The last year has been an especially challenging one. Not only were we faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we also confronted injustices, tragedies and traumas that made difficult circumstances that much harder. In the best of times, we are already so proud and inspired by the extraordinary achievements of our staff, faculty, students, retirees and alumni. In the wake of this unprecedented year, it is a profound privilege to recognize some of the most outstanding contributors with the annual Awards of Excellence. This year’s award recipients have distinguished themselves beyond all expectations, and we are deeply grateful for all the ways they make our community better.
For the sake of everyone’s health and safety, we can’t hold our usual indoor celebration, but we invite you to visit our 2021 Awards of Excellence website to learn more about all the incredible Huskies who have gone above and beyond over the last year — from fueling lifesaving efforts to fight the virus, to leading the herculean transition to remote work and learning, to advancing our mission of diversity, equity and inclusion. Each of our honorees has made a significant and lasting impact. Congratulations to our award recipients, and thank you to the many UW faculty, staff and academic personnel who took the time to nominate them.
This year’s staff recognitions include a special category — the Together We Will Awards — which, for this year only, replace the Distinguished Staff Awards. These awards were created to celebrate the enormous contributions of staff in meeting the unique challenges of this year. The 20 recipients of the Together We Will Awards have each done extraordinary work to enable the UW to continue to thrive and fulfill our public mission.
And as always, we are celebrating faculty, academic personnel, students, alumni and retirees for their exceptional accomplishments. Among our distinguished teaching awardees are faculty who continued to cultivate excellence and ignite students’ passion for learning while adapting to remote teaching. Our student awardees have shown not only their immense talent but their persistence and grit, and our alumni and retiree recipients are proof that the Husky spirit is deeply ingrained. Every one of these honorees embodies the best of who we are as a community and the impact that we have on the world.
To our honorees, congratulations again on your exemplary work and accomplishments, and thank you for all that you do to advance our values and the mission of our great public University.