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Administrative affairs | News releases | UW and the community

April 14, 2025

Tina Pamintuan selected as next president and CEO of KUOW

The University of Washington and KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio are pleased to announce the appointment of Tina Pamintuan as KUOW’s next President and CEO, effective Aug. 1, 2025. Pamintuan is a distinguished figure in public media, known for her bold leadership and extensive experience as a journalist and educator. Pamintuan currently serves as the CEO of St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR), a role she assumed in December 2021. She has been an NPR Board member since November 2020 and chairs its DEI committee. 

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

April 8, 2025

UW professors highlight music in powwow culture course

University of Washington associate professors Jessica Bissett Perea and John-Carolos Perea are co-teaching a new iteration of “Powwow Cultures in Native North America” this quarter. While a powwow course existed in the past, this is the first time it’s an interdisciplinary offering between American Indian Studies and the School of Music.

News releases

April 7, 2025

UW Information School ties for 1st; other UW programs place highly in US News & World Report Best Graduate Schools ranking

The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools released late Monday.

Administrative affairs | UW News blog

Statement on UW students having visas revoked without notice

The University of Washington has learned that, as of this posting, five current UW students plus four recent graduates participating in post-graduation training have had their visas unilaterally cancelled by the federal government without prior notice to the University or the students. We are deeply concerned about the well-being of these students and graduates and are working to support them.

News releases | Public Health | Research | Science

April 2, 2025

Children exposed to higher ozone levels early in life are more likely to develop asthma

Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 — but researchers didn’t observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.  

Research | Social science | UW News blog

March 31, 2025

Discovery of Quina technology challenges view of ancient human development in East Asia

Ben Marwick, a University of Washington professor of archaeology, was part of a team of researchers that uncovered a complete Quina technological system in the Longtan site in southwest China. The discovery challenges the widely held perception that the Middle Paleolithic period was mostly static in East Asia.

UW News blog | Video

March 26, 2025

Video: A look at UW Libraries’ rare 1544 edition of Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’

Bound in calfskin and detailed in gold, a rare 1544 edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy was added to UW Libraries’ collection this year. The book is nearly 500 years old, and has likely lasted so long because its pages are made of durable linen fiber, not wood pulp. The handmade leather cover and sturdy binding also helped preserve the book. When librarian Julie Tanaka handles the book today, she knows that there is something here to pique anyone’s interest.

Engineering | Technology | UW News blog | Video

March 25, 2025

OS-CONNECT data set helps pedestrians find accessible routes all over Washington state

A new data set called OS-CONNECT maps sidewalks and other pedestrian paths statewide, from Forks on the Olympic Peninsula to Clarkston in the southeast. In House Bill 1125, the Washington State Legislature assigned the UW’s Taskar Center for Accessible Technology to build the data set, which was completed well ahead of its projected 2027 goal.

Official notices

March 21, 2025

Determination of non-significance: Husky Soccer Field Renovation

Pursuant to the provisions of WAC 197-11-340 and WAC 478-324-140, the University of Washington hereby provides public notice of: DETERMINATION OF NON-SIGNIFICANCE Project Name: Husky Soccer Field Renovation Proponent/Lead Agency: UW–Seattle Campus Comment Period Closes: April 4, 2025 Description: The proposed University of Washington Husky Soccer Field project is intended to renovate the field turf to further level the field for drainage and replace light fixtures for energy efficiency and better directional lighting to the field while reducing off-field lighting….

Honors and awards | UW Notebook

March 19, 2025

Faculty/staff honors: Best paper, collaborative innovation, young investigator award

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes the Best Paper Award at NeurIPS Pluralistic Alignment Workshop, Scialog: Early Science with the LSST Collaborative Innovation Award and 2024 AVS Thin Film Young Investigator Award. Professor wins ‘best paper’ at NeurIPS Pluralistic Alignment Workshop Max Kleiman-Weiner, assistant professor in the UW Foster School of Business, received the $1,000 Best Paper Award on Pluralistic Alignment at the NeurIPS 2024 Workshop. The Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, or NeurIPS, is one of…

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

March 12, 2025

ArtSci Roundup: April 2025

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this April. Worldwide Conversations April 4 | University of Washington International Security Colloquium (UWISC): “The Blame Game: Militias, civilians, and the states’ accountability-effectiveness trade-off” (Political Science) April 4 | Political Economy Forum presents Brian Leung (Political Science) April 7 |…

Buildings and grounds | News releases | UW and the community | Video

March 7, 2025

Video: Predicting when cherry trees will bloom on UW campus

[April 4] UPDATE:  Our iconic cherry trees are in bloom. Plan your visit to campus using this map, which highlights the locations of different cherry trees on the University of Washington campus, including the Yoshino blossoms in the Quad. [March 31] UPDATE: The majority of the blossoms are in peak bloom, a developmental phase which usually lasts about 10 days.  This phase can last longer if the weather is cool, calm and dry. [March 25] UPDATE:  There are three developmental…

Engineering | News releases | Science | Technology | Video

March 4, 2025

Video: The UW’s assistive-feeding robot gets tested outside the lab

Researchers deployed a robotic feeding arm in a pair of studies outside the lab. In the first, six users with motor impairments used the robot to feed themselves a meal in a UW cafeteria, an office or a conference room. In the second study, a community researcher and co-author on the research used the system at home for five days.

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

February 26, 2025

From the Hollywood Bowl to the classroom, UW professor blends roles as educator and professional musician

At the University of Washington, Ted Poor is the associate director of the School of Music and an associate professor of Jazz Studies. The rest of his calendar is filled with tours, performances and recording sessions.

UW News blog

February 25, 2025

The UW once again is a Fulbright top producer

The University of Washington has been recognized once again as one of American higher education’s top producers of Fulbright students and scholars. This recognition is given to the U.S. colleges and universities that had the highest number of applicants selected for the 2024-25 Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar Programs – the federal government’s flagship international exchange program.

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

February 20, 2025

ArtSci Roundup: March 2025

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this March. Closing Exhibits March 1 | Overexposures: Photographs from the Henry Collection (Henry Art Gallery) March 1 | Body Language: Recent Acquisitions in the Henry Collection (Henry Art Gallery) March 13 | Unissued Diplomas: Honoring the Student Victims of…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

February 18, 2025

Coffee grounds and Reishi mushroom spores can be 3D printed into a compostable alternative to plastics

UW researchers developed a new system for turning used coffee grounds into a paste, which they use to 3D print objects, such as packing materials and a vase. They inoculate the paste with Reishi mushroom spores, which turn the coffee grounds into a resilient, fully compostable alternative to plastics.

Honors and awards | News releases | Research

Three UW scientists named Sloan Fellows

Three University of Washington faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 18, are Amy L. Orsborn, the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor of electrical & computer engineering and bioengineering, Dianne J. Xiao, an assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Amy X. Zhang, an assistant professor of computer science in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. 

Environment | Global | News releases | Research | Science

February 6, 2025

Whale poop contains iron that may have helped fertilize past oceans

A recent theory proposes that whales weren’t just predators in the ocean environment: Nutrients that whales excreted may have provided a key fertilizer to these marine ecosystems. Research led by University of Washington oceanographers finds that whale excrement contains significant amounts of iron, a vital element that is often scarce in ocean ecosystems, and nontoxic forms of copper, another essential nutrient that in some forms can harm life.

Administrative affairs | For UW employees | News releases | UW and the community

February 3, 2025

Robert J. Jones named 34th president of the University of Washington

The University of Washington Board of Regents on Monday announced that Robert J. Jones, who is currently concluding a nine-year tenure as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as the 34th President of the UW. The Board had previously authorized Chair Blaine Tamaki to enter into contract negotiations with Jones and an agreement has been reached. Jones’ five-year contract will begin on August 1.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Grasshopper size changes suggest how to predict winners and losers under climate change

Thousands of grasshopper specimens from mountains in Colorado show trends in how the insects changed in size over 65 years. With earlier emergence of spring greenery and earlier summer drought, grasshopper species that emerged early in the year grew larger, while grasshopper species that emerge later in the year grew smaller in size. The study, led by UW biologist Lauren Buckley, shows that changes in insect size can be predicted based on lifecycles and environmental conditions.

Engineering | Expert quotes | Health and medicine | Research | Science | UW News blog

Q&A: UW researchers are designing cancer therapeutics that can kill cancer cells and restore healthy tissue

Two University of Washington researchers are developing treatments that aim to simultaneously treat cancer and improve patients’ quality of life. For World Cancer Day, UW News asked them to discuss their novel materials and how these materials can treat both the cancer and the patient.

Health and medicine | Public Health | Research | Science | UW News blog

Q&A: UW-led research identifies migration, housing quality as risk factors in earthquake deaths

Workers from small, rural communities often move into the outer edges of cities, which offer greater economic opportunities but often have low-quality housing that is likely to suffer greater damage during an earthquake. The risk grows even more when migrants come from low-income or tribal villages.

Environment | Research | Science | UW News blog

January 27, 2025

Q&A: How rate of CO2 rise can affect a global ocean current

How fast the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide — and with it, the temperature — goes up matters for the ability of humans and ecosystems to adjust. A slower increase gives humans time to move away from low-lying coasts and animals time to move to new habitats. It turns out the rate of that increase matters for non-living systems, too. Camille Hankel, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies, talks about her research on the Atlantic Ocean circulation.

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

January 23, 2025

ArtSci Roundup: February 2025

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this February. Featured Events: Topics in Social Change February 4 | A Shattered Country: Burma/Myanmar Four Years After the 2021 Military Coup d’Etat (Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas) February 5 | The Social Shift: Content Creators, New Voices,…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Technology

January 21, 2025

Study finds strong negative associations with teenagers in AI models

A UW team studied how AI systems portray teens in English and Nepali, and found that in English language systems around 30% of the responses referenced societal problems such as violence, drug use and mental illness. The Nepali system produced fewer negative associations in responses, closer to 10% of all answers.

News releases | Research | Science

January 16, 2025

Panorama of our nearest galactic neighbor unveils hundreds of millions of stars

The Hubble Space Telescope has generated the most comprehensive survey yet of the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galactic neighbor to the Milky Way. The new mosaic of about 2.5 billion pixels yields new clues to the galaxy’s history. UW astronomers presented the findings Jan. 16 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Administrative affairs | News releases | UW and the community

January 15, 2025

Office of Civil Rights concludes UW investigation with resolution agreement, no finding of liability or wrongdoing

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights announced the conclusion of its investigation into complaints alleging that the University of Washington discriminated against students on the basis of shared ancestry by failing to respond to incidents of harassment consistent with the requirements of Title VI. The resolution agreement “does not constitute an admission of liability, non-compliance or wrongdoing by the University,” and the UW has agreed to five actions that will strengthen its commitment to timely and effective responses to complaints filed by students, faculty and staff.  

Engineering | News releases | Research | Technology

January 8, 2025

A smart ring with a tiny camera lets users point and click to control home devices

UW researchers have developed IRIS, a smart ring that allows users to point and click to control smart devices. The prototype Bluetooth ring contains a small camera which sends an image of the selected device to the user’s phone. The user can control the device by clicking a small button or — for devices with gradient controls, such as a speaker’s volume — rotating the ring.

News releases | Research | Science

January 3, 2025

The carbon in our bodies probably left the galaxy and came back on cosmic ‘conveyor belt’

University of Washington scientists recently discovered that the giant ‘conveyor belt’ currents that push star-forged material out of our galaxy and pull it back in can also transport carbon atoms. That means that a good deal of the carbon here on Earth, including the carbon in our bodies, likely left the galaxy at some point!

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

December 19, 2024

ArtSci Roundup: January 2025

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this January. Featured: Global Connections Through January | Teamsters, Turtles, and Beyond: The Legacy of the Seattle WTO Protests — MOHAI exhibit (History) January 9 | Global Sport Lab: What Worlds Does Soccer Imagine? (Jackson School) January 15 | Autopsy…