Today, Jerry and I were very pleased to take an opportunity to send a message to all the dedicated faculty and staff of the UW about just how important they are to the University, to our students’ success and to the impact – near and far – that we have as an institution. Below is our message which we think is worth sharing as widely as possible.
Presidential Blog
The 2016 University of Washington Annual President’s Address: For Washington and the World
When I get asked what my vision for the University of Washington is, I have a ready answer: I want this university to be the number one university in the world in terms of impact. I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about that impact – on our state, nation and our world. Above all, on our collective future.
UW Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless awarded Nobel Prize in Physics
Photo credit: Mary Levin, University of Washington
This morning we awoke to tremendous news: One of the University of Washington’s own, Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless, has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.
As the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted when awarding the prize to Thouless and two of his colleagues, “This year’s laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states.” Together, they overturned commonly held theories on superconductivity and suprafluidity, including demonstrating how superconductivity is possible at low temperatures — and why it disappears at higher temperatures. Researchers today are still exploring the “exotic worlds” discovered by Thouless and his fellow laureates, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz.
Prof. Thouless’ work is a perfect example of why curiosity-driven basic science is so vital. Not only did his discoveries open up entirely new fields of research, but they also have had implications for the electronic devices that power our world today and those that may do so in the future — everything from advanced superconductors to quantum computers to other applications we can hardly imagine. That’s why research that seeks to answer questions about the fundamental nature of our world, our universe and ourselves is as important as research with applications that are immediately known.
I know you will join me in congratulating Prof. Thouless on this incredible honor, as he becomes the seventh University of Washington faculty member to earn a Nobel Prize, and the second from our Department of Physics. This achievement is a testament to the groundbreaking nature of his work and an example of the excellence of our faculty, as well as a truly great day for the Department of Physics, the College of Arts and Sciences and our entire University.
We are all accountable for justice and equity
As interim president, I spoke to our university about racism, equity and the need for each of us to take personal responsibility for addressing our own biases and improving our University culture. We committed to deepen the work of more systematically combating racism and inequities, both individual and institutional, which persist here and throughout our society.
With Bob Santos’ passing, we’ve lost a giant
I had the opportunity to first get to know Bob Santos – known as “Uncle Bob” to so many he advocated for – when I chaired the UW’s Department of American Ethnic Studies. It was a tough time for the department, and our first meeting was marked by mutual skepticism. But it ended with mutual respect. Integrity and valor are the two words that first come to mind when I think of him. Through Bob’s leadership, advocacy and mentorship, the cause of civil rights and social justice has been advanced, and the lives of countless members of our community, especially Asian Pacific Islanders, have been improved.
We’ve truly lost a giant.
Seattle Times remembrance: ‘Uncle Bob’ Santos, legendary civil-rights activist, dies at 82
President Cauce speaks at Business Journal Live event on what’s next for the UW
This Wednesday, August 17, President Cauce sat down with Puget Sound Business Journal columnist Patti Payne for a wide-ranging discussion about the University, her experience thus far as president and what the future holds for the UW. Topics at the breakfast event, attended by dozens of Seattle business luminaries, ranged from the incoming freshman class to the Population Health initiative to the Husky Promise, the UW’s commitment to making education affordable to eligible Washington students. The Puget Sound Business Journal’s TechFlash blog followed up the event with a story, linked below, focused on the Global Innovation Exchange, the UW’s groundbreaking partnership with China’s Tsinghua University.
Puget Sound Business Journal: “UW president lays out vision for Global Innovation Exchange”
On free expression, universities must light the way
As we head into the home stretch of the election season there is heightened potential for visits to the UW by candidates or speakers invited by campus groups to speak on topics that may be quite controversial. That makes it a good time to remind ourselves of the fundamental importance of freedom of expression to our University and our nation.
Executive Council selected for the UW’s Population Health Initiative
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Jerry Baldasty announced today the selection of the 30-member Executive Council for the University’s new Population Health Initiative. The council’s members will lead the development of a 25-year vision for population health at the UW, as was originally announced in President Cauce’s remarks on May 3, 2016.
“Population health is not just about treating diseases and afflictions,” said Cauce. “Significant contributions from a number of different disciplines are required to truly improve health and well-being. We have tremendous strengths in those disciplines at the UW and in our region, and that’s reflected in the team of collaborators from across the University who will lead our work on this initiative.”
Executive Council members will work closely with students, faculty, staff and key leaders to create a shared vision for the UW as the leading university for improving the health and well-being of populations here and around the world. The five key areas targeted for achievement in this vision are education and capacity building, diagnostics and critical assessment, developing and testing innovations, implementation sciences, and strategy and planning.
“Selecting the council is our first step toward engaging the entire University community in the development of this groundbreaking initiative,” shared Baldasty. “Together we are well positioned as a university to lead improvements in the health and well-being of people here and around the world.”
The council represents all three UW campuses as well as the undergraduate and graduate student populations. Its members are:
- Ana Mari Cauce, president; chair
- Jerry Baldasty, provost and executive vice president
- Ali Mokdad, professor of Global Health, Epidemiology, and Health Services (IHME); vice chair
- Thaisa Way, associate professor of landscape architecture; Faculty Senate liaison
- David Anderson, executive director, Health Sciences administration
- Norm Beauchamp, professor and chair, Department of Radiology
- Kendra Canton, undergraduate student representative
- Alison Cullen, professor, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and adjunct professor, School of Public Health and College of the Environment
- Sara Curran, professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, and director, Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology
- Dave Eaton, dean and vice provost, Graduate School
- James Fogarty, associate professor, Computer Science and Engineering
- Ceci Giachelli, professor and W. Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Endowed Chair, Department of Bioengineering
- Eric King, graduate/professional student representative
- Vicky Lawson, professor of geography; director of University Honors
- Hedwig Lee, associate professor of sociology
- Joe Lott, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies
- India Ornelas, assistant professor of health services, School of Public Health
- David Reyes, assistant professor of nursing & healthcare leadership, UW Tacoma
- Sallie Sanford, associate professor of law and adjunct associate professor of health services
- Jane Simoni, professor of psychology and adjunct professor of global health
- Clarence Spigner, professor of health services, School of Public Health
- Bruder Stapleton, professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics, Seattle
- Emiko Tajima, associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor, School of Social Work
- LuAnne Thompson, professor of oceanography
- Wadiya Udell, associate professor, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
- Jurgen Unutzer, professor and chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- Judy Wasserheit, professor and William H. Foege Endowed Chair, Department of Global Health
- Lee Heck, associate vice president of individual giving programs, University Advancement
- Mary Gresch, chief marketing & communications officer, University Marketing & Communications
- Derek Fulwiler, director of project strategy and communications, Office of the President and Provost; project director
Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine
The council will also work closely with the UW Faculty Senate to develop new financing sources to further the vision priorities as well as to incentivize collaborative teaching and research in support of the vision. It will collaborate with Faculty Senate committees to address student needs, facilitate faculty contributions and ensure alignment with the imperatives of diversity, equity and inclusivity. Additional work will occur between the council and with the UW Board of Regents and other stakeholders, partners and donors to advance the visibility and impact of the initiative.
To learn more about this initiative, please visit President Cauce’s website.
Standing together for justice
Dear faculty, staff and students:
We both love the University during its high-energy moments — crowded hallways and walkways, the chatter on Red Square so loud we have to close our windows to concentrate. Yet, as June rolls around, we look forward to the bittersweet joy of graduations, the warmer weather and quieter times that offer a chance to reflect, plan and relax.
Not this summer. Hours after graduates and their families proudly streamed out of Husky Stadium, we heard about the 49 people, mostly Latino gay men, slaughtered in Orlando. Yet again, hours after celebrating on the Fourth of July, there was devastating news of the death of Alton Sterling, followed almost immediately by Philando Castile, killed at the hands of police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Falcon Heights, Minnesota. There was no chance to take a breath or grieve appropriately before news came from Dallas of the five police officers fatally shot. And all this against a backdrop of international terrorist attacks in Bangladesh, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, attacks that affect our community as well. Promising lives cut short, families torn asunder, scenes of horrific violence seared into our consciousness, images of children and parents sobbing. We are heartbroken — for the dead and their families, for their friends and communities, for our country and world.
It is tempting to feel helpless and hopeless, to look for easy answers, draw a line in the sand and choose sides.
But we can’t. And we won’t.
The essence of our mission as a public university is to educate, shape and prepare generations of students not simply to exist in our world, but to create change for the betterment of all. We are driven to take up the biggest challenges we face, whether it’s improving the health of our communities, addressing climate change, healing a nation divided and in crisis, or forging a united path forward.
Our students give us hope every day that real change is possible — they challenge us to have difficult and uncomfortable conversations. They push us to reflect the world we wish to build. Our faculty, alumni and many in our community have shown us — both now and over many years — that education, self-reflection and determination can lead to structural, systemic progress. We have not done enough — these heartbreaking times show that clearly — but we cannot let up, even if the path forward is uncertain.
The burden of addressing racism and inequity in this country, as well as violence around the globe, falls to all of us. Too often, only those who are its direct victims carry the load. But the burden is collective, and we must, all of us, take responsibility for the environment we are creating. Our students are already getting together in groups to share their sadness and anger. We will work with them to create safe spaces for healing and analysis, and look forward to joint conversations about their, our and the University’s role in standing up to fear and hatred and violence. We are in this struggle together, and our work has never been more important.
Sincerely,
Ana Mari Cauce
President
Professor of Psychology
President
Professor of Psychology
Jerry Baldasty
Provost & Executive Vice President
Professor, Department of Communication
Provost & Executive Vice President
Professor, Department of Communication
The University’s Role in the Innovation Ecosystem (Times Higher Education Asia Summit keynote)
Universities play a vital – and unique – role in the innovation ecosystem. Leading the University of Washington, I see every day the ways in which the environment and community of a university are not only conducive to creation and discovery, more often than not, they are the drivers of innovation. Universities both augment the innovation in companies and institutions around them and they compensate for the fact that some organizations are not as well-equipped to do so.