91̽alumni – 91̽News /news Fri, 09 Oct 2020 22:48:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 ArtSci Roundup: From Ally to Antiracist, Re/Frame: Abandoned, and more /news/2020/10/06/artsci-roundup-from-ally-to-antiracist-re-frame-abandoned-and-more/ Tue, 06 Oct 2020 17:58:34 +0000 /news/?p=70905 During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunitiesto connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online.

Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All 91̽faculty, staff, and students have access to.


Curating in Conversation

October 13, 6:00 PM |

Marking the one year anniversary of the opening of the New Burke and Northwest Native Art Gallery as well as the recent publication of Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast, this panel brings together three contributors and co-curators to talk about sharing Northwest Native art and art history with the public.

Free |


From Ally to Antiracist: Using Psychological Science and Mindfulness to Cultivate Growth and Action

October 14, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM |

For the last decade, a multi-racial team at the Center for the Science of Social Connection has been developing an approach to antiracism work that couples an activist mentality with the psychological science on bias and the technology of sustainable behavior change. In this talk, Dr. Jonathan Kanter, Director of the Center for the Science of Social Connection, will review this science, including new research that emphasizes the important role mindfulness and acceptance practices can play in protest and antiracism efforts.

Free |


Challenging Beijing’s Mandate of Heaven with Ming-Sho Ho

October 14, 6:00 PM |

Sponsored by the Taiwan Studies Program, Professor Ming-Sho Ho (National Taiwan University) will present the major findings of his 2019 book, Challenging Beijing’s Mandate of Heaven. Ho uses the perspective of social movement studies to make sense of the two student-led occupy movements in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He will utilize this analytical framework to understand Hong Kong’s anti-extradition protest that erupted in 2019 and conclude with an updated reflection about potential future developments.

Free |


Election 2020: A Turning Point, Session 2: Will Your Vote Matter?

October 14, 6:00 PM |

Never before in recent memory has a presidential election been so crucial for what direction the country will take. This lecture series will cover the campaign, the issues at stake, and the implications for how the government will function in the upcoming years. Mark Alan Smith, associate chair of the Department of Political Science, will present on polls, campaign messages, and the electoral college. James Long, associate professor of political science, will present on domestic and foreign manipulation of voting in 2020.

Next in the series:

  • Session 3: Impacts for Our Democracy: October 29, 6:00 – 7:00 PM

Free |


The Youth Vote Event

October 14, 4:00 PM |

KNKX’s Take the Mic and South Seattle Emerald present Election 2020 – The Youth Vote: A conversation about leadership, ethics and values and how they factor into choosing a candidate. The event will be hosted by KNKX News Director Florangela Davila and South Seattle Emerald Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Marcus Harrison Green. Young Interviewers include 91̽Students Alicia Ing, Brooklyn Hose, and Dylan Tran.

Free |


Re/Frame: Abandoned

October 15, 12:00 – 1:00 PM and 6:30 – 7:30 PM |

Join Ann Poulson, the Henry Art Gallery’s Associate Curator of Collections, for an interactive online session to take a closer look at objects in the museum’s collection.
There is nothing quite as spooky, or as alluring, as an abandoned building. The noise, the activity, and the human presence that once thrived there linger on, and their silence is almost felt when one looks at these works, which somehow both celebrate their dignity and express their loneliness.

Free |


Presidential Debate Preview: Presented by KUOW & 91̽Alumni Association

October 15, 4:00 PM |

Join KUOW and UWAA live on KUOW’s YouTube channel and Facebook for a live debate preview moderated by KUOW’s Ross Reynolds.

As we all gear up for the 2020 Presidential election, join KUOW and the91̽ Alumni Association for a virtual conversation with KUOW Journalists and local experts ahead of each presidential debate. We’ll guide you through what to expect, discuss how issues might impact Washington voters, offer local and national political analysis, and invite you – the audience – to share your perspective.

Next in the series:

  • Presidential Debate Preview: October 22, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Free |


Online – CabLab: Love & Information

October 16, 7:30 PMtoOctober 18, 2:00 PM|

Someone sneezes. Someone can’t get a signal. Someone won’t answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone’s not ready to talk. Someone is her brother’s mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone’s never felt like this before.

Presented by the School of Drama, in this fast moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know.

Free |


Online – Circa: S

October 16, 7:30 PMtoOctober 23, 11:59 PM|

Brisbane-based Circais at the forefront of a new wave of contemporary Australian circus, creating awe-inspiring performance from extreme physicality. Meany Center will streama 65-minute excerpt of the production“S” on its digital stage. Lifschitz was inspired to create an abstract work of power and joy inspired by the curves, symmetries and plurality that are all attributes of this one letter. “S” focuses on the body and utilizes little or no set, characters, story line, or theme. The entire production is on an intensely human scale.

Free |


Looking for more?

Check out UWAA’s Stronger Together web page formore digital engagement opportunities.

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Distinguished pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Danielson to be UW’s 2018 commencement speaker /news/2018/03/27/distinguished-pediatrician-dr-benjamin-danielson-to-be-uws-2018-commencement-speaker/ Tue, 27 Mar 2018 18:00:10 +0000 /news/?p=57024 Dr. Benjamin Danielson, a 1992 graduate of the 91̽School of Medicine, a Children’s Hospital pediatrician and director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, will be the featured speaker at the 91̽’sexercises Saturday, June 9.

Danielson, a man The Seattle Times dubbed “a quiet hero of health care” whose work helps shape children’s lives and extends to support an entire community, is known for his humility and modesty. Yet his work has deep roots and broad impact.

Dr. Benjamin Danielson Photo: Odessa Brown Children's Clinic

“Dr. Danielson’s commitment to the people and communities of Seattle is the embodiment of the UW’s great public service mission and we are very proud to count him among our alumni,” said President Ana Mari Cauce. “We’re excited for him to share his thoughts and wisdom at our 2018 commencement ceremony and grateful for his participation in this special moment in our graduates’ lives.”

Born in Boston, Danielson was placed in and then, in his words, rescued from foster care and raised by his single mom in Washington, D.C., and rural Montana. He went on to attend Harvard University and then 91̽to study medicine. He completed his residency at Seattle Children’s before assuming responsibility for the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in 1999.

“His work is impressive. His story is impressive,” said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. “He’s a physician but ultimately an educator. His goal is to educate and care in such a way that we are all well, particularly those who need compassion the most.”

Danielson runs the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, a pediatric care center based in the heart of Seattle’s Central District. Nearly 4 out of 5 patients are on Medicaid and the waiting room often reflects a United Nations-like collection of families, Danielson said.

“Diversity is a super power that makes you better,” he said.

“I want to inspire people about the power that they have to be important change agents in the world,” Danielson said, reflecting on some of the wisdom he plans to share at commencement. Life is a team sport, he said, adding, “It’s amazing how much you can do to be helpful from whatever position you hold.”

Danielson sits on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Group Health Community Foundation, Equal Start Community Coalition, Health Coalition for Children and Youth, Children’s Alliance Public Policy Council, United Way of King County, The Washington State Health Exchange Board, and others.

“Where there are families and kids in need, Ben shows up,” Taylor said.

The 91̽’s 143nd ceremonies will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. President Cauce will officiate.An audience of about 40,000 family members and friends is expected, and more than 5,500 of the UW’s 2017-18 academic year graduates in Seattle are projected to attend.

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91̽alumnus Jeffrey C. Hall awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine /news/2017/10/02/uw-alumnus-jeffrey-c-hall-awarded-the-2017-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine/ Mon, 02 Oct 2017 20:13:01 +0000 /news/?p=54873 The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute has awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to — an alumnus of the 91̽ — along with and “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm,” according to Monday morning.

Hall, Rosbash and Young made seminal discoveries about the genetic and molecular underpinnings of biological clocks, which keep the rhythms of cells and organisms in sync with our planet’s 24-hour rotation period.

Hall was born in 1945 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He earned his doctoral degree from the 91̽in 1971. Hall’s doctoral advisor was in the Department of Genetics, and he was also mentored by . The Department of Genetics merged with the Department of Molecular Biotechnology in 2001 to form the .

Jeffrey C. Hall in 2013. Photo:

Following his graduation from UW, Hall worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology, studying under . He spent much of his at Brandeis University, where he was a professor of biology until his retirement. Hall was also an adjunct professor at the University of Maine from 2004 to 2012.He lives in Maine.

“The extraordinary work of Jeff and his colleagues has enormous implications not only for human health but for increasing our understanding of all kinds of biological organisms,” 91̽President said.“We are so proud to call Jeff an alumnus and to have played a part in his academic journey. We offer him warm congratulations on this highest recognition of his great contributions to knowledge and discovery.”

The laureates conducted genetic and molecular research on circadian rhythms in fruit flies, a common laboratory organism. :

“Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year’s Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. Subsequently, they identified additional protein components of this machinery, exposing the mechanism governing the self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell. We now recognize that biological clocks function by the same principles in cells of other multicellular organisms, including humans.”

Left-to-right: Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young in 2013. Photo:

is a faculty member at Brandeis University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. is a faculty member at the Rockefeller University.

Hall is the fifth 91̽alumnus to win a Nobel Prize after George Hitchings, George Stigler, Martin Rodbell and Linda B. Buck. Hitchings, Stigler and Buck all earned their bachelor’s degrees from UW, graduating in 1927, 1931 and 1975, respectively. Rodbell earned his doctoral degree from 91̽in 1954.

received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1982 “for his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulation.”

shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on chemotherapy drugs.

shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1994 for discovering G-proteins and their role in intracellular communication.

— who is also one of seven 91̽faculty members to win a Nobel Prize — shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering odorant receptors and the basic organizing principles of the olfactory system in mammals.

Hitchings, Stigler and Rodbell are deceased.

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UW’s large research vessel, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, gets a midlife overhaul /news/2016/06/16/uws-large-research-vessel-rv-thomas-g-thompson-gets-a-midlife-overhaul/ Thu, 16 Jun 2016 14:30:54 +0000 /news/?p=48553 The , the 274-foot-long research vessel operated by the 91̽, has spent 25 years carrying researchers, students and teachers out to sea. The ship has collected material from the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches and braved storms near Antarctica.

The Thomas G. Thompson has spent a quarter century exploring the world’s oceans.

This week, the ship will begin a yearlong stay in protected waters and dry dock near Seattle’s Harbor Island for a complete overhaul of its propulsion system, navigation and many core engineering systems. The $34.5 million project, funded by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation, will allow the boat, originally intended to operate for 30 years, to continue for another 20 to 25 years.

The scope of the work, which will take about a year, includes many of the ship’s core systems. Photo: UW

The bulk of the is a roughly $23 million contract awarded to Seattle’s LLC. The boat leaves the 91̽dock Thursday at 9 a.m. to transit to Vigor’s shipyard near downtown Seattle. There the vessel will have its six diesel engines replaced, be outfitted with modern navigation and control systems, and get new plumbing and upgraded heating and ventilation.

“It’s like an old car, eventually things start breaking and you’re spending more and more time and money on repairs,” said , the UW’s manager of marine operations.

The overall project also includes training for the ship’s two captains and crew on the new systems, installing a new lifeboat, replacing the winches that lower instruments into the ocean from the deck and getting a fresh paint job.

Students onboard the R/V Thompson collect velella velella (by-the-wind-sailors) off the Thompson during a 2015 expedition to the Cabled Array. Photo: Mitch Elend / 91̽.

The upgraded and overhauled Tommy Thompson, as the ship is commonly and affectionately known, will use less fuel, produce fewer emissions and will have the capacity to support new, high-powered ocean instruments. Several local maritime companies will be involved in the work, including Ockerman Automation Consulting of Anacortes and Markey Machinery Co. of Seattle.

“We are extremely proud of the Thompson and her crew. They play such a key role in our research and educational programs,” said , professor and director of the UW’s School of Oceanography. “She was already a fantastic ship to sail on – I can’t wait to see what she’s like in this next phase of her life.”

The Thompson was built in Moss Point, Mississippi, and arrived at the 91̽in 1991. Named for 91̽alumnus, professor, chemist and oceanographer Thomas Gordon Thompson, it was one of three similar vessels built in the 1990s to support U.S. oceanographic research.

91̽Oceanography also owns a smaller research vessel, the , for shorter trips to coastal waterways. The ship recently made its , and the 91̽is working to fund .

The Thompson can accommodate 21 officers and crew, two marine technicians and up to 36 scientists. Designed to carry out research, the ship is optimized for stability, not speed. Its typical cruising speed is just 11 knots, or about 12.5 miles per hour, but it can hold a fixed position to collect observations and lower instruments while at sea.

The ship typically spends 260 to 300 days a year in open water, on trips that can last up to two months.

Over the years, the ship has from smoking vents on the seafloor, witnessed a submarine , used robots to and carried local to sea. It has even made a or . The Thompson did most of the installation of a off the Pacific Northwest (the new R/V Sikuliaq will carry out this summer’s maintenance cruise). For its last voyage, the Thompson deployed an ocean robot to off Washington’s coast.

The navigation and controls on the bridge of the ship haven’t changed much since this 1991 photo at the vessel’s arrival. The bridge will be fully upgraded and modernized. Photo: 91̽

The ship is owned by the Office of Naval Research, managed through the and operated by the UW. It is used by researchers from the 91̽and other institutions who secure research funding and then apply for time aboard the ship.

The Washington legislature also funds 45 days of ship time per year to support undergraduate research and education. 91̽undergraduates have traveled to the , and our own . Many also accompany 91̽faculty on research expeditions. The 91̽is among a handful of institutions where undergraduates can do research aboard a world-class research vessel.

Between the serious and sometimes round-the-clock work, passengers get to view beautiful vistas and marine wildlife, as well as continue traditions like at sea.

Historical photo of Cliff Barnes and Thomas Thompson
91̽chemical oceanographer Thomas G. Thompson (left) founded the UW’s School of Oceanography and is the namesake of its large research vessel. He is shown with his student and then colleague, Clifford Barnes. Photo: UW

The ship’s namesake, (1888-1961) was a chemistry professor who founded the UW’s School of Oceanography. He developed ways to measure trace amounts of metals, salts and nutrients in seawater, ultimately exploring how these affect the water’s physical properties. Thompson was born in New York, earned his doctorate in chemistry at the 91̽in 1918 and joined the 91̽chemistry faculty in 1919. He founded the UW’s Friday Harbor Laboratories in 1930 and formally established the 91̽School of Oceanography in 1951.

The R/V Thompson is the first of the three similar major U.S. research vessels built in the same era to get such an overhaul. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution research vessels will undergo their refits in 2018 and 2020, respectively. The Thompson’s overhaul is expected to be complete by late spring 2017, and the ship is already booked to go back to sea next summer once the work is done.

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For more information, contact Russell at dgruss@uw.edu or 206-543-5062 and Armbrust at 206-616-1783 or armbrust@ocean.washington.edu. At Vigor, contact Jill Mackie at 206-623-1635 ext. 262 or Jill.Mackie@vigor.net. More photos of the ship are .

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U.S. fish and wildlife director, a 91̽alum, considers challenges posed by landscape changes /news/2012/10/12/u-s-fish-and-wildlife-director-a-uw-alum-considers-challenges-posed-by-landscape-changes/ Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:31:16 +0000 /news/?p=8649 The challenges of managing and maintaining diverse wildlife populations across rural America and in the expanding footprints of our cities and suburbs, was the topic when , director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, returned to his alma mater earlier this month, giving the 91̽College of the Environment’s Annual Dean’s Lecture.

“If we want more than raccoons, possums, and pigeons, then we need to make choices and think about how those choices fit into the modern landscape,” said Ashe, addressing attendees in Kane Hall. “We’ve got to think differently about how we interact with nature because we are increasingly disconnected from the natural world.”

Dan Ashe talks with 91̽students during a seminar arranged by Tom Leschine, director of marine and environmental affairs. Photo: M Russell/U of Washington

A graduate of the , Ashe said he tries to promote a give-and-take, pragmatic approach to managing wildlife resources. He cut his teeth in politics on Capitol Hill, going to Washington, D.C. initially in 1982 through a National Sea Grant fellowship.

Ashe continued working for Congress for more than a decade as staff on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries subcommittee in the House of Representatives, where he said he learned the importance of compromise and incorporating multiple perspectives toward problem solving. He tries to bring this same leadership to the service where he works with diverse groups including industry, tribes, non-profits and land owners to find solutions to wildlife management in a time of rapidly changing demographics, economic conditions and societal values.

Ashe credits much of his success from the lessons he learned from the 91̽School of Marine and Environmental Affairs.

“My time at SMEA let me branch out from biology into economics and law and helped me be successful,” he said. Ashe studied estuarine mitigation while at the UW. His advice to students, “Be experts, but be free of the intellectual stovepipes to think across boundaries.”

“It was great to have Dan back on campus,” said , dean of the . “I am inspired by his leadership and approach not only with respect to the conservation of wildlife, but in his appreciation of the complexity of managing nature in a crowded, urbanizing, diverse nation.”

While on campus Ashe met with both students and faculty, sharing perspectives about how to manage wildlife in the face of climate change, effective ways to engage with policymakers, and the importance of enjoying our public lands as much as we can, whether in the wilderness or in the neighborhood park.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has long been an extension of Ashe’s family. His father is a 37-year veteran of the service, and Ashe himself has been with the organization since the early 1990s. Prior to being appointed director by President Obama in 2011, he served as the agency’s deputy director and chief science adviser. He also served as chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

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