2025 Provost’s Town Hall
UW Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Tricia Serio discussed the state of the University from an academic perspective and how the University inspires and supports faculty, staff and students to use their talents and passions to change the world.
Plus, enjoy welcome remarks from UW staff members and special presentations on climate-focused mitigation and resilience work from UW faculty.
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 10–11 a.m.
Watch video
ASL interpretation and closed-captioning provided.
Town Hall speakers
Welcome remarks
LeAnne Wiles
Executive director of First Year Programs & Robinson Center for Young Scholars
Terry Hill
Director of Orientation & Transition Programs at UW Bothell
Special faculty presentations
Translating climate solutions from the lab to the world
Alex Gagnon, associate professor of oceanography and co-founder and CEO of Banyu Carbon, a company developing light-powered carbon-removal technology
As professors and entrepreneurs, have been developing and commercializing a new low-energy approach to remove harmful carbon dioxide from the environment with the goal of slowing global warming. This innovation is a direct result of our climate research and the creative impact-driven culture at the University of Washington.
Alex is excited to share the experience of taking this innovation from the lab into the world, the challenge of building solutions to reach climate-relevant scales, and his conviction that student and academic entrepreneurs are uniquely suited to develop technologies that can have a positive impact at planetary scales.
Co-developing clean energy solutions with Washington communities
Dan Schwartz, Boeing-Sutter professor of chemical engineering and founding director of the UW’s Clean Energy Institute
Dan Schwartz joined the UW in 1991, following a postdoctoral fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis. He has served the University as associate dean for research in engineering, chair of chemical engineering and Office of Research liaison to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
An electrochemical engineer by training, Dan has a professional home in the Electrochemical Society, where he is a fellow and a recipient of research and teaching awards. Dan is especially proud to have been recognized by regional climate tech business leaders with the 2021 Director’s Award for his impact on the Northwest innovation ecosystem and by the White House with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring for collaborative research and education with Northwest tribes.
A civic-minded Washingtonian, he brings engineering expertise to governing and advisory boards at Chief Leschi Schools, the CleanTech Alliance, E8 angel investors, and the state of Washington. Dan is also chair of the Washington State Academy of Sciences’ Jobs, Infrastructure, and Economic Environment working group.