The 91探花 and Microsoft have announced the expansion of their long鈥憇tanding partnership uniting world-class academic research with world-leading technology. 91探花and Microsoft aim to accelerate AI discovery, prepare students and workers for an AI-driven economy, and help communities understand and use AI responsibly.

The announcement, made today by 91探花President Robert J. Jones and Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith during an event at the UW鈥檚 Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, will increase the University鈥檚 access to the most advanced AI computing power, expand internship and applied research opportunities for its students, and develop community AI literacy programs, including a foundational AI course for working Washingtonians.

鈥淥ur long-standing partnership with Microsoft demonstrates what鈥檚 possible when universities and industry come together to support students and our society, and we are grateful for their continued support,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e expanding students鈥� access to hands-on learning, advancing AI research and strengthening our workforce.鈥�

This announcement builds on Microsoft鈥檚 decades-long support of the University, including $165 million of investments in student scholarships and enhancements to the UW鈥檚 world-leading computer science and engineering programs. In tandem with ongoing state and federal support, these investments have helped increase access to education and contributed to the state鈥檚 highly skilled workforce.

鈥淧resident Jones has outlined a bold vision for the 91探花, one that expands access and affordability in higher ed, forges radical partnerships and strengthens civic health,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essential that this vision includes broad access to AI technology and the skills to use it, so students, workers and communities across Washington are prepared for this new era of computing and can share fully in its benefits.鈥�

The timing of the announcement comes as forecasts predict a need to fill 1.5 million job vacancies in Washington by 2032 鈥� about 640,000 new jobs and 910,000 openings due to retirements, according to Partnership for Learning. Up to 75% of those vacancies will require post-secondary credentials, with four-year and advanced degrees in highest demand. If current trends hold, experts predict a shortfall of nearly 600,000 credentialed workers in Washington over the decade.

鈥淚t鈥檚 critical that industry, colleges and universities, and policy makers continue to work together to maintain the region鈥檚 economy and climate of innovation and discovery,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭hat includes avoiding going backward by making cuts to core state funding that would make a college degree less accessible to our state鈥檚 students.鈥�

The budgets proposed by the Washington State Legislature鈥檚 majorities would keep funding for the 91探花largely stable. Historically, the Legislature has created a fertile environment for workforce growth and training through the Washington Workforce Education Investment Act (WEIA) and the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS).

Since passage in 2019, with support from Microsoft and other business leaders, the WEIA has generated more than $2 billion in dedicated funding to expand higher education access in Washington.听 WSOS 鈥� a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in which private employers contribute philanthropic dollars that are matched by the State of Washington to expand access to higher education in high-demand fields 鈥� has delivered nearly $150 million in total scholarships statewide, combining private donations and state matching funds. One-third of WSOS scholars attend the UW.

鈥淭hese new elements of our partnership with Microsoft continue to position the 91探花and our state as leaders in access to higher education and at the forefront of the emerging technologies that can drive broad-based prosperity,鈥� Jones said.

Microsoft and the UW鈥檚 expanded partnership will:

• Provide faculty, researchers and students with access to advanced computing capabilities that enable modern AI training, experimentation and research, and instruction. Microsoft is supplementing this effort by donating Microsoft Azure cloud computing credits to help accelerate the development of a research cloud computing platform.
• Launch a new initiative to connect 91探花faculty, visiting professors and students with real-world research opportunities at Microsoft. This is based on a new 鈥渞esearch marketplace鈥� that will be established and supported by Microsoft鈥檚 AI for Good Lab. It will be complemented by 10 additional graduate student-researcher slots per year 鈥� eight through the Microsoft Research organization and two in the AI for Good Lab.
• Support undergraduate students as they become civic leaders, helping them build ethical judgment, digital citizenship and agency to co-design how emerging technologies, including AI, will serve communities and democracy.
• Join forces with UW鈥檚 Continuum College, an institution serving more than 50,000 learners annually through 400 programs serving young people, working adults and senior citizens. The 91探花and Microsoft will develop programming that helps Washingtonians navigate AI-related workforce transitions with confidence and purpose. This collaboration will result in new courses and other learning pathways focused on career resilience, evolving job demands and navigating the challenges that accompany shifting career identities.
• Beginning this fall, the 91探花and Microsoft will launch a new collaboration on Microsoft鈥檚 Redmond campus that reimagines how universities and industry work together. This part of the work will deepen workforce鈥慶onnected education and applied learning. The collaboration will support the co鈥慸evelopment of select courses and learning experiences for Microsoft employees navigating rapid AI鈥慸riven change, while enabling 91探花students to learn alongside industry professionals and gain real鈥憌orld insight as part of their academic experience. Additional details will be announced later this year.

Since becoming the UW鈥檚 34th president in August 2025, President Jones has set out three key priorities for the University: increasing access to education, including through the goal of making a 91探花degree debt-free for Washington undergraduates; spurring radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change; and eliminating any artificial barriers between the University and the communities it serves.

Along with strategic planning underway at the UW, Jones is engaging with corporate and civic leaders, as well as organizations throughout the region, to expand existing partnerships with the UW. Through these relationships, he aims to support access and affordability for students and the economic vitality and social fabric of Washington state and beyond.

For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.

In the space of a few years, went from being a self-doubting, decidedly Earthbound dreamer to become a pilot, then a teacher of flying, and then the first Latina pilot on the United States Aerobatic Team 鈥� an honor akin to competing in the Olympics.

Aragon writes of this evolution in her engaging new memoir, “,” published this month by Blackstone Publishing. An version of the book is also available.

A professor of human-centered design and engineering and a member of the eScience Institute at the 91探花, Aragon directs the . She came to the 91探花in 2010.

The daughter of a Chilean father and a Filipina mother, Aragon 鈥� then Cecilia Rodriguez 鈥� writes in “Flying Free” that she grew up misunderstood by teachers and stalked by a schoolyard bully. Fascinated by flying, she loved and excelled at math, which felt like a sort of personal superpower: “I could see geometric patterns laid out before me,” Aragon writes. “Mathematical induction seemed like a magic way of proving theorems like the domino effect.”

That flight-obsessed child did learn to fly airplanes with the help of a series of teachers. And when she took to the air, Aragon writes, it felt “like a three-dimensional dance in the sky.” In time, Aragon became a professional aerobatic pilot and certified flight instructor.

91探花Notebook caught up with Aragon to ask a few questions about the memoir and her experiences as a competitive pilot.

You have a very clear voice as a writer. How did you develop it, and your style of memoir writing?听听

Cecilia Aragon: Thank you! They say the best way to develop a writer’s voice is simply through practice. I’ve been writing prose narrative since I was 4 years old. Of course, as an academic, writing clearly and concisely and knowing how to tell a story are critical. It’s also said, “The first million words are the hardest.” I estimate I’ve written over two million words of prose, including fiction, narrative nonfiction, and academic articles.

But I also have to give credit to 91探花Continuum College’s Certificate in Memoir Writing. I took a year-long course with the incredibly skilled instructor Theo Nestor. Not only did the class shape the form of my memoir, but it also enabled me to complete an entire first draft during my coursework. Sadly, 91探花no longer offers this certificate, but fortunately Theo Nestor is now teaching a yearlong that I highly recommend.

[Editor’s note: 91探花Continuum College continues to offer memoir writing as part of its writing curriculum. In fact, the next class of “Memoir Writing: Finding Your Story” begins online on Sept. 30. .]

This story is about you facing fears. But you also faced bias and misogyny at times. How much harder did that make your journey?听

C.A.: Bias and misogyny will make anyone’s journey much harder. That’s why I’m so glad this book is coming out now, during a time of growing awareness of systemic racism and its corrosive effects, particularly on young people.

I became a professor in large part because I wanted to give students today the kind of encouragement that my father, also a professor, gave his students in physics. Having a single voice of support can make all the difference, no matter how much discouragement you face. My father’s support gave me strength to fight my fears. I think any of us can be a mentor today and do the same thing for a young person in our life. Just help one person to reach their true potential 鈥� that’s all it takes.

You quote an instructor saying, “The cockpit is a lousy classroom.” What did that mean?听

C.A.: For a new flight student, being at the controls of an aircraft is a noisy, confusing, and frightening environment. Being terrified and confused is not conducive to learning.

What that instructor meant is that you need to teach flight techniques on the ground and learn them there, in a calmer environment. Then you go up into the air to practice what you’ve already mastered on the ground.

Your parents went from being worried for you and disapproving of aerobatic flying to being proud, with your dad saying his “buttons were popping.” What changed their view?

C.A.: At first my parents didn’t really understand what I was doing. They both had negative images of aviation from their experiences during World War II, and they both personally witnessed small aircraft crashing at early airshows in the 1930s and ’40s. I was able to explain to them how seriously I took safety, and how the technology had improved since their childhoods. They also came to watch my aerobatic flying at shows and contests, and there they were able to see that I wasn’t thrill-seeking but was performing a dance in the air that required precision and grace.

When they realized I was competing in a serious sport and understood that it took dedication and skill to do what I did, they changed their minds. I also think they experienced some visceral feelings of pride when they witnessed me winning first-place trophies at contests and seeing all those people applauding.

Before taking off, you remove all keys and coins from your pocket and stow them. Even a dropped quarter or nickel, you write, can have severe consequences for a pilot. What can happen?

C.A.: Any small, hard object left loose inside an aerobatic cockpit can be dangerous. The reason is that during aerobatics, objects fly around, and they usually end up in the tail section, where the mechanisms for moving the control surfaces 鈥� the movable parts of the plane that steer it through the air 鈥� are located.

Once I was taxiing out to the runway before a flight when I realized I couldn’t move the elevator 鈥� the part of the plane that pitches the nose up or down. Obviously, that would be a problem in the air! I immediately taxied back to the hangar and inspected the tail section. There I found a nickel wedged in the elevator bellcrank. The nickel was actually bent from the force that had been applied to it. If I hadn’t discovered it on the ground, it’s possible I wouldn’t have been able to control the plane in the air.

I suspect that nickel ended up in my cockpit during a previous weekend’s fly-in exhibition, where pilots left their planes out on the tarmac for the public to view. Perhaps I missed someone leaning over my plane to show off the cockpit to their child, and accidentally dropping the nickel. I’m sure they thought it was no big deal.

You benefited from the kindnesses of friends and strangers both. How did the flying community change the way you view people, and your ability to trust others?听听

C.A.: I admit that growing up as the daughter of immigrants in Indiana made me fearful of strangers. People who didn’t know me often judged me by my name, my ethnicity, or my parents’ accents. After you see people refusing to serve you in stores or pulling their house off the market when your parents make an offer, you tend to grow distrustful.

The flying community was wonderful. 听I experienced acceptance by most people for my accomplishments as a pilot rather than the color of my skin or hair. I was welcomed into this community in a way I had rarely experienced before. There were so many astonishing incidents of kindness, some of which I detail in the book, too many to list here, but suffice it to say that the combined effect of this outpouring of approval helped relieve this inner, unconscious defensiveness that I’d held for years.

You see, as a young person, my instinctive response to meeting anyone was to panic and go into high alert. After years of being welcomed by the aviation community, that changed. I learned to internalize an expectation that most people were going to give me the benefit of the doubt and were going to treat me well. An individual act of kindness, someone going out of their way for me, went a long way to healing those old wounds.

Do you still fly? And what’s next for you as a writer? 听

听C.A.: I still fly 鈥� I don’t think I could ever give it up 鈥� but not with the intensity and frequency described in “Flying Free.” I teach basic aerobatics when my work and the Pacific Northwest weather permit, and I occasionally take my family flying to some beautiful local听airports.

My next academic book, a co-authored introductory textbook on human-centered data science, will be released by MIT Press in 2021. And I’m also working on a second memoir, although this one may end up becoming an autobiographical novel.

• For more information, contact Aragon at aragon@uw.edu.

Othello- 91探花Commons opened in mid-January in Southeast Seattle.

The 91探花 today opened the doors to , a new multifunctional partnership space in the heart of Southeast Seattle鈥檚 Othello neighborhood.

The 2,200-square-foot storefront will be used for community-informed teaching, learning, service and research. The Commons will be a place for the 91探花and community partners to build knowledge and capacity that supports positive actions to better the city and region.

鈥淎s a public university, a key part of the 91探花 is engaging with our communities. With the Commons, we will have incredible new opportunities to engage with the people we serve in South Seattle. I鈥檓 excited to see the impact of new spaces and increased interaction between the 91探花and the Othello community,鈥� said 91探花President Ana Mari Cauce.

Across the street from the Othello Link light rail station and about 9 miles from UW鈥檚 Seattle campus, the Commons will be used by multiple 91探花schools, colleges and programs for classes, meet-ups and other events connected to the greater Southeast community. The Commons can be divided into separate rooms for meetings, teaching, learning, leadership, and community and professional management.

Through cutting-edge research, student consulting teams, medical clinics, and high school student development programs, the 91探花long has participated in the daily lives of South Seattle residents, said Sally J. Clark, director of UW鈥檚 Office of Regional and Community Relations. Now, with the Othello- 91探花Commons space, there鈥檚 a place in the community for deeper exploration to occur.

鈥淭he Commons will prioritize sustained partnerships that embrace the UW鈥檚 commitment to learning from and with local communities,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淧eople should expect to see an array of uses in the space and even deeper engagement with community groups looking to tap the skills, knowledge and energy of 91探花students, faculty and staff. A little more purple and gold will look good at Othello.鈥�

Conversations with local residents informed the vision for the Othello- 91探花Commons, said Selam Misgano, UW-Othello Commons manager. Misgano is a dedicated, full-time manager who will work onsite and be the community go-to person.

鈥淭he University will continue to ask and to listen, and to shape programming that supports Southeast Seattle鈥檚 vision of sustaining an equitable, inclusive and welcoming community,鈥� Misgano said.

Initial funding for the project comes from the UW鈥檚 College of Education, Continuum College, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, College of the Environment, 听School of Nursing, School of Social Work, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, the School of Public Health and the Alumni Association, as well as from the Gates Foundation and the Sunderland Family Foundation.

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鈥淭he Career Accelerator Program puts people on the fast-track to the job they want tomorrow, or rounds-out their skills to boost their confidence in the job they have today,鈥� said , vice provost, 91探花Continuum College. 鈥淥ffering a program in four different formats gives our students more flexibility to earn a 91探花certificate when, where and how it鈥檚 most convenient for them.鈥�

Starting this fall, Career Accelerator courses will be available in four formats, including:

• Self-paced, online – students start anytime and work at their own pace with instructional support
• Accelerated, classroom – students complete a program in under two months in an immersive classroom-online blended format
• Group-paced, online – students join a group of like-minded professionals online in a traditional part-time online format; courses last a quarter and certificate courses last five to nine months
• Part-time, classroom – students attend classes one evening per week in a traditional part-time classroom format; courses last a quarter and certificate courses last five to nine months

guides curriculum development for 91探花Continuum College data science and data analytics programs. 鈥淔or companies to convert raw data into useful information, their data scientists and analysts听must be versed in听the best approaches to turning statistical information into meaningful, actionable insights,鈥� said听Elston, a data scientist and author who holds a Microsoft Data . 鈥淲ith the Career Accelerator Program, we鈥檙e helping current and aspiring data professionals to听do just that.”

Registration dates for the new course formats will be announced in mid-July. For more information or to receive updates about future Career Accelerator options visit:

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91探花 , which offers 100 certificate programs through 91探花Professional & Continuing Education (UWPCE), this week launched the to help Washington residents eager to advance their careers through education.

鈥淥ur world is changing and education is changing as well,鈥� says 91探花Continuum College Vice Provost . 鈥淓very day, we hear from people who want to keep up with those changes in their lives. At a time when continual learning has never been more critical to people鈥檚 professional success, our new scholarship program helps ensure that adult learners who struggle to afford continuing education have access to opportunities that can boost their careers and improve their lives,鈥� explains Branon. 鈥淲e are excited to kick-off this new initiative by awarding 10 need-based scholarships for select certificate programs starting this fall.鈥�

Chosen for their importance to today鈥檚 workplace needs, the five scholarship-eligible certificate programs, offered in Seattle, Bellevue and online, are:

Awards will be based on financial need and potential for career impact. Only Washington state residents can apply. Full details on eligibility criteria .

91探花certificate programs prepare thousands of freshly trained employees for in-demand 鈥減athway鈥� jobs 鈥� those that require more knowledge and expertise than entry-level jobs and are often a key step on the road to long-lasting leadership roles.

As Branon explains, 鈥淏y providing scholarships that give access to education that helps advance our students鈥� professional success, we don鈥檛 just help them — we build a better-educated workforce and stronger community for us all.鈥�

That certainly was the case for 91探花certificate grad Elizabeth Kennedy. She credits continuing education at the 91探花for helping her get back on track, after she acquired a disability that negatively impacted her career development for years.

鈥淒isability is the one demographic that any of us can fall into at any moment,鈥� says Kennedy. 鈥淏y the time my health started to improve, I鈥檇 been left behind in terms of my skills.鈥�

So she decided to boost her career by completing several professional certificates at the 91探花鈥� including programs in human resources management, nonprofit management and project management. Today, she uses what she learned to help create opportunities for others in underserved communities.

Kennedy is part of a mobile computer lab initiative funded by City of Seattle in collaboration with Full Life Care, to provide access to technology and digital literacy skills for residents of nine Seattle public housing communities. She is also developing a triathlon training program for low-income athletes.

鈥淓ducation unlocked the potential for me to pursue meaningful work,鈥� Kennedy says. 鈥淚 want others to have this experience too.鈥�

The option to make financial gifts or donations to the scholarship fund lets individuals and businesses contribute to the growth of the program, meaning even more opportunities for more people down the road.

鈥淕ifts to our new scholarship program can make a real difference for adult learners who are trying to shape better futures for themselves and their families,鈥� says Branon. 鈥淪ome of these students struggle to afford the full cost of a 91探花certificate, which can be as much as $4,000.鈥�

Branon adds, 鈥淲ith the support of our certificate alumni, employers, staff and community members, we hope to roll out scholarships more broadly across our certificate portfolio to give even wider access to high demand career skills.鈥�

To apply for a UWPCE Certificate Scholarship, visit . The application deadline is July 10. Donations can be made at Donations can be made at

For more information, contact Jo Gubas, 91探花Continuum College, at jgubas@uw.edu or 206-354-4247.

The 91探花 has announced a unique new graduate degree program, the , to meet the growing need for mental health professionals trained to serve children, teens and families.

The degree, launching in fall 2017, will equip professionals working in schools, health care, early learning and community settings with specialized skills to support social-emotional development and mental health in youth. The 36-credit program is the first master鈥檚 degree to be offered by the . The department is in the country for clinical psychology by U.S. News & World Report.

鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to offer a master鈥檚 program that addresses the pressing need for well-trained mental health practitioners who work with children and provides them with a comprehensive understanding of effective evidence-based treatments,鈥� said , one of three 91探花psychology professors heading up the new degree. 鈥淭he program allows the university to put its cutting-edge research into practice and help produce positive outcomes, especially by training those who assist high-risk children and families.鈥�

The degree curriculum gives students a broad foundation in child psychology with an emphasis on social and emotional development, along with specific skills in evidence-based diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health disorders in children and teens. Courses also cover risk and protective factors, parenting interventions and treatment for trauma and anxiety. Graduates will be able to diagnose psychosocial disorders and deliver interventions that work.

Students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience by working directly with practitioners in different settings. For those seeking professional licensing, the practicum hours are designed to count toward licensing requirements.

鈥淭he practicum provides students with real-world clinical training, so they can further develop and strengthen their assessment, diagnostic and interventions skills,鈥� said , director of the at the UW.

The master鈥檚 degree is designed to fit around work schedules, with courses mostly meeting in the late afternoons, evenings or weekends on the 91探花Seattle campus, supplemented by online conferencing. Students can choose between a one-year, full-time program and a two-year, part-time option.

Those interested in learning more can attend information meetings this winter. Early applications received by March 1 will be given priority. The final deadline to apply for this fall is May 1, 2017.

The Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology is offered by the 91探花Department of Psychology in partnership with . Continuum College expands the 91探花鈥檚 educational impact by meeting the needs of learners wherever they are in life 鈥� and wherever they intend to go.

For more information, contact psychma@uw.edu

鈥淲e live in an ever-changing world where continuous learning isn鈥檛 a luxury, it鈥檚 a necessity,鈥� said Rovy Branon, vice provost, 91探花Continuum College. 鈥淲hile college degrees remain the essential core of higher education, succeeding in the new economy requires new pathways for people to thrive. At 91探花Continuum College there is 鈥榓 new way to college,鈥� where college is a verb 鈥� making education accessible anywhere, anytime, to boost people鈥檚 careers, inspire their curiosity, and make their lives more meaningful.鈥�

Since 1912, 91探花 Continuum College has helped people in the U.S. and globally learn new skills and gain experience in areas of high demand. Each year, 50,000 students of Continuum College earn professional certificates and advanced degrees, and take part in enriching short programs in-person and online. Program lines of the college include Early Fall Start, , Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the UW, , Summer Youth and 91探花Professional & Continuing Education (PCE). A full listing is available .

In support of the change, Continuum College is introducing its first-ever public giving fund to provide financial aid to learners pursuing non-credit education. The 91探花Continuum College Founders Scholarship will add to the program鈥檚 $200,000 in seed money from an unrestricted endowment granted to the university in the 1960鈥檚 to serve adult students. Future Founders Scholarships will open up access to 91探花programs for the non-traditional learners the college serves. The goal is to award the first scholarships in the 2017-18 school year.

Elizabeth Kennedy earned three certificates from Continuum College in human resources management, nonprofit management and project management. Even with an elite undergraduate education, changes in her life led to a period of homelessness and poverty. Kennedy credits the college鈥檚 PCE programs with helping her re-enter the workforce, and helping boost her wages by 57 percent.

“Education was my ticket out,鈥� Kennedy said. 鈥淚f not yet out of financial poverty, then out of poverty of mind. Through the darkness of my experiences, I followed the light of affordable professional education. It opened the door for me to pursue new dreams, and to make meaningful contributions to the world.”

Continuum College is a vital part of the UW鈥檚 commitment to its mission of serving the public and improving the lives of people in Washington State and around the globe. The new name reflects the spirit of innovation at the UW, which was recently ranked the fifth most innovative university in the world, highlighting its forward-thinking approach toward making education accessible and relevant to learners throughout their lifetime.