“I am truly fortunate to have known Karlotta. She was a talented and amazing individual who deeply cared about her students. The work she did and the support she gave me opened so many doors. I wish I could spend more time with her, and I’ll be forever grateful for the time I had.”

“Karlotta was the first person I met when I moved to Seattle. She and her daughter opened their home to me, a new Seattle transplant, starting grad school. When I left Seattle, she officiated my wedding!

Karlotta lived and breathed inclusion, instilling a sense of belonging, and genuinely striving to make every person feel comfortable being themselves. This is what I needed to be the person I am today. She was the person I called when in need, because I knew she’d answer. I now have my own research group at New York University in the Department of Chemistry. She inspired the start of me baking goods for my kids-I call them my kids because that’s how she referred to those she cared a lot about. She made me chocolate chip cookies, baked with Crisco, and took me lunch anytime she thought I looked hungry. The Ram in the U-Village has a special place in my heart. Karlotta was a person who believed in my well being. The little things go a long way.

She worked to make my dreams come true. Through OMA&D, she enabled the start of my outreach program, Chem Scholars that provided tutoring and mentorship. I teamed up with the Health Sciences Center Minority Students Program (HSCMSP) to identify a cohort of 15 students belonging to traditionally excluded groups interested in pursuing undergraduate degrees in Chemistry. Karlotta was the “undergrad mom”. 65% of the completed their degrees in STEM and are in STEM careers. I still keep in touch with them and write letter of support. I don’t think I would have had that kind of impact on their career choices/options if it wasn’t for Karlotta.

A few paragraphs will never be enough space for me to talk about who Karlotta was to me, but if you knew her, you would understand. She was selfless, she was hilarious, and she had a significant impact on many lives, especially mine.”

“My academic and career success is in no small part due to the mentorship I’ve received from Karlotta. I know first-hand the power that mentorship has on young adults as we aspire to achieve great things in life. I’m committed to carrying her legacy forward by awarding an annual scholarship in Karlotta’s name so that many more young adults can benefit from her life’s work. In doing so, her spirit, commitment to our academic journey, and her mentorship will continue to be honored.”

“One of the first courses I taught at the University of Washington (UW) was a newly designed undergraduate course entitled “Diversity Issues in the Health Care Environment.” This course was first offered in 1994. In her infinitely prescient and creative way, Karlotta recognized that undergraduates aspiring to major in the health sciences, with the goal of becoming health professionals, needed a comprehensive understanding of the populations they were preparing to serve. She believed their curriculum should include training in how to approach patients in culturally competent ways. Karlotta strongly felt that technical clinical skills needed to be complemented by a deep appreciation for patients’ lived experiences and that clinical care is best delivered with empathy and compassion.

Karlotta designed an extraordinary course that took students into the field, providing them with real-world experiences of the factors driving health outcomes. Years before the concept of “social determinants of health” became mainstream, Karlotta was already incorporating these ideas into her teaching. The course included an annual field trip to King County Jail, where students observed firsthand the range of physical and mental health conditions experienced by incarcerated individuals. When students were not engaged in field visits, Karlotta leveraged her extensive network of community partners to bring real-world perspectives into the classroom. For instance, students heard personal accounts of how occupational injuries could lead to a downward spiral of physical, mental, and economic challenges, highlighting how close many individuals are to becoming housing insecure or homeless. In her unique and impactful teaching style, Karlotta went beyond mere statistics. She created learning opportunities that enabled students to see the human faces behind the data they studied in textbooks and scholarly articles.

The second story I want to share underscores Karlotta’s enduring commitment to education. In 1994, I had the privilege of developing a National Institutes of Health-funded research program called the Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT) Program. This program ran for 28 years, and even when it moved with me from UW to Harvard, Karlotta remained a steadfast contributor to its mission. She never missed a meeting, she played an integral role in screening and selecting fellows every year, and most importantly, she designed and taught compelling sessions on global cultural competency. Karlotta even made the annual trek to Boston to ensure MIRT fellows received the highest quality preparation for their 10- to 12-week fellowships in diverse locations such as Northern Vietnam, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Above all, I will remember Karlotta as a teacher and mentor of the highest order. Her unbounded energy, imagination, and creativity set her apart. While her success in securing significant extramural funding for educational initiatives was notable, her greatest legacy lies in her students and colleagues, including myself. We are out in the world, carrying forward the invaluable lessons we learned from Karlotta Rosebaugh.”