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Presidential Blog

Our boundless future

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When I first set foot on campus almost 30 years ago as an assistant professor, I could never have imagined I’d be writing to you as president of the University of Washington. This is an incredible honor, and it is one that is made all the more special because I have shared this journey with so many of you. Thank you for the support and kindness you have shown me.

At a time when regents and trustees at some other institutions are questioning the ability of the academy to lead, our Regents demonstrated their belief in you. Their vote was a vote of confidence in the progress we’ve made together and in the future we have charted for the UW. This truly is our University.

As I look at our future, there are three key areas in which we have tremendous opportunities to contribute to the lives of our students, to advance the well-being of our world and to drive innovation here and around the globe.

For our students, we will provide a Husky Experience that prepares them for successful lives by coupling outstanding teaching with outstanding experiences. From internships and makerspaces, to study abroad and research, we will prepare our students to be engaged global citizens.

For those who rely on our research, scholarship and creative works, we will focus on the impact of what we do. Whether it is through environmental science that helps us be better stewards of the Earth, or by establishing vibrant futures for the arts and humanities, our work makes a difference. In all our disciplines, we can contribute to the world on a scale that few other institutions can match.

And throughout our University, we will be united by a drive to innovate. We will support and encourage new ways to tackle societal problems, from using big data to improve the health of patients and entire populations around the world, to bringing innovators together across disciplines to address challenges here in our own backyard.

All of this is in support of our proud public mission, which is firmly centered on providing both access and excellence to our students, and on advancing the health, well-being and prosperity of the people of Washington and beyond. You can learn more about our shared vision for the future in my Annual President’s Address.

Thank you for your excellence, your innovation, your creativity and your pursuit of discovery on behalf of our students, our state and the world. It is you who make our University such a special place, and it is an honor to serve as its president.

Ana Mari Cauce selected as UW president

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Editor’s note: This is UW Board of Regents chair Bill Ayer’s email message to the UW community.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

It is my distinct honor to announce that the Board of Regents has selected Ana Mari Cauce to serve as the 33rd president of the University of Washington.

President Cauce is truly of Washington, exemplifying the values of our University and our state in every respect. She is a highly respected member of the faculty, having joined the UW as an assistant professor of psychology in 1986 and rising through the ranks while increasing her responsibilities through a number of leadership positions, most recently as interim president. She is a recipient of the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award and is an accomplished scholar, most notably for her clinical research in adolescent development, specifically youth at risk. Raised in Miami after immigrating to the United States from Cuba as a child, she inherited her parents’ passion for education, earning degrees in English and psychology from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

The Board of Regents believe President Cauce has demonstrated that her enthusiasm, humility, tenacity, honesty, courage, keen intellect and deep belief in and genuine affection for the UW are just the right ingredients to lead our University to even greater impact and prominence in the coming years. She will focus on ensuring all students are ready for successful, engaged lives by enhancing the Husky Experience; on spurring the research and scholarship that truly transforms our world; and on continuing to infuse a spirit of innovation and creativity throughout the University.

We believe her nearly 30 years as a member of the faculty, as a leader in the greater Seattle community, and her well-known dedication to students will enable the University to forge and deepen relationships that are crucial to our success. And as a passionate champion of equity and inclusion and of higher education as the key to social mobility for first-generation and low-income students, we know she will both embody and remind us all about the deep importance of our work as a proudly public university – a University for Washington and for the world.

In honor of this occasion, please join us for a community reception on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom, after the Annual President’s Address at 3:30 p.m. at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House.

Thank you for the insights you shared with the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and the Board of Regents during this search. I hope you will join us in celebrating this remarkable leader and historic moment for the University of Washington.

Sincerely,

Bill Ayer
Chair, Board of Regents

Welcome back, Huskies!

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Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Whether you’re a newcomer to the UW or, like me, a long-time member of the community, I hope you feel the excitement of the start of school. It is a great time for our city and our region!

Annual President’s Address

Join us to hear about topics of interest to the campus community, followed by Q&A and a reception at:

This quarter we welcome more first-year students to our three campuses than ever before along with those of you who have joined us as transfer students or to pursue graduate degrees. You join talented peers from across the state and from around the nation and world who are returning to campus. Thank you for pursuing your future with us and for your determination to make a difference. We believe in you, so be undaunted in pursuing opportunities. But, remember risk-taking involves facing challenges, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

To our faculty — including more than 260 new faculty members — thank you for the inspiration and mentorship you provide to our students and the impact your scholarship and creativity have on our world. What unites our students is the desire to learn from the world’s best: you. They also want to learn in a supportive and welcoming environment, and I want to thank our staff across the University for all that you to do create these surroundings and support the UW’s mission.

For all of us, the fall offers a fresh start and I encourage everyone to get involved in the many and varied activities across our campus — there’s something here for every interest. I’d love to see you join in the vital discussions we began last spring with the Race and Equity Initiative. Next week, we’ll host student discussions and a lecture as part of our efforts around making the UW a more welcoming and inclusive place to learn and work.

We have much to celebrate — for example, UW was just named the most innovative public university in the world — and our momentum is increasing because of you. You make the UW a place of boundless opportunities. Thank you for all that you do to make our world better, and best wishes for a great start to the year!

Let’s make it a great year — together.

Statement concerning the approved two-year state budget

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On behalf of University of Washington students, faculty, staff and alumni, I want to express my thanks and appreciation to our elected officials for making investments in higher education a true state budget priority during the 2015 legislative session. While the previous budget began to reverse the long-term trend of shifting the burden of paying for college from the state to students and their families, this new spending plan truly recommits the State of Washington to supporting public higher education. This historic tuition reduction is outstanding news for our students and their families, and I applaud the governor and legislators who came together to make this possible.

 

I also want to thank policymakers for their support of the UW’s efforts to educate the health professionals Washington needs to be healthy and prosperous. The budget agreement enables us not only to continue medical education in Spokane and eastern Washington through WWAMI, but to expand our ability to educate physicians for all of Washington state. I am also grateful for the Legislature’s support for expansion of our computer science program through investments to expand enrollment to help us meet another critical workforce need for the state.

Congratulations to this year’s graduates!

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This year, close to 16,000 degrees will be awarded to graduates from the University of Washington in Seattle, UW Bothell and UW Tacoma. And this week, thousands will turn their tassels and change the world for the better.

Earning a college degree is an outstanding achievement for every student, and, in particular, for those who are the first in their families to achieve this tremendous milestone. Whether you are graduating as first-, second-, third- or even fourth-generation Huskies, this is a time to celebrate all the inspiring work to which you have devoted yourselves over the past several years at the UW.

So many of our seniors embody the undaunted spirit of the University. Let me mention just a few:

Law, Societies & Justice major Dashni Amin has long been an advocate for the underserved. After taking an Honors Program class on education in prison, she turned her compassion into action by creating a program that helps improve prisoners’ access to educational materials.

While juggling a packed academic schedule, mechanical engineering major Ryan Smith applied his growing knowledge to innovative research: He worked 20 hours a week for a UW-propelled startup that combines engineering and medical science to create safer football helmets.

Saloni Parikh, a computer science and public health dual major, put her technical expertise to work in several interdisciplinary global health projects — even traveling to Kenya to help train community health workers to collect digital data for a UW study that aims to curb HIV transmission.

And Ganita Musa, a social welfare major at UW Tacoma, was also a member of the Global Honors Program. Driven to connect with and learn from her fellow students, Ganita immersed herself in student life: She was a member of the Student Services Committee, the Student Social Work Organization and the Muslim Student Association.

The Class of 2015 has an array of remarkable individuals, and I wish I had enough space to tell you about them all. Our University is home to students of brilliant ideas and diverse backgrounds, of entrepreneurial minds and passionate hearts. With optimism and pride, I know we all look forward to the impact our newest graduates will make on communities here and around the world.

Faculty and staff, thank you for everything you have done to prepare the Class of 2015! Your commitment, guidance and passion for research, learning and discovery are at the heart of the UW’s unparalleled excellence as a premier public university.

Graduates, you now join the pantheon of proud UW alumni. Stay connected to your purple and gold roots; work hard and be a force for good in the world. And, most of all, go forth with optimism and fortitude — and Be Boundless!

Congratulations!

Forging the UW’s future in Spokane

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The University of Washington’s vision to expand medical education in Spokane has been buoyed this month by stellar hires, resolute community support, a promising partnership with Gonzaga University and construction on the new UW Spokane Center in the heart of the city.

New faculty and a new curriculum

Preparing our UW Spokane faculty for our incoming and returning medical students has been our top priority for the past several months. For more than three years, our medical school faculty have been reinventing the way we teach our medical students with an exciting new state-of-the-art curriculum. The new curriculum vastly improves the classroom experience, gets students into the clinical setting more quickly and allows us to offer all four years of medical school in Spokane. Their work will culminate this August with implementation of that curriculum for all our medical students.

Our commitment to our incoming Spokane medical students is unwavering. After the mutual dissolution of our medical education partnership with WSU last October, we have acted quickly to ensure that the transition for our Spokane-based students is seamless. We are finalizing the hiring and training of medical school faculty, and we continue to seek state funding from the Legislature to ensure the UW School of Medicine’s future in Spokane beyond this coming academic year.

Exploring a partnership with Gonzaga

Our discussions with Gonzaga University continue, and while we await the outcome of the legislative session and have some important details to work out, our goal is to institute a new Spokane medical education partnership with Gonzaga beginning in the 2016–17 academic year. Our two universities share a rich history of education and service to the state of Washington, and our mutually shared commitments to social justice, diversity, global engagement and care for the planet have all the makings of an exciting collaboration.

Our efforts to address the medical needs of our state continue to gain support. Members of the Executive Committee of Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) and the Vision 2030 Oversight Board recently penned an open letter to legislative leaders, lending their support to fund both the expansion of the UW School of Medicine in Spokane and Washington State University’s initiative to create its own medical school. GSI has been a longtime advocate of medical education in Spokane, and we appreciate their advocacy work and their shared vision to expand higher education in the region.

A strengthened UW presence in Spokane

This month, we’re welcoming Catherine Brazil as our new director of government and community relations for the region, effective May 26. Catherine will represent the University of Washington in Spokane, building and maintaining relationships in the community and throughout Eastern Washington.

In addition, I invite you to visit the UW’s new Spokane Center, which is set to open officially next month at 201 W. Main St. We will host a public open house on Wednesday, June 24, from 2–5 p.m. I hope you can join us to learn about the center’s interactive features, the UW’s limitless opportunities for current and future students, and our long-term plans for higher education and community engagement in the Spokane region.

In the meantime, you can keep up with our progress at spokanemedschool.uw.edu.

Honoring our longstanding partnership with Boeing

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On Monday we had the privilege, along with our supporters and collaborators from The Boeing Company, to celebrate UW student recipients of Boeing scholarships, and to express our immense gratitude for The Boeing Company and its generous, longstanding support of our students, faculty and programs.

Interim President Ana Mari Cauce pictured with Boeing scholarship recipients
Interim President Ana Mari Cauce (second from left) with UW student recipients of Boeing scholarships

For nearly 100 years, our collaboration with Boeing has had a significant impact in shaping the University, Boeing and the Pacific Northwest. Boeing’s support has given our students the opportunity to challenge themselves, to apply their education to real-world problems and to pursue their dreams. Thanks to Boeing, these students have been able to develop their talents and engage in significant and positive ways with the wider community. Our Boeing-funded students are leaving the UW well-equipped to create a better world for all of us.

This past year our collaboration with Boeing achieved a new milestone. The Boeing Advanced Research Center — or BARC — officially launched in January, with an initial focus in areas of advanced assembly and manufacturing technologies. Housed in our Department of Mechanical Engineering, BARC is exciting because it represents a new way of collaborating to tackle the challenges facing industry and society. At BARC, UW faculty and Boeing engineers lead research projects together, and graduate students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with Boeing to address some of the most significant issues in airplane design, manufacturing and assembly.

The depth and breadth of Boeing’s impact on the UW is vast. The company’s investments in research, academic programs, scholarships and fellowships benefit many students on all three campuses. We are truly grateful for our collaboration with Boeing, for its leadership on our campus, in our community and in our state, and for its longstanding partnership, working together with us to educate, serve and provide opportunities for all of Washington’s citizens.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

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Twenty-five years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, establishing a legal mandate to end discrimination against people with disabilities. The ADA has been instrumental in advancing civil and human rights across the nation. The University of Washington is committed to doing all we can to increase access and opportunity for people with disabilities — including nearly a million residents in Washington state.

Our community strives to create welcoming and respectful learning environments and to promote equity and fairness for all. We value and honor the diverse experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and abilities of all individuals.

On the occasion of the ADA’s 25th anniversary, we are hosting various events to reaffirm our commitment to and support for improving accessibility and promoting full inclusion, as well as to celebrate and show respect for the contributions people with disabilities make to our campus. We hope these events will also foster pride among students, staff, faculty, family members and visitors with disabilities.

I invite our entire community to attend these events planned for this spring, summer and the 2015–2016 academic year, including:

  • Tuesday, May 5, 2015
    A special screening of the film “On Beauty“ and discussion with filmmaker Joanna Rudnick
    4:30 p.m., HUB Lyceum
  • Friday, May 8, 2015
    Special presentation on deaf history by Dr. M.J. Bienvenu from Gallaudet University
    6:30–8:30 p.m., Kane Hall, room 120
  • Thursday, May 21, 2015
    Access Technology Center Open House: Drop by to learn about the ATC, meet the staff and help celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day! The ATC provides accessibility consultations and demonstrates a wide variety of hardware, software and furniture for users with disabilities.
    1–4 p.m., Mary Gates Hall, room 064

Additional events and information will be added to the ADA 25th Anniversary website each quarter.

Thank you for your ongoing efforts to make the University of Washington a place that is welcoming to all.

Compassion and action for Nepal

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The devastating earthquake in Nepal on Saturday and its unyielding aftershocks are tragic and catastrophic. Our hearts go out to the millions of people affected, including the UW’s Nepalese Student Association and our community members who have family and friends in the region. Over the years, countless UW faculty, students and alumni have studied Nepal’s cultural and geographic treasures, and this disaster reverberates across our globe-spanning Husky network. It is also a sobering reminder of the awesome power of nature and the potential damage a major earthquake can wreak on a region.

Many individuals have asked how to help. The UW is aligning with a statewide disaster relief campaign through the UW Combined Fund Drive. Contributions to any of the nonprofit organizations listed here or the Nepalese Student Association fund will help to raise the billions of dollars it will take to provide essential support. Thank you for your concern — and compassion.