Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Kathryn Topper thought she wanted to be an astronaut or astrophysicist. That was until tenth grade, when she fell in with a different crowd. This group made a habit of gathering late into the night to talk, sing, and drink—sometimes making a competition of flinging dregs of wine [...]

Continue Reading →

When the University of Washington Husky football team victoriously stormed the field at the 1991 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, thousands of dreams were fulfilled. In the same moment, more than 1000 miles away in a garage in Montana, another was born. Basked in the glow of his parents’ television set, reveling in the Huskies’ newly-minted [...]

Continue Reading →

Naomi Macalalad Bragin teaches dance. But you won’t find her teaching only steps. She’s more interested in what’s happening off-stage—underground and in the street. The assistant professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell is a performance ethnographer whose work places her at the convergence of dance, pop [...]

Continue Reading →

To deliver the perfect presentation, prepare to embrace your mistakes. That’s the philosophy Tim Essington brings to Applied Improvisation for Science Communication, a course the professor of aquatic and fishery sciences developed to help scientists more confidently and effectively communicate their research. “Giving a good talk isn’t just what you put on your slides, it’s [...]

Continue Reading →

For Michelle Martin, the Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services at the University of Washington’s Information School, reading’s best lessons aren’t found in the book, but in the binding. “Sharing books is as much about relationship building as it is about skill development,” she says of literature’s connective quality. “There’s a difference between [...]

Continue Reading →

While some might look at a scale with a sense of dread, Hilary Law only saw opportunity. When the heart failure transition nurse at the University of Washington Medical Center received an email in late November about The Whole U’s plan to distribute digital scales donated by Pivotal Digital to the first 1000 registrants for its [...]

Continue Reading →

Most mornings, Arien Cherones wakes up at 4 a.m. But you won’t find the IT director for UW Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine complaining. Far from it. “I honestly believe I have the coolest job at the University,” he says. “A 40-hour workweek is not something I stringently adhere to.” Cherones’ early hours [...]

Continue Reading →

Anaid Yerena’s textbook is out of date. But the assistant professor at University of Washington Tacoma’s School of Urban Studies wouldn’t have it otherwise. Yerena teaches the course “Housing in America” and the text in question, Introduction to Housing, was last published in 2006. “I need you to be reading this book within the context [...]

Continue Reading →

Even after 33 seasons as head coach of the University of Washington women’s golf team and a 2016 run to the program’s first national championship, Mary Lou Mulflur is quick to shoot down any notion that she has it all figured out. “The minute I think I have it figured out, I’m done,” she says. “When you [...]

Continue Reading →

It’s a simple question with a complicated response. “Who cares?” The search for an answer is at the core of Clara Berridge’s research at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. The assistant professor explores the social and ethical aspects of how healthcare technologies challenge, change, and enhance care relationships—especially for older adults. “There [...]

Continue Reading →

Whether she’s meeting faculty at the School of Pharmacy or Fidel Castro in Havana, Penny Evans likes staying a step ahead. It’s a strategy the graduate program advisor for the School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program has brought to work every day for the past 25 years and the advice she says she’d [...]

Continue Reading →

How do you measure a microaggression? That’s just one of the questions at the heart of Jonathan Kanter’s research at the University of Washington’s Center for the Science of Social Connection. Kanter, a research associate professor of psychology who has served as the Center’s director since 2013, believes the answer may prove essential to better [...]

Continue Reading →