off the Transforming Administration Program in Spring 2015 with a key goal of creating one administration, one university with an enhanced culture of service ultimately serving faculty and staff to achieve the University of Washington’s teaching, research and service missions. The program aims to make administrative departments more efficient and effective, and eliminate silos.
Answers to frequently asked questions about a 255-year-old tumor in a ‘pre-mammal.’
At the Hack for Access: Holiday Toy event on Dec. 11 and the UW, community volunteers will disassemble and rewire toys to make them more accessible for children with disabilities.
“Our university is and will always be a welcoming place for people of every race and faith, including our Muslim students, faculty and staff.”
![Actors in the UW Undergraduate Theater Society's production of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised]," running Dec. 1 – 11 in the Cabaret Theatre in Hutchinson Hall, home of the UW School of Drama. From left, they are Ellie Mondloch, Daphne Sage Gomez and Jake Lemberg.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/04144900/CW-Image-1-150x150.jpg)
The UW Undergraduate Theater Society will perform the high-energy parody “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised],” Dec. 1-11 in the Cabaret Theatre in Hutchinson Hall.
See also: “How Capt. James Cook’s intricate 1778 records reveal global warming today in Arctic” Seattle Times, Nov. 16 Harry Stern, a polar scientist at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory, has been studying the Arctic Ocean for decades, and sailed part of the Northwest Passage in 2009. Stern’s latest work uses the earliest explorers’ experiences to better understand a maritime environment that still contains many unknowns. A paper published in November in Polar Geography uses Captain James Cook’s…
Several Jackson School of International Studies faculty members comment on the geopolitical possibilities of the coming Donald Trump administration.
Two University of Washington professors are leading an effort to help U.S. fisheries consider the larger marine environment, rather than just a single species, when managing a fishery.
Washington state’s housing market remained strong in the third quarter of 2016, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
UW Libraries will host an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, in conjunction with the current World War I-themed exhibit, “Washington on the Western Front: At Home and Over There.”
The Evans School of Policy & Governance will look back at the 2016 election in a discussion on Nov. 10 at Parrington Hall.
The Department of Electrical Engineering’s 2016 Lytle Lecture series will explore bridging theory and practice in compressed sensing, which has enabled speedups in medical imaging and scientific signal processing.
Research that peers below Mount St. Helens finds that the material below the western and eastern half of the mountain is different material and temperatures, and suggests that the source of explosive magma is coming from the east.
From access to green space to pollution exposure, environmental issues in cities often disproportionately impact low-income communities and people of color. Climate change can exacerbate those issues, affecting everything from housing to food systems. And growing numbers of people moving to urban areas further strains infrastructure and creates additional challenges. The complex interplay between urban development, climate change and environmental and social justice is the focus of a two-day symposium to be held at the University of Washington Nov. 7…
In a tribute to a local natural resources economist’s life and career, former colleagues and collaborators — including several UW researchers and many alums — have contributed articles published this week in a special edition of the environmental science journal Coastal Management.
“The Institutions Curse,” a new book by UW political scientist Victor Menaldo, finds a new explanation for the “resource curse” problem — the idea that resource-rich countries tend to be burdened with corrupt governments and underdeveloped economies.
A new permanent ballot drop box is now located on the north side of Schmitz Hall. King County voters can drop off their completed ballots any time between Oct. 20 and 8 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. Schmitz Hall is at 1400 NE Campus Parkway. The ballot box is located by the north entrance on NE 41st Street.The new box replaces the King County Elections van that was previously parked in Red Square during the weeks leading up…
The UW’s Yesler Swamp, part of the Union Bay Natural Area along Lake Washington, has a newly completed, fully handicapped-accessible boardwalk trail that loops throughout the wetland, offering opportunities for birdwatching, exercise and a chance to experience nature in the heart of the city.
A UW panel discussion Oct. 27 will look at immigration-related questions from philosophical, sociological and historical perspectives. It’s part of a two-day international conference on immigration.
The National Science Foundation will fund a three-year, $1.5 million research project to study teaching and learning of mathematical modeling in elementary education. Julia Aguirre, an associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Washington Tacoma, is one of four principal investigators leading the endeavor. “Mathematical modeling is a process of using mathematics to analyze a ‘real-world’ problem, represent it using mathematical concepts, make predictions and take action,” said Aguirre. “It’s used widely in business, science, technology and engineering…
An IV drip technology developed by Shift Labs, founded by University of Washington Human Centered Design and Engineering Professor Beth Kolko, has been recognized by Popular Science with a 2016 “Best of What’s New” Award.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has awarded a prestigious fellowship to University of Washington assistant professor Thomas Rothvoss to fuel his passion to balance precision and efficiency in complex mathematical calculations. The Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering honor early-career academics pursuing innovative research in all fields of science and engineering. “It’s a great honor — and frankly, I’m still digesting the news,” said Rothvoss, who has joint appointments with the Department of Mathematics and the Department of…
Communication professor Leah Ceccarelli discusses the work that brought her the National Communication Association’s Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award for 2016.
A technique to store and retrieve digital data in DNA developed by University of Washington and Microsoft researchers is one of the most innovative and game-changing technologies of the year, according to Popular Science’s 2016 “Best of What’s New” Awards.
Minda Martin had not lived in Seattle long before, on a walking tour, she noticed the famously truncated “ramps to nowhere” in the Washington Park Arboretum. A filmmaker and faculty member at UW Bothell, she was fascinated — and inspired. “I was stunned by these giant freeway stumps covered in ivy along land that didn’t seem to belong to anyone,” said Martin, who moved to Seattle in 2013. “But it was clearly important to a large variety of folks who…
Estella Leopold, a University of Washington professor emeritus of biology, has written a new memoir of her formative years, “Stories from the Leopold Shack: Sand County Revisited.” She describes life on the land where her father, Aldo Leopold, practiced the revolutionary conservation philosophy described in his famous book of essays “A Sand County Almanac.”
Ryan Calo, an assistant professor in the University of Washington School of Law, will be among national experts at a White House event tomorrow on innovations in science and technology. A nationally known expert on robotics and privacy law, Calo will speak at the White House Frontiers Conference at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University on Oct. 13. He will be part of a panel moderated by President Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and will discuss the role…
The Livable City Year program will formally celebrate the start of its first year at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House on the UW’s campus in a kickoff event open to all. Professors leading Livable City Year courses this fall will talk about their projects, followed by time for Q&A.
The UW’s Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project has an important new component — the LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History Project. There will be a public launch at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, in Room 340 of the HUB.
Accelerating growth in effectively delivering new oral and transdermal drug delivery techniques will be the focus of the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering’s 2016 Allan S. Hoffman Lecture on Oct. 10.
As the fourth-fastest growing city in the United States, Seattle faces important questions in its quest to remain a resilient and sustainable community. Can we build to withstand natural disasters, reduce environmental toxins as consumption rises, meet urban transportation challenges so food, supplies and consumer products can get where they need to go? Over the next month, College of Engineering’s annual fall lecture series will feature faculty focusing on these questions and developing technologies to build more resilient urban communities….
UW Libraries is inviting the public to Suzzallo Library at lunchtime on Oct. 7 to listen to — or participate in — the annual reading of the United States Constitution.
University of Washington scientists have put world’s longest-running measure of atmospheric carbon dioxide to music. The result is a 90-second rendition of human-induced climate change: The video project was done by Judy Twedt, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences, and Dargan Frierson, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences and amateur musician. Their techno soundtrack maps musical notes to the Keeling Curve, a 58-year record of carbon dioxide measured high in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory in…
UW oceanographers are working on a system that will act like a ‘weather forecast’ for Pacific Northwest harmful algal blooms.
A team of researchers led by the University of Washington believes creating a network of community-based science is possible with new support from the National Science Foundation.