Alumni

The USA Fellowship is a highly prestigious award with a two-decade history of supporting artists. USA Fellows are selected based on their artistic visions and unique perspectives within their fields. Anthony Sonnenberg (MFA 2012) is among this year's 50 artists awarded the USA Fellowship.

Hutchinson Hall was abuzz with excitement and anticipation Tuesday, Dec. 2 for one reason and one reason only. Not for any auditions being held, not for any finals, and not for any performance seated to take place that evening. The buzz was solely because UW Drama alumni Joel McHale was coming to speak with the students in the department. 

UW School of Music alum Andrea Roberts, an audio engineer, has worked with recording artists in a wide range of genres — including Beyoncé.

Michael Seguin studied Classics at the UW and now owns Baltimore's Mobtown Ballroom. The two interests, he says, are more connected than they might seem.

New art by Barbara Earl Thomas (BFA 1973, MFA 1977) makes the Judkins Park light rail station a destination of its own.

“This Is Native Land” is a permanent, 3,000-square-foot exhibition at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma that weaves the stories of Indigenous peoples into the fabric of the 30-year-old institution. Co-curated by Associate Professor Danica Sterud Miller (Puyallup) and Todd Clark (Wailaki), tribal liaison for the Washington State Historical Society, the project engaged more than 100 Native contributors from more than 60 tribes. 

Key collaborators include elder Philip H. Red Eagle, ’83, ’87 (Dakota and Puget Sound Salish); artist Joe Feddersen, ’83, (Colville); Owen Oliver, ’21 (Quinault); current UW museology student Markus Teuton, ’24 (Cherokee); and museum staff, including head of collections Maggie Wetherbee, ’00, and director of audience engagement Mary Mikel Stump, a former UW student. Viewpoint spoke with Miller, who is on faculty at UW Tacoma, for a look at the making of “This Is Native Land.”

A bilingual educator with 18 years of experience at both the college level and in K–12 public schools, Whitemarsh hopes to give back to her hometown of Pasco.

Chemistry PhD alum Jonathan Cox spent most of 2025 in Kyrgyzstan, helping farmers improve their soil—and their crops—through soil testing. 

Thuc Nhi Nguyen got her start the UW Daily. Now she's a sports reporter for Los Angeles Times, writing about the Lakers and the Olympics. 

Former Husky basketball star and NBA player Bobby Jones is a big hit in Compton and beyond with his community-oriented organizations.

Jones, who earned his B.A. in writing from the UW, has already published a children’s book. And the small forward who was always known as a dogged defender for three Husky teams that made the NCAA tournament from 2004 to 2006, is just as fired up to provide representation to his communities. “I’m from Compton,” he says, “I played in the NBA, and I look like the kids from this area. It means so much for them to see someone who looks like them teaching yoga and mentoring them.”

Can a cartoonist be a novelist? Charles Johnson, professor emeritus of English at the UW, thinks so.

Looking for gifts that go beyond the typical stocking stuffers? This holiday season, wrap a little UW magic and celebrate learning, culture and connection across the University. From museum and arboretum memberships to books and performances, this curated list highlights meaningful ways you can share the spirit of curiosity and generosity.

Looking for gifts that go beyond the typical stocking stuffers? This holiday season, wrap a little UW magic and celebrate learning, culture and connection across the University. From museum and arboretum memberships to books and performances, this curated list highlights meaningful ways you can share the spirit of curiosity and generosity.

Historian Coll Thrush researches the dark history of Pacific Northwest shipwrecks in "Wrecked." Thrush, who earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington, spent six years combing through archives, oral histories and ship logs to unearth tales of sinking and survival, exploitation and tragedy. But in the process, he discovered a deeper narrative—an exploration of how people, place and power collided along the Northwest coast, and how nature always won.

Come curious. Leave inspired. For those near and far, we invite you to end the year with us through a range of events, performances, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. As you begin to shape your December plans, dont miss the inspiring events still to come this November. In addition,sign up to receive a monthly notice when...