Students Making the Most of the UW

Meet the four new graduates honored as College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Medalists for 2025. 

From promoting punk bands to designing light festivals, Terry Morgan has shaped Seattle’s cultural landscape for over 50 years. As an African American studies major at the UW, Morgan, ’76, studied widely outside his major, learning video art from art faculty Bill Ritchie and electronic music from Glenn White.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the Distinguished Teaching Award, the UW’s highest teaching honor. And now, drumroll please, here are this year’s stars.

While at the UW, artist Kyra Wolfenbarger was a researcher, museum intern, and arts writer. What shaped her most were the people she met along the way.

Using a powerful research telescope, astronomy and physics major Max Frissell identified a never-before-seen active comet. Now he’s hooked.

Study abroad in Vietnam and Madrid. An internship with the State Department. International studies major Grace Kelly explored the world as a UW student.

When UW junior Audrey Spurgeon is at Husky athletic events, she's usually part of the broadcast team, thanks to an internship through the Big Ten Network's StudentU program. 

Salma Rashwan, ’26, is majoring in psychology and education. Through the Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center's work in tribal and rural partnerships, she’s combining her academic work with her commitment to communities and kids and is a student leader in the Alternative Spring Break program.

At the University of Washington, Ted Poor is the associate director of the School of Music and an associate professor of Jazz Studies. The rest of his calendar is filled with tours, performances and recording sessions.

For Valentine's Day, UW News asked 12 University of Washington researchers to share their love stories: What made them decide to pursue their career paths?

"As a professor, I agree with my colleagues who have noticed the declining literacy of American students at elite universities. However, I am not sure if the schools are entirely to blame," writes Ione Fine, professor of psychology at the UW.

Markus Teuton, a musician and citizen of Cherokee Nation, explores contemporary Indigenous music through his academic work and as host of “Indigenous Jazz,” a radio show.

At age 83, Linda Allen is graduating from the UW College of Arts & Sciences with a degree in integrated social sciences. "It's never too late to follow a dream," she says.

Sana Shetty, interested in human rights law, has a more nuanced understanding of potential careers thanks to internships.

UW senior Tisbe Rinehart, a wilderness guide for UW adventures, attended a wilderness therapy program as a teen — a difficult experience she explores in her CHID senior thesis.