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Colleen J. McElroy, a nationally known poet and the first Black woman to serve as a full-time faculty member at the UW, died of natural causes Dec. 12. She was 88. Frances McCue, a teaching professor of English at the UW, is quoted.

Lisa Dabek (PhD, Psychology, 1994), senior conservation scientist at the Woodland Park Zoo, studies and protects tree kangaroos in the cloud forests of Papua New Guinea. 

According to a 2021 survey by Vox and Data for Progress, 37% of Americans think billionaires are terrible role models, and 49% said they have overall negative feelings towards them. And the heat is felt most prominently by the big-name tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Alexa Bednarz (BA, Communication, 2012) turned an idea for environmentally friendly roofing material into Eco-Shelter Inc. Its first manufacturing facility will open in India in 2024. 

As a dialect coach, Tré Cotten (MFA, 2017, Acting) has gained national attention for his ability to help actors bring authenticity to their characters. 

Lokela Alexander Minami (BA, 2010; MA, 2012) turned a lifelong passion for opera into a career that introduces others to the art form.

"For some people, social media is inconsequential — a cat photo here, a banana slip TikTok there. For others, it’s all-consuming — a helpless catapult into a slurry of anxiety, self-harm and depression...But social media use also differs by race and ethnicity — and there’s far less discussion of that," writes columnist Pamela Paul. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

The Chinese government has for decades periodically announced the imminent abolition of its decades-old household registration system, or hukou. The Ministry of Public Security fanned hopes in August of the beginning of the end of hukou by announcing the government would scrap its restrictions in cities with populations of 3 to 5 million. But Chinese policymakers are now backpedaling on that plan. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography at the UW, is quoted.

Researchers led by Jiun-Haw Chu, a University of Washington associate professor of physics, and Philip Ryan, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energyâs Argonne National Laboratory, have found a superconducting material that is uniquely sensitive to outside stimuli, enabling the superconducting properties to be enhanced or suppressed at will. This discovery could enable new opportunities for switchable, energy-efficient superconducting circuits.

While the seasons and our genetic dispositions play a role in our ability to feel happiness, our daily actions and choices also have a significant effect, experts say. Milla Titova, assistant teaching professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.