The end of each year is a time to look back at victories and milestones, to remember friends and family and reflect on what we’ve learned. It’s also a time to look ahead — with optimism and determination — toward the possibilities that the new year holds.
For the University of Washington, 2016 was an outstanding year. We honored our first Husky 100 cohort to recognize the myriad ways that UW students are making the most of their Husky Experience. We celebrated our faculty’s many successes, including six UW faculty members who were inducted into national academies and Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless, who was selected for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics. We recognized the public service of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, ’78, with the Alumna Summa Laude Dignata award.
We also declared our intention to transform population health and lead our region in improving the health and well-being of our own communities and communities everywhere. With Be Boundless — For Washington, For the World, we launched the most ambitious philanthropic campaign in our University’s history, a campaign that will greatly expand the good we can do in the world.
Finally, our Huskies demonstrated excellence in competition, just as they do in the classroom — winning the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, going to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four and winning the Pac-12 Football Championship, with a national playoff game yet to come. We also had three student athletes recognized as Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the year in their respective sports.
Whatever your connection to the UW, you were a part of what made this year so special. We can all be proud to call ourselves Huskies, so I hope you’ll take a moment to celebrate the UW’s extraordinary accomplishments and the extraordinary people behind them — what we call the #BestofUW.
As we kick off 2017 — and look beyond to farther horizons — we have much to be grateful for, and much to keep working towards. We will work to increase access to excellence for students today and those who will follow, to continue to probe the depths of discovery and knowledge, and to fulfill our core mission by having the greatest possible impact on the public good — and we will sustain and enhance the inclusive and diverse nature of our campuses.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the UW one of the world’s greatest public universities, and best wishes for a peaceful and joyous new year as we work together for a better world.