The University of Washington’s alumni family got a little bigger this week as we graduated the Class of 2016. Diplomas in hand, these newly minted graduates are leaving the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses to join your global fellowship. I know you’ll welcome them with open arms as they share not just a love of the UW, but also the values and passions that unite us in our drive to create a world of good.
As alumni, you are an essential part of making all of these achievements possible. Your engagement in your communities and your support of the UW, including through membership in the UW Alumni Association, helps drive our University. I’m taking part in our 14th annual Faculty Field Tour of Washington this week, and I hope to see many of you along the way. But please also know we always welcome you at any of our campuses and facilities, such as the UW Spokane Center, and at any of the countless places UW alumni gather, here, and around the world.
Thank you for all that you do, and for the warm welcome you’ll give the Class of 2016!
Earlier this year, I wrote to our community about the crisis facing thousands of our neighbors; a crisis that forces many individuals and families to live under bridges, or in cars and doorways.
As part of our educational mission and existing work to address homelessness, I asked you whether the UW should host an organized tent city during the 2017 winter quarter. This would build on and respond to the work of students, alumni and residents from the Tent City Collective, and on the positive Tent City 3 hosting experiences of Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University.
Tent City 3 is also the community we’re considering. In fact, they have literally been across the street from us this spring at University Congregational United Church of Christ, NE 45th Street and 15th Avenue NE, providing safe, secure housing to individuals and families.
Nearly 1,000 of you e-mailed thoughts and dozens more attended the town hall meetings. By a 2-to-1 margin responses and attendees favored hosting. Faculty and departments have expressed eagerness to incorporate service learning into curricula, and local elected officials and community leaders also support the effort.
The UW will therefore proceed with plans to host, contingent on the safety and operations plan we establish being effectively implemented and on permit approval by the City of Seattle. We will not use any taxpayer or tuition funds to support this work.
I appreciate the thoughtful nature of your feedback, including concerns that were raised, primarily about safety, parking and the connection to our educational mission. As we plan for hosting next winter, we are taking those concerns into account.
Tent City 3 is an organized community with a strict code of conduct that prohibits weapons, violence, drugs and alcohol. Many residents have jobs, and often families with small children stay there because it is a safe, secure place. It’s important to remember that people facing homelessness are more vulnerable to being victims of crime. For the safety of all members of our community – permanently housed or not – UWPD will closely coordinate with the 24/7 security already conducted by Tent City 3.
The working group I commissioned studied a wide range of sites, with consideration for safety; transit access; logistics; privacy for residents; the need for a hard, level surface; and access for students and faculty who choose to participate in hosting-related learning opportunities.
Based on these criteria, parking lot W35 is the preferred location. Sally Clark, director of regional and community relations, met with faculty, staff and students from adjacent units, and consulted with organizers of the expanded UW childcare center that will be two blocks east. No issues have arisen that would preclude a portion of W35 being used to host Tent City 3, and we will continue these meetings and work to minimize any logistical disruptions.
I recognize some of you may still have concerns and trepidation. That is fair and expected. I only ask that we approach hosting with open minds and take this opportunity to learn from the experiences of our neighbors.
Our educational mission and role as a public university call us to find innovative ways to teach, learn and serve. It is my firm belief as a teacher, a scholar who has studied these issues, and a citizen of our community that hosting Tent City 3 is wholly consistent with our mission. I look forward to continuing this process so that next winter we can join together in welcoming our neighbors to campus.
The end of the academic year is always bittersweet; we say goodbye to this year’s graduates, yet we share their excitement as new degree-holders go forth, ready to become the leaders, innovators and change-makers that this world needs and that their UW education has prepared them to be.
I could not be more proud of the Class of 2016 or of the momentous accomplishments of our community this year. Were I to try to list them all here, this email would be too big for your inboxes, so please know that the incredible achievements across every campus, unit and department have made this year more special and rewarding than I can adequately put into words.
Later this week, the UW will award 15,770 degrees to our graduates in Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma. That includes 10,489 bachelor’s degrees, 3,990 master’s degrees, 530 professional and educational specialist degrees and 761 doctoral degrees. Congratulations, graduates! This University is a better place because you were here, and I can’t wait to see you unleash your abilities as you make our world a better place.
This has been a year of many firsts. We inaugurated our first cohort of Husky 100 recipients. A UW glaciologist helped drill the first deep ice core at the South Pole, and UW engineers received a grant to work on the first implantable device to reanimate paralyzed limbs. Burke Museum paleontologists discovered the first dinosaur fossil in Washington, while drama students are premiering plays based on the experiences of U-District residents and community groups. The women’s golf team won the national championship, while the women’s basketball team went to the Final Four. These and countless other superlatives demonstrate how, on every front, the UW is serving the public good with creativity and excellence.
This has been a year rich in innovation and discovery. We launched a new vision for improving population health and are preparing to break ground on the new Global Innovation Exchange facility in Bellevue. Our faculty continue to inspire and astound us with their ideas, discoveries and impact as teachers and scholars, with pioneering research achievements in every college and school. Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences Mary-Claire King was awarded the 2015 National Medal of Science, while seven UW faculty members were honored by national academies this year.
This was also a challenging year. As a community we are working hard to bring about needed change to improve racial equity and diversity. Change is too slow, but it is happening. We’ve had difficult conversations, and those will continue. I pledge that I will continue to be present, engaged and transparent as we make our collective way toward change.
The end of any endeavor is a good time to look back — at our accomplishments, at what we learned, at that to which we are saying goodbye. But I hope we will also remember to keep looking forward, because all that we have done, together, will help create a world of good in the days and years to come.
Thank you, all, for the contributions you’ve made to our University and to our world — and congratulations to the Class of 2016!
[Each year, the Denice Denton Emerging Leader ABIE Award recognizes a junior faculty member for achievements in research and for positive impact on diversity. The award honors Denice D. Denton, who served as Dean of the UW’s College of Engineering before being appointed as Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. In June, the award recipients held a faculty development workshop at which President Cauce delivered the keynote address. Remarks as prepared for delivery.]
Good morning. Thank you, Reza, for that kind introduction. From your groundbreaking work in applying nanotechnology to healthcare challenges, to your role as chair of the Denice Denton Emerging Leader ABIE Award, you’re helping to transform the future for tomorrow’s scientists.
It’s an honor to be here, both in support of developing strong, diverse leaders in academia, and in memory of my friend and colleague, Denice Denton. Her life’s work stands as a testament to the transformative power of mentoring to make the world a better, wiser and more inclusive place.
I was invited here to talk about leadership and to share a little about my own path and the lessons I’ve learned – some of them the hard way – from more than 30 years in academia. But before I do that, I want to say a few words about Denice, whose absence is felt every day, by so many of us.
To put it bluntly, Denice was a kick! When she danced the whole house would shake, she’d call me out of the blue for a “food emergency” and I knew it meant a truly delicious meal, and when we’d ride our bikes to shake off the stress of long weeks of work, she found a way where we could ride to the lake – all downhill – then put our bikes on the bus, and relax on the way back. She was truly a force of nature, and the world is a little less bright without her in it.
But, more to today’s point, Denice truly cared about students. And she believed passionately in the need to educate more people, particularly women, in the STEM fields. She believed that our failure to nurture women in these fields compromised our country’s competitiveness and she wasn’t afraid to speak up about it either. She was committed to increasing social justice – for minorities, for gays and lesbians, for immigrants and international students and faculty.
Denice was the first woman to reach a lot of heights – at the University of Washington as the first female dean of engineering at a major research university, and at UC Santa Cruz as the first woman chancellor – but what made her really special was everything she did to lower a ladder from those heights once she got there. Her legacy, the students and faculty she mentored and inspired, is one that will last forever. We honor her by continuing to pass the torch, lighting the way for each new generation of scholars.
I am also a “first” at the UW – the first woman, and the first Latina to serve as permanent president. (as well as the first openly gay president and the first “internal” president in modern history). If you held up pictures of all the UW presidents in history, even a 2-year-old could point out the one who’s not quite from central casting. If you are going to shatter glass ceilings – why not do it with style! I’m proud to be where I am and I hope that, like Denice, my work is serving to make opportunity, in academia but also in other fields and settings, more equitable and accessible for people who have historically been left out and marginalized.
Although I would never discount the advantages and privilege I’ve had in the past and that I enjoy now, I feel I can empathize to some degree with people who face obstacles because of where (or what color or sex) they were born. I was born into a family that fled from Cuba to Miami when I was a toddler. My parents, like many refugees, were educated people who took factory jobs to support their children. And though they had little money, what they did have was optimism and a belief that education was the key to a better life. That belief sustained and fueled me through my education and eventually led to not just a career, but a calling as an educator. I went to college with the help of scholarships and I’m profoundly grateful for the sacrifices my parents made and the generosity that allow me to stand here today.
I was also mentored and encouraged by teachers and scholars who continue to inspire me. As a graduate student at Yale, I had the privilege to be mentored by Edmund W. Gordon, whose work in psychology, education and African American studies influenced not just me, but a generation of psychologists. I bring this up because Ed, in turn, had been mentored by the legendary sociologist and activist W.E.B. Du Bois. I’m proud to bear the torch passed down from these great change-makers and I see it as my responsibility to honor their legacy by doing the same. That’s why ensuring students have access to excellent education has been and continues to be a priority for me. It’s what drives me – every day – to help create a world of good.
Until quite recently, I described myself as an “accidental administrator” because, like many faculty, I didn’t think of it as a wholly honorable career; I had little appreciation for hierarchy, bureaucracy or process, so how could I ever be an administrator? Which is ironic, because I now realize I’ve been doing some form of administration for virtually my whole career.
I first began doing administrative work right after achieving tenure when I became the director of clinical training within the UW Department of Psychology. Although the job required me to guide the Ph.D. program through an accreditation visit and implement some major programmatic and curricular changes, I didn’t yet think of myself as an administrator; I was still a teacher and researcher first, “doing my time” and looking forward to rejoining the faculty after my five-year term.
Well, that five-year term turned into a seven-year term, and when that was over, I was unexpectedly asked to serve as chair of American Ethnic Studies, a department which, at the time was, frankly, in disarray. I was inspired to say ‘yes’ to what turned out to be a very challenging assignment in part because my mentor, Ed, had come out of retirement to chair the CUNY’s Black Studies department during a period of turbulence. Being inspired to follow his example didn’t necessarily make my job chairing the department easy or fun, but it did serve to motivate me, and that’s a wonderful gift to get from a mentor. He used to tell me – you’re exactly where you are needed – something I’ve been telling myself a lot these days…
As chair, I had walked into a fraught and politicized situation, but nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught; my first day on the job, I found the hallway outside my office papered with a picture of me with crosshairs superimposed on my face and emblazoned with the headline “Under Fire.” Students protested my appointment with a sit-in that shut down the administration building during a Regents meeting. I had to dig deep within myself to find my center.
I’m proud to say that after a year in that role, we had made significant strides toward turning the department around and improving student satisfaction and morale, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, I had become hooked on administration. I discovered I enjoyed bringing disparate groups to the table and the satisfaction of building (or rebuilding) a department. I actually like the excitement of decision-making under pressure – guess I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie.
Somewhat to my surprise, I’ve found that my training as a scientist and clinician in psychology has been a distinct advantage in being an administrator. Back when I was doing clinical supervision, I often told students that instead of working with a scalpel of stethoscope or with petrie dishes or test tubes “they” were the tool they used to do the research – that the first thing you need to know to become an effective therapist is yourself. As an administrator, I find myself falling back on that part of my training. And what do I know about myself? I know I can get frustrated with bureaucracy and I know I can occasionally be a hothead. Knowing that, I have sometimes literally sat on my hands to tamp down my impulse to speak when I know that listening is more important, or made an excuse to exit a meeting before saying something I know I’ll regret.
Having a researcher’s outlook has also been valuable to me in solving administrative problems. Leading a lab, writing grants, budgeting and conducting research in community settings – they all have their analogs in administrative roles.For example, when I was chairing American Ethnic Studies, where my appointment was viewed, at first, with suspicion and even hostility, I visited every class to talk to students, and I listened more than I spoke. I also handed out a survey to assess their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with every aspect of the program. The results provided the framework for developing common goals. That experience reinforced for me the importance of collecting data and analyzing the results before acting on impulse or following whichever way the wind is blowing. A decision based on evidence will almost always deliver a better outcome than one based on pure intuition – although sometimes that IS the best that you have, and then you listen to it.
Being a teacher has also been key. I’ve found that good leadership, like good teaching or mentorships, is about creating the conditions and pathways for others to succeed and knowing that their success is yours.
Since becoming president of the University of Washington, I’ve certainly had my leadership skills and philosophies tested. Despite having worked for 30 years at the UW (where I thought I knew all there was to know about a place), and even despite having served as provost, nothing can totally prepare you for being the president, in both good and bad ways. (For one thing, you get asked to speak at a lot more places!)
Without question, being president means getting the opportunity to do big things. It’s exciting and it’s a tremendous responsibility, particularly at place with the reach of a global, public research institution like the University of Washington. My responsibility and my passion are to ensure the UW is a place that delivers on its mission to serve the public good.
There are countless ways in which the UW can and does serve the public interest, but one of the most important and impactful ways is to make access to an excellent education something that any Washington resident can reasonably aspire to, regardless of ZIP code, socioeconomic status, race or ethnicity. You won’t hear a lot of university presidents say this, but I am not looking to raise the average SAT score or GPA of incoming students – although I’m not looking for them to fall, either! You will never hear me take pleasure in denying anyone the opportunity to pursue a degree or bragging about “selectivity” (Want to be judged by the students we educate, not those we reject). What I want is to create opportunities for the student who wants to do something innovative and world-changing with a UW education and diploma. I want a university that cherishes diversity as a core value, for the ways in which it makes all of us better, wiser and more equitable. But, at its core, my main job as president is to help others succeed.
To be the kind of institution that truly respects differences and welcomes many different kinds of change-makers, the UW must to do more than just admit a diverse student body (although that’s obviously important). We have to be an institution that makes everyone feel welcome and valued. I’m deeply concerned about the effects of systemic or institutional racism, the biases and barriers that diminish our capacity as a society, or in this case, as a university, to truly fulfill our public promise of both access and excellence. That’s why I was excited to launch the Race & Equity Initiative, a plan to begin to come to grips with racism and inequity at an institutional level, a task which will always be about struggle more than outcome. Working towards social justice is more a journey than a destination, because each time you move forward and look at the world from a more enlightened perspective, you realize that there is more to be done. So, it’s important to also practice self-care and build your own support system.
We launched the Race & Equity Initiative a little over a year ago, and while I’m very proud of the work that we have done to give shape and some substance to this plan, but the truth is that change like this does not happen quickly enough, much to my frustration and even more to the dismay of more than a few of the student activists I engage with. Universities are one of the few places where generations work together closely, and the push pull between youth and age is part of the excitement. Never fast enough for students, but their pushing keeps us oldsters from becoming too complacent about the real changes we’ve seen in our lives. At the same time, our longer arc of experience can serve as a reminder that things do, in fact, change. As an administrator, as a leader, the challenge is keeping the dialogue and engagement productive across differences, including generational differences, even when we can’t always come to complete agreement.
There’s no question that student activism plays an important role in driving change and progress in universities, and at many moments in history, well beyond the campus. Student activism also plays a part in educating students about the reaches – and limits – of their power, and about the different ways to engage in debate with the decision makers and how different forms can complement each other (couldn’t have King without X). As an administrator, being the subject of protests, has taken some getting used to, in part because historically, I’m more used to being on the side of the protesters.
When you grow up wielding power from the margins, the move to the center can be jarring. But I think that experience has been valuable to me, and I draw upon it when the rhetoric gets rough, and sometimes personal, something that I know was quite difficult for Denice after becoming Chancellor. On the one hand, some will label you a sell out because you chose to change the system from the inside, which some believe just isn’t possible (you can’t dismantle the master’s house with his told), on the other the pressure to fit into the box of what leaders are supposed to look like can be great. It’s only a half joke when I say that when I write my memoirs it will be called “Confessions of an administrator: How I became a straight, White man.”
As president, a target on your back comes with the job; I am the public face of the university. As the steward of a public good I must work within the policies of our state; civil disobedience may be something I can do in my personal life, but not as President. Sometimes, what I think personally is not what I must do, and my own attempts to work for change are from within the system – a choice you can argue with, but it’s the choice that I’ve made and that feels right for who I am. Learning to absorb criticism and manage my own frustration while balancing my responsibilities within the real-world is a balancing act I’m still figuring out; I don’t expect it will ever come easily, in fact, I hope it doesn’t. One of the things I most treasure from being “internal” is that I work with many decades old friends who will call me out when I start feeling too comfortable in this role.
Everyone’s path and opportunities will be different, so I find it hard to give generic advice about academic leadership. (And, truth be told, I don’t have a lot of use for leadership books that claim to impart the secrets of leadership.) I can only recount what has worked for me, which is why I’ve talked mostly about my own experiences, struggles and successes. So, take this with a grain of salt because what’s worked for me may not work for everyone, but I believe that diversity in all things, including academic leadership styles, is good.
That said, there are a few pieces of advice that I believe apply across the board, including hiring a first rate senior staff and professional staff. At a university, the vice presidents, vice provosts and deans do the managerial heavy lifting, and the professional administrative staff in the upper tiers of budgeting, finance, IT, human resources and administrative support (to name just a few) provide continuity and know-how that a leader, new to a role, won’t have yet. Never settle on a candidate until you find the right person and inculcate that practice throughout the organization. A failed search is better than a failed hire.
Self-monitoring has proven to be essential to a job in which you are always surrounded by people and frequently dealing with high-stakes situations. How you act will signal to others how to act; if you seem panicked, others will panic. If you can maintain your calm and appear confident, it will help others stay grounded and focused on solving the problem. You set the tone.
What has helped and sustained me in maintaining a sense of calm is a deep love of place and an intimate knowledge of its people and practices. The University of Washington is my home, although I certainly didn’t expect that to be the case when I first arrived there 30 years ago. But I’ve grown to love Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, which has an almost unmatched physical grandeur and beauty. More than anything, however, I have developed a love of the UW (or perhaps here I should say, the OTHER UW). Universities like ours create limitless opportunities to change the whole world for the better.
I’ve talked a lot about what my own leadership path – however accidental! – has looked like, so I will wrap up with a few words on what others’ paths might entail. For most academics, the opportunity to take on administrative roles within their departments will come if you’re open to it. There are more than enough faculty who actively wish to avoid administrative duties, so if you’re seeking those opportunities and willing to devote time, attention and brain space to them, you will be welcome in most departments. Junior faculty should volunteer for rotating administrative posts within their departments. In general, I’ve found that talented leaders who wish to lead will always find a way and an opportunity to do so.
I first became an educator because it seemed to me to be the surest way that I could make a difference, in the world – through my own work, and through the work I could do with students. Like all of you, I expect, I believe to my core that education is the key to a healthier, more prosperous, more just and equitable society. I believe it has the power to transform individual lives and whole nations. And, so when challenges and opportunities (because they are generally one and the same) presented themselves, I stepped up rather than back. And those steps led here, to somewhere I have never expected —
I hope you have those same – or even greater opportunities – in your careers. And by taking part in this workshop, and learning in the spirit of Denice Denton and leaders like her, I’m confident you will.
Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.
Earlier this month, the newly formed University of Washington School of Medicine and Gonzaga University Regional Health Partnership announced the largest-ever entering class in Spokane — a record 60 UW medical students — who will begin their medical education on the Gonzaga campus starting this fall. Additionally, 40 second-year UW medical students will continue their education on the Gonzaga campus. All of these students are also among the first to experience the UW School of Medicine’s new, nationally recognized medical school curriculum that is setting new standards for medical education.
While the UW and Gonzaga are certainly proud of this stellar incoming class, there was even more to celebrate this month when second-year Spokane students marked their transition from the classroom to clinical rotations at the Clinical Transition Ceremony on May 14. Each student received a white coat with his/her name embroidered on it, which will be worn during clinical rotations in their third and fourth years. These students join hundreds of medical students completing clinical rotations throughout eastern Washington and the other WWAMI states. Later this month, 21 fourth-year students who began their education in Spokane, will recite the Hippocratic Oath at the annual Hooding Ceremony in Seattle — the culmination of medical school in which students receive their M.D. degree prior to advancing to residency training.
On May 19 we hosted a special evening in honor of our Spokane and eastern Washington faculty, clinical partners and champions of our medical education program to thank them for teaming with us to help deliver one of the nation’s premier medical education experiences to our students in eastern Washington. The commitment and expertise of our extensive teaching staff is advantageous to our growing number of students as they gain relevant experience to serve our communities in the future.
It has been an extraordinary few months since the University of Washington and Gonzaga University signed an agreement to expand and enhance medical education in Spokane. Gonzaga and the UW are working together to expand the nation’s top-ranked, community-based medical education program, setting the stage for advancing healthcare research and teaching in the Inland Northwest — and improving the health of the entire region for generations to come.
As friends and supporters of this region and our universities, we are grateful for your support and will continue to keep you informed about our progress and the success of our students.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that Gerald “Jerry” Baldasty has accepted the position of provost and executive vice president, a role he has filled on an interim basis for the past 14 months with dedication and distinction.
I offer my sincere thanks to the many of you in the UW community who provided comments and advice throughout the selection process, and extend a special ‘thank you’ to the advisory committee (listed below), chaired by Dean Jim Jiambalvo and Professor Kathleen O’Neill, past Faculty Senate chair, for their thoughtful and diligent work in vetting Jerry’s candidacy.
At the University of Washington, service to the academic mission should be at the core of all we do. With that in mind, Jerry’s excellence as a scholar and teacher, as well as a seasoned administrative leader, makes him the ideal person to serve as UW’s chief academic and budgetary officer. The provost oversees the challenging and crucial work of ensuring our teaching and scholarship is of the highest quality. This is the foundation of our University, and Jerry’s commitment to the UW ensures that work is in safe hands.
Jerry’s commitment to the University of Washington runs deep. A Spokane native, he is a “Double Dawg,” with a UW undergraduate degree and a UW Ph.D. in communications. Appointed to the faculty in the Department of Communication in 1978, Jerry has demonstrated leadership and scholarship that have earned him numerous recognitions and honors, including the Distinguished Teaching Award.
This appointment is for no more than a three-year term, effective June 1, 2016, and contingent on approval by the Board of Regents, to whom I will present my recommendation for confirmation. With Jerry’s appointment, he and I are excited to continue our work on a range of efforts, from enhancing the Husky Experience to transforming our administration to better serve the UW’s academic and research missions. His leadership on innovative initiatives like the Husky 100 and pilot programs including the Teaching Technology Fellows and Evidence-based Teaching is helping to advance the boundless student experience and world-class teaching that are hallmarks of the UW.
Jerry is a truly outstanding leader within our University community and a colleague whose partnership I personally value greatly. With our eyes firmly on the future, I’m excited to begin this next chapter in the UW’s history together.
President Advisory Selection Review Committee on the University of Washington Provost and Executive Vice President
Jim Jiambalvo, Dean and Kirby L. Cramer Chair in Business Administration,
Michael G. Foster School of Business (co-chair)
Kathleen O’Neill, Chair, Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting;
Professor, School of Law (co-chair)
Zoe Barness, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate and Associate Professor,
Milgard School of Business, UW Tacoma
Alex Bolton, President, Graduate and Professional Student Senate
Karam Dana, Assistant Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
Daniel J. Grossman, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Byron Joyner, Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Professor,
School of Medicine
Joe Lott, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
College of Education
Linda Martin-Morris, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biology,
College of Arts and Sciences
Mark Pagano, Chancellor and Professor, UW Tacoma
Tyler Wu, President, Associated Students at the University of Washington
As a University, we must do all that we can to prevent and respond compassionately and effectively to sexual misconduct, including sexual assault, relationship violence, domestic violence, stalking and sexual harassment. To improve our ability to do so, we have created a Title IX Investigation Office, which as of May 16 is responsible for investigating allegations involving students. The investigators in this office have the experience and training to ensure a thorough investigation, due process and a trauma-informed approach, based in an understanding of how to recognize and respond to different forms of trauma.
At the same time, we are also reshaping the hearing process by establishing designated Title IX Panels, which will consist of faculty who will receive in-depth training on the complexities and sensitivities of adjudicating sexual misconduct cases.
Every member of our community deserves to be respected and supported, and these changes reflect our ongoing commitment to preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.
For all students, the UW Police Department’s Victim Advocate is a resource, as is the Health & Wellness Advocate for students enrolled in Seattle. These advocates provide confidential support, information and assistance. This includes options for reporting sexual assault, relationship violence and other forms of sexual misconduct, whether to the University and/or law enforcement.
As always, if you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual assault or any other form of sexual misconduct, please connect with one of our advocates. To reach an advocate or for more information visit the Sexual Assault Resources website.
Being truly healthy means far more than simply being free from ailments and afflictions. When we assess health, we must also take into account the many other factors that affect well-being — poverty, discrimination, climate change and violence, to name just a few. These factors, and many others, combine and conspire to prevent so many of our neighbors and our fellow humans from being able to live healthy and productive lives. And these and other factors are, in one way or another, within the University of Washington’s power to help address on behalf of our communities and the world’s people, and in service to our public mission.
As one of the world’s leading universities in research and innovation, we have an opportunity — indeed, a responsibility — to maximize our strengths University-wide to help people live longer, healthier, happier and more productive lives. It is an opportunity made possible by your passion and drive, by decades of progress led by UW faculty with many collaborators and partners here in the Puget Sound and worldwide, and by our shared desire to improve the world around us.
This spring, Interim Provost Baldasty and I, working with the Faculty Senate and the University’s planning processes, will convene a Population Health Leadership Council. We will charge this group with assessing our strengths and opportunities, certainly in the health sciences, but even more broadly across the diverse range of fields that influence wellness and health. These include education, law, the arts, humanities and social sciences, as well as the many areas across the University where our approach to inclusive innovation improves people’s lives. Working with extraordinary partners and organizations here in the Puget Sound and around the world, we will initiate a process next fall to imagine and develop a 25-year vision for improving population health. Faculty, students and staff from all disciplines and campuses will be invited to be a part of this effort.
This isn’t a call to build something new, but rather a pledge to strengthen and build greater collaborations and connections, and create opportunities among our already extraordinary and highly impactful efforts.
We have never had the capacity to know more, learn more or share more than we do today. Let’s use that strength to its greatest possible benefit — and in the process develop in UW students the skills and leadership abilities needed to make a tremendous difference in the world.
Thank you for your many contributions to the health and well-being of people here and around the globe. Working together, we truly can create a world of good.
The health of an individual or a community involves more than just the absence of disease. Issues from poverty and equity, to health care access, to climate change and governance all combine to affect the health and well-being of populations around the world. The University of Washington and our partners in the Puget Sound region have a remarkable opportunity to develop solutions for these and other challenges.
On May 3, President Ana Mari Cauce invited the University community and our partners to join in the development of a 25-year vision to advance the health and well-being of people around the world by leveraging capabilities and opportunities at the UW and in our region.
Transcript: A shared vision for improving health and well-being around the world
Speaker: President Ana Mari Cauce
Location: Orin Smith Auditorium, UW Medicine South Lake Union Campus
Date: May 3, 2016
Good afternoon, I’m so pleased to see all of you on this beautiful day. You work hard to make this world a better place – I’m grateful for what you do and for your being here today.
I want to start by thanking our deans and UW leadership, our government officials, and our global health partners. We all have busy lives, and this is an especially busy time, so I really appreciate your being here, because this is really about our community.
Today, I want to ask you to look ahead – to the future.
Thanks to your work, and that of those who came before you and will come after, we have an unprecedented opportunity to help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives – here and around the world. I’d like you to join me today in imagining how the University of Washington, together with the incredible organizations and people in this region, can contribute in even greater ways to the health and well-being of our world. How we can take the next big step to improve people’s lives by deepening our commitment to what I will refer to here as population health.
But first, I want to tell you about a community.
It’s a community like many others, full of people with dreams for themselves and hopes for their children. People facing all the challenges of our interconnected world, but with few of the opportunities most of us in this room enjoy.
The people of this community go off to work each day – when they can find work – not always sure of how much they’ll earn, or whether they’ll earn enough to support their families. Many women go back to work just days after giving birth, even those who are raising children alone – having lost partners to violence or drugs, disease or incarceration – or perhaps because they fled violence from a war or a natural disasters impelled by climate change.
Many in this community face discrimination because of their race or ethnicity. It presents itself in big and small ways, from whether they can find a decent place to live, to whether the local security services stop and question them on the street.
Parents in this community send their children off to school each day, hoping more opportunities will be possible through education. But a quarter of them leave without having breakfast. And when they do have food, it’s often lacking in the nutrients needed to power their growing bodies and minds. In this community, good food is expensive and scarce.
These children go to underfunded, and in some cases, declining schools. Dedicated teachers do their best with what resources they have. They do everything they can, as do their colleagues who work in nearby clinics – working with those who come to them with conditions that were preventable, and diseases that were treatable – if they had been covered by insurance, or if the treatment were affordable, or if they were able to afford missing work to get care.
The daily trials of the people of this community are largely invisible to the world, except for those times when a correspondent parachutes in to report on a tragedy – a singular event deemed more newsworthy than the day-to-day struggles of an entire community.
Yet the people of this community live in, or on the outskirts of, one of the world’s great cities. A few miles away, gleaming skyscrapers multiply on the horizon. This city is a boom town, like others that had the good fortune to be located on an avenue of world trade, at the intersection of a new economy. In this city, it seems as if wealth and happiness are there for the taking. But for the residents of this community, that boom town may as well be a world away.
I could be describing any host of urban areas around the world, where only miles away from the glittering towers are people barely scraping by, out of public view.
But, this community is right here, in King County. Where a distance of a few miles can mean a difference in life expectancy of more than a decade. Where two-thirds of black and Latino students go to schools where a majority of the students are from low-income families.
Ours is a region of opportunity, yes. But that opportunity is too often determined not by how hard you work, but by the circumstances of your birth.
We talk a lot about disruption, but less about the disrupted.
That is why our calling as a University so important. Like so many Pacific Northwest organizations, we are products of this beautiful land of the Coast Salish peoples, of glaciers and volcanoes, rainforests with giant trees whose roots spread out for hundreds of feet. We too are firmly planted on this land, in this community, but our reach is global and our aspiration is nothing less than to change the world. We are citizens of our state and citizens of the world. We are a state university and a global university. And we have a duty to act on behalf of the local and global good, because they are intertwined and inseparable.
Humanity’s collective yearning for a better life – not just today, as we grapple with refugees seeking safety from war – but over the course of history, shows us that oceans can’t divide us and that walls offer no defense against diseases that travel the globe. We have the capacity, together, to contribute to a healthy and productive life for all of us. And whether studying or working in business or social work, international relations or medicine, our students have an opportunity to have a tremendous impact on the world, because this is the right time and because of our partnership with you, this is also the right place.
It’s important to begin with defining what we mean by health. Health is more than the absence of disease, though that’s important and our University plays a crucial role discovering new treatments and cures for a wide range of diseases and conditions, from emerging diseases like Zika to age-old maladies like heart disease and cancer. Couple that with our work and interventions in developing countries throughout the world, and the more than $275 million in charity care we provide here at home – and we have a clear role in helping people live longer, happier lives – no question.
Yet, there are many conditions intertwined with physical and mental health and well-being: from nutrition and education, to the quality of the air we breathe, to social and environmental equity. And, there are the many ways one can fall – or be pushed – into poverty.
There are also many ways we can help people out of it – from providing access to better education and economic opportunities, to building more effective societal infrastructures and governance. By identifying and addressing the causes and impacts of a broad swath of health indicators for populations of people – from neighborhoods to countries – we have an opportunity to truly impact health and well-being in profound ways, here and worldwide.
We have an opportunity to improve the population health of the world.
The great news is, the UW and many of you, our regional partners throughout the Puget Sound, have built the capacity and resources to truly utilize knowledge in ways more powerful than we could have ever imagined. What I am calling for today is not for us to build something new, from scratch, but rather a strengthening of our combined efforts – a commitment to create a shared vision, to be implemented in shared partnerships, over the next quarter century – in service to the people we serve locally and globally. This can and should be a defining priority for our University, the Puget Sound region, and our state.
I come to this after having spent the last year gaining a unique view of our University. Despite having been at the UW for 30 years, and thinking I knew every corner of this place, as president I now have an even broader view – one that is enabling me to see the many opportunities that exist to connect, to weave together, seemingly disparate fields of study and research.
Serving as president means you get invited to more places than you do as provost or as a member of the faculty. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to learn about the work of the Road Map Project in South King County, to meet with tribal leaders at Lummi Nation, and to see – or rather breathe – first-hand the effects of pollution in China. These experiences, and my conversations with many of you and many of our global neighbors, have given me a deeper understanding of the role the UW already plays – and the additional role it can play – in contributing to the health and well-being of our world.
We are the leading public university in the country for sponsored research. We have one of the largest, most comprehensive biomedical research programs in the world. Given our size and breadth – three campuses, over 50,000 students and 5,000 faculty – we have impact on a massive scale, and our impact is focused on the public good. Our commitment to innovation in every corner of the University means that we are not only willing, but eager, to pursue new lines of inquiry. We’re undaunted by the risk of failure, because that’s how we hone in on success, and we know the tremendous good we will do when we succeed.
Our location in the Puget Sound region amplifies our impact on population health. We link arms with more than 130 organizations working on population and global health. From the Gates Foundation and PATH and the Washington Global Health Alliance, to organizations focusing on individual nations or specific maladies, there are few places on Earth with more opportunities for collaboration and collective impact than right here. We will need their – your – guidance and commitment as we shape this vision.
What’s more, our region’s role as a global hub for computing and information technology – we really do own the cloud – means we have at our disposal more talent and computing power than has ever before been assembled. Through big data research, patterns that once would have been invisible can now be studied, enabling us to identify the root cause of problems and measure the success of health interventions and ultimately preventive measures. We have the ability to not only diagnose individuals, but entire cities and even nations through the application of the technology at our fingertips. We know what ails us, our communities and our planet – and we can put that into better practices to do something about it.
As a university, we have the ability and responsibility to contribute to the public discourse about the best ways to solve the health challenges of our time. As scholars we test hypotheses, we engage in deep and rigorous analysis. We follow the evidence wherever it leads, and oftentimes that is someplace unexpected – even controversial. At a time when policy debates too often seem fact-free, we present our work to policymakers and the public so they can make informed decisions. This role isn’t always easy – challenging conventional wisdom and entrenched interests rarely is – but it is vital if we are to create inclusive, democratic societies.
People throughout our community and our world see the benefits of our collaborative, interdisciplinary, data-driven approach. It is an approach that, from the start, has been in partnership with many of you.
I’d like to share just a few of many, many, many powerful examples:
The UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, launched nine years ago with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is presenting leaders and policymakers with what amounts to a diagnosis for their nations. And those leaders are responding enthusiastically. Data from IHME led the Ministry of Health in Rwanda to create a program to deliver modern, cleaner burning cook stoves to 1 million homes.
In the world’s most populous nations, including China and India, policymakers are now using UW data to guide their decisions related to reducing air pollution. Perhaps most significantly, the National Institutes of Health is now using IHME data as one of its criteria for deciding where to fund research – that’s $30 billion in annual research funding distributed to improve the health of the world, and their decision about where it goes is informed by UW data. How cool is that?
UW Medicine has 26,000 employees and 5,000 students and trainees here and throughout the world focused on a single mission – to improve the health of populations. In line with our public mission, this work is done in concert with local government; we run the county’s hospital, and are among the first to become an accountable care provider to a local company.
Together with faculty across the health sciences and our collaborators throughout the extended region, we’re creating the next generation of health professionals, treating thousands of patients, leading in social work and public health interventions. I’m particularly pleased with our expanding collaborations to accelerate the pace of curing and preventing cancer within the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. As well as with our new partner in medical education, Gonzaga University in Spokane, as we focus on the needs of communities is Eastern Washington.
The Department of Global Health is a crucial collaborator and leader in this worldwide mission, with active projects in 138 countries. One of those projects uses modern technology – text messaging – to address an age-old concern of new and expectant mothers: how can I best care for my baby? Led by Dr. Jennifer Unger, also in OB-GYN, the project shows that giving new mothers in Kenya the ability to ask questions of health professionals through two-way text messaging decreases infant mortality. Texting saving lives – remarkable.
In another groundbreaking effort, researchers from the School of Public Health and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center led the largest study of its kind into disparities in breast cancer treatment and diagnosis. What they found confirms the shameful existence of inequality in detection and treatment, with women of color up to four times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer in its late stages, and at much higher risk of not receiving the recommended treatment.
Meanwhile, the UW Jackson School’s Center for Human Rights is drawing attention to the direct connections between the management of our natural resources and the welfare of communities who depend on those resources. The “resource curse” is a well-known phenomenon; because of the hunt for natural resources that drives our world economy, millions of people around the world are exploited and their health and well-being threatened. Their lands are deforested, or simply taken, their water polluted, their communities forever altered – at least until we can develop scalable, sustainable alternatives.
The Puget Sound Institute, part of UW Tacoma’s Center for Urban Waters, is developing indicators, to help us better understand the relationship between habitat restoration and well-being. And knowing that our urban centers are our greatest challenge and our greatest opportunity, Urban@UW brings together faculty from all three UW campuses to build inclusive innovation collaborations focused on improving health in urban areas around the globe.
Similarly, the West Coast Poverty Center is taking a cross-disciplinary approach, uniting anti-poverty research, practice and policy by forging connections between scholars, policymakers and practitioners. For example, Professor Vicky Lawson – director of the Honors Program and the Relational Poverty Network – and her students are studying poverty as produced and addressed by economic, political and cultural relationships between social groups. Many different factors beyond economics conspire to force families into poverty and to keep them there – from the health care system, to climate impacts, to the criminal justice system, to discrimination in housing. A holistic approach is not only beneficial, but vital, as we strive toward social justice.
Improving well-being also means ensuring our individual actions and those of our institutions continue to combat the effects of racism and inequity. Through the Race and Equity initiative, the UW is taking up this challenge, and I’m inspired by the work happening across our campuses, particularly among our students.
Speaking of our students, you might want to check out “Skies Over Seattle” – three student-generated performances that have evolved out of a year of collaboration and conversation with three U-District community groups. The arts and humanities have a way of breaking down barriers in ways that other interactions cannot. You can learn from our students’ experiences – and support them on stage – during the world premiere next month. Be there or be square.
Our students are the leaders, innovators, change-makers who will shape the health of the world. And they aren’t waiting until graduation to make a difference.
Dentistry students regularly serve patients in rural and underserved communities, our Global Medicines Program pharmacy students take part in medical brigades, and students in law and political science work on human rights and labor issues in Central and South America. We are number one, in the world, in Peace Corps volunteers! And the University of Puget Sound and our new partner, Gonzaga University, share the number one spot for small schools in producing volunteers. That tells you something about our region’s culture.
In every one of our schools and colleges, students are working alongside faculty, and advocates, and community leaders to improve health and well-being – always learning, sometimes teaching, and invariably inspiring us with their drive and their passion. Our work is better because of the questions they raise and the barriers they’ve inspired us to break, starting with the barriers between disciplines.
So many of our students, in ways big and small, are leaders. And as they’ve led, they’ve done so with conviction. Sometimes they raise their voices to be heard, and I applaud their courage. Other times, the change they make is quiet, behind the scenes, but every bit as meaningful. As we look to the future and develop a renewed vision for this work, the student experience will be at the center.
So where do we go from here? I’ve shared a few examples of our commitment and the progress we are making. Yet, the challenges we seek to address remain daunting. But no one university, educational or health care institution in the country, and no region in the world, is better poised to lead us toward solutions than the University of Washington, right here in the Puget Sound, in the state of Washington – in part, because of you.
It’s time to renew our vision, together. Over the next quarter century, we will expand our ability to turn health evidence – to use our ability to diagnose patients, populations and the planet – into actionable policies, reforms, interventions and innovations. We will enlist all UW campuses, colleges, schools and units – those that are already driven by a mandate to improve population health and those that can contribute in ways perhaps less obvious, but just as important – in this effort.
Here’s where we begin:
It starts with doubling down on our commitment to reducing health disparities here and around the globe. There is no reason your place of birth should determine the likely date of your death, or that your race or ethnicity should predestine you to greater suffering.
It continues with a determination to increase global security by tackling the challenges of environmental sustainability. It is too late to stave off some of the effects of climate change, so we must also study ways to improve resilience, especially in those communities most likely to be harmed.
Those impacted by climate change are many of the same communities stricken by poverty. Which is why we must also strive to address social, economic and environmental inequities that so often go hand in hand, around the world, and here at home.
Our students are our world’s future and we will seek to inspire the next generation of decision-makers, who will drive evidence-based health policy guided by the strong conviction that every life has equal worth.
We will create new paths and encourage more students to pursue careers where they will do work that positively impacts population health, building synergies within the wide range of disciplines that can contribute to the mission. And we of course want these students to learn from the world’s most outstanding faculty, so we will add to the global leaders who already call the UW home.
Together, they will team up with leaders and collaborators from the communities who have the most to gain from the democratization of health evidence, unlocking the power of data for the benefit of all. We have in our pockets more computing power than could ever before have been imagined – let’s encourage people to use it for something more than Snapchat or Tinder.
The UW has excellent, world class programs in every school and college, the Puget Sound region has some of the most innovative public and private organizations in the nation, as well as progressive local governments that are excellent partners – we have all the parts that are necessary to create the change we want to see in the world. The challenge is to make sure that the sum of the parts equal more than just the sum of the parts. This initiative is about making sure the whole is greater than the sum of those parts.
It’s about catalysis and fusion across the full continuum of innovation, and disciplines, from neighborhood to transnational programs, anthropology to aeronautics, devoting our best talents and sharpest minds to finding solutions to these challenges.
That’s no small mandate. There is much to be done, and money is finite – so we must work with individuals, communities, governments and philanthropists to determine the most cost-effective and productive uses of public health and social service resources. We will engage with them – with you – in both the formation of this vision and its implementation over many years. That’s the only way to have the greatest possible impact, save the most lives, and build better, smarter, safer communities.
We will begin by engaging the entire community in the development of this initiative. A team of leaders from across the University has been putting ideas together – but this must be a collaborative initiative and we will be bringing more voices to the table. Even as we look at the range of actions we could take, including the possibility of new degrees in population health and ways to encourage more students to investigate population health-related questions, we’ll need more guidance from a broader range of faculty and from our community and governmental partners.
Within the next few weeks, I will appoint a Population Health Leadership Council to begin this work, and develop a long-range, University-wide plan. The Council, which I will chair, will consist of deans in the health sciences and from engaged colleges and schools – such as Arts & Sciences, Environment, Engineering, Education, Public Policy and Governance, and Law, as well as faculty and staff representing important contributing programs and stakeholder units on all three campuses. It will begin by taking an inventory of existing programs, opportunities, and partnerships related to population health. I expect that after this talk I’ll get e-mails about the important initiatives and programs I failed to mention, and that’s a good thing.
That inventory will be followed by the launch of a University-wide visioning effort this fall. I will ask the Council to develop recommendations for phase one by January 2017, with a full 25-year vision and action plan to follow. An external advisory council, comprised of representatives from our regional and world partners will also be essential to ensure we leverage our collective efforts to the greatest possible good. And we will consult closely with faculty and student governance to evaluate our progress and priorities, and to ensure alignment with the imperatives of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
The implementation plan that we develop, together, will be part of our strategic planning, ensuring that it will be a priority for resource allocation and program development. Additionally, securing the resources needed for this effort will be a priority for the campaign that we’ll launch this October, as well as a when we meet with policymakers in Olympia and Washington, DC. (And, for those of you that worry about this kind of thing – it won’t detract from what you’re doing – it will bring them together. We all have something to contribute.)
To get this right will require deep reflection and analysis, flexibility, openness to changing course when needed, a sense of urgency, and determination to succeed. Some resources are limited – but our spirit is boundless. And we have so many partners and potential partners around the Sound, and experts in allied fields – in everything from cancer research to data visualization, from transportation and logistics, to personalized customer experiences – all the fields that are vital to doing work globally on a personal scale. Just feel the unique potential that exists here, now – right in this room!
The University of Washington, the Puget Sound region and our state can lead the world in improving population health. It’s time to take that mantle – together.
I started my comments today talking about a community. I want to close by talking about a person.
She was born into a comfortable life, though that comfort was soon shattered by political upheaval. She and her family had to flee their country, and the comfort they’d experienced was lost in the moment they became refugees. Her highly educated parents worked in shoe factories to support the family. Though they had little money, what they did have was optimism and a belief that education was the key to a better life.
She and her family also had the good fortune to come to this country, in a time when the divide between rich and poor was narrowing, not widening, and when higher education was more attainable. She went to college with the help of scholarships, and there she found mentors – and a calling.
If you haven’t guessed, the girl who came to a new land was me. And, despite some considerable obstacles – I’ll never forget the sacrifices my parents made for me – I must also acknowledge my privilege, the opportunities I was given, and the good fortune I’ve had, which all far exceed the opportunities available today to billions of people around the world, and millions right here at home. Opportunities to live truly healthy lives, enabling them to reach their full potential and fully contribute to a society that needs all our talents to move forward.
That’s what drives me and our University. It’s what inspires us – faculty, staff, students, at the UW and our many partners.
It’s why I’m calling upon you to join me. It’s why I’m calling on all of us to use our collective talents to improve the health and well-being of people – some we’ll never meet, some we pass every day on the street, and some in our own families. Because I know if we come together, as scholars, as leaders, as innovators and as human beings, grateful for the chances we’ve been given, we can truly create a world of good.
[Each year, Pacific Northwest law firm Foster Pepper hosts “Wine, Women and What’s Happening,” an event that brings together a diverse group of women leaders from around the community and across different industries. This year, President Cauce delivered the keynote address. Remarks as prepared for delivery.]
Hello everyone. I want to start by thanking all of you for your support of the UW. I know we have alumnae here, we have parents and family members of our students – and as taxpayers and friends, you are all a part of the UW family, part of what makes our university a one of the world’s great public universities, so thank you. The University of Washington is your university and we’re proud to serve you.
And a big thank you, Judy, for that kind introduction. As a former teacher, you understand how important education is to building a healthy, thriving society. And as a graduate of the UW School of Law, we are so proud to claim you as one of our own. Your work for non-profit and charitable organizations has helped improve life for people in the Puget Sound Region, especially women, and I’m honored by your invitation to speak here today.
This may be the first time I’m meeting some of you, and since you asked me to, I thought I would begin with a little bit of my own story. Since I became the “official” president of the University of Washington last October, I’ve said that if you held up pictures of all the UW presidents in history, even a 2-year-old could point out the one who’s not quite from central casting. I’m proud of the many “firsts” I represent, and I’m also proud to have been an internal candidate, because the UW and Seattle are my home.
I came to the UW in 1986 to teach in the psychology department as a clinical psychologist. I was new to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and, to be honest, I didn’t really expect to stay here forever. But a funny thing happened – I fell in love with this place. It seemed to me to be a place where you could do big things. And it is! I see that over and over at the UW, and the accomplishments of all of you in his room are also a testament to achievements of this community.
This place, the Puget Sound, was like nowhere I had ever lived – the mountains that seemed to rise from the sea; the forces of nature everywhere. The unlimited possibilities to reach and create – it inspired me then and it inspires me today.
You may have heard I was born into a family that fled from Cuba to Miami when I was a toddler. My parents, like many immigrants, were educated people forced to take factory jobs to support their children. And though they had little money, what they did have was optimism and a belief that education was the key to a better life.
That belief sustained and fueled me through my education and eventually led to, not just a career, but a calling as an educator. I went to college with the help of scholarships and I’m profoundly grateful for the sacrifices my parents made that have allowed me to stand here today. It’s why ensuring students have access to excellent education has been and continues to be a priority for me. And it’s what drives me – every day – to make this world a better place.
How does this translate into my leadership at the University of Washington? It means the crucial work we do on behalf of both Access and Excellence is deeply personal to me.
The UW provides access to an outstanding education to more than 40,000 students on three campuses and thousands more through online programs. Washington students are our priority and we are educating and preparing the young people of our region in record numbers, particularly those students who are from modest means and underrepresented groups. I’m so proud that fully a third of our students are the first in their families to attend college. We admit students without consideration of financial means and, thanks to the Husky Promise, ,low-income students who enroll at the UW will have support — nearly 32% of our Washington students – those who need our support the most — pay no tuition at all.
You’ll never hear me brag about the rise in the average entering SAT score or GPA of our incoming freshmen. Our goal is to admit the most students who will do the most good for the world. It’s to attract and welcome innovators and big thinkers, who bring uncommon perspectives and a drive to do. Because innovation is what we do very well at the UW – you don’t even have to take my word for it: Reuters has ranked the UW as the most innovative public university IN THE WORLD.
Now innovation comes from the other half of the equation which is EXCELLENCE. The UW’s impact on our students’ lives and on the vitality of our region and the world is made possible by decades of investment in academic excellence at all levels. Our research impact is well known – name pretty much any issue you are concerned about – national security, heart disease, your child’s learning patterns or the transportation problems in our region – and I can promise you that UW faculty and students are influencing that issue positively. What is perhaps less well known is the incredible teaching – and teachers – that also impact our students every day as faculty and students work together in the Husky Experience. More than 8,000 students participate in hands-on research with top faculty in their fields. Thousands of students embark on internships and service trips annually. I like to say this is a place where we take motivated students of modest means, expand their vistas and launch them into the stratosphere – where they do remarkable, world-changing things.
Now, when I talk about innovation at the UW, I’m talking about inclusive innovation – new ideas, new jobs, new companies created to tackle the challenges that face our city, our region and our world. Innovation that considers not just how we can “disrupt” but also who is being disrupted and how innovation can contribute to the public good.
Which brings me one of the major priorities for the UW that I discussed publicly for the first time yesterday.
I believe that one of – if not the biggest ways the UW can innovate in the service of public good is to put our collective talents to work improving the health and well-being of people here in the Pacific Northwest and all over the world. Yesterday, I invited our community to join in developing a new vision to put our collective excellence to good use. I shared the first steps for establishing a 25-year vision for how the UW, together with the incredible organizations and people in this region, can take work to better people’s lives by deepening our commitment to what we are calling Population Health. Like the Race & Equity Initiative the UW launched last year to combat racism and promote equity and diversity on our campuses, this vision of Population Health is about improving lives and tackling hard problems. And, not coincidentally, many of those problems are interrelated with issues of race and equity.
So, on the heels of yesterday’s talk, I’m very pleased to have the chance to share a bit about that vision with you today, because as I look around this room, I see a lot of leaders invested in the success and well-being of this community, and we need powerful people – powerful women! – to join us in making the vision of transforming public health a reality.
Seattle is one of the world’s great cities. It’s a boom town, and it may seem as if wealth and happiness are plentiful. But for many people in our city and region, the boom has passed them by, or worse, made their lives harder and more tenuous.
Many people in our city and region – our neighbors – face daily trials that are largely invisible to the world. Their children may go to underfunded or declining schools, and they may arrive at those schools hungry or malnourished. They themselves may be facing violence, drugs, or disease, and often they can’t afford to miss work to take care of a sick child or get treatment for themselves when they need it.
They may face racism and discrimination, and find themselves trapped in a multi-generation cycle of poverty. Right here in Seattle, a distance of a few miles can mean a difference in life expectancy of more than a decade. Ours is a city of opportunity, yes. But that opportunity is too often determined not by how hard you work, but by where you were born.
So what do we mean by population health? It includes more than just the absence of disease, though that’s important. Our University plays a crucial role in discovering new treatments and cures for a wide range of diseases and conditions, from emerging diseases like Zika to age-old maladies like cancer. Couple that with our work in developing countries, and the more than $275 million in charity care provided here at home by UW Medicine, and it’s clear that – with your support – our University plays an essential role in helping people live longer, happier lives here and all around the world.
Yet, there are many conditions intertwined with physical and mental health: from nutrition and education, to pollution and issues of equity. And there are many ways one can fall – or be pushed – into poverty. By identifying and addressing the causes and impacts of a broad swath of well-being indicators for populations of people – from neighborhoods to countries – we have an opportunity to truly impact health in profound ways. We have an opportunity to improve the population health of the world.
Amplifying that opportunity is the fact that, here in the Puget Sound region, there are more than 130 organizations working on population and global health. From the Gates Foundation and PATH, to organizations focusing on individual nations or specific maladies, there are few places on Earth with more opportunities for collaboration and collective impact than right here. As a global hub for computing and information technology, we have at our disposal more talent and computing power than has ever before been assembled. Big data, for example, allows us to expose and understand patterns, enabling us to diagnose – and treat – not just individuals, but entire cities – even nations.
So how do we, together, shape and implement a vision for our region over the next two and a half decades?
We start by expanding our commitment to reducing health disparities here and around the globe. Your place of birth should not determine your lifespan. Your skin color should never predestine you to greater suffering.
This vision continues with a determination to increase global security by tackling the challenges of environmental sustainability. Some of the effects of climate change cannot be forestalled, so we must also study ways to improve resilience, especially in those communities – poor communities – most likely to be harmed. And we must strive to address the social and economic inequities that make communities poor in the first place.
We will also seek to inspire the next generation of decision-makers, who will drive health policy with strong evidence and even stronger convictions. We will create new paths for students to pursue careers in population health, building synergies within the wide range of disciplines that can contribute. And we of course want these students to learn from the world’s most outstanding faculty, so we will add to the global leaders who already call the UW home.
Together, they will team up with leaders and collaborators from the communities who have the most to gain from the democratization of health evidence, unlocking the power of data for the benefit of ALL. We have in our pockets more computing power than could ever before have been imagined – let’s encourage people to use it for something more than Snapchat (or Tinder).
I believe there is no region and no university better poised to lead us toward solutions than the Puget Sound region and the University of Washington. I believe everyone in this room (and many outside of it) can contribute to the success of this vision, so that together, we can help people around the world, and right here at home, lead healthier, safer, happier and more fulfilling lives.
That’s what inspires me as a scholar. It’s what motivates me as president. And it’s what drives me as a citizen of this community and of this world.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to visit with you tonight. I look forward to meeting those of you I haven’t met yet, and to working with all of you on this and on a range of other priorities for your University and our community. And I‘m happy to answer your questions.
