Honors and Awards

UW physics professor Jiun-Haw Chu is among 22 scientists selected for as 2025 Experimental Physics Investigators, a distinguished group of mid-career researchers pushing the boundaries of experimental physics.

Political Science professor Aseem Prakash received the 2025 John Gaus Award from the American Political Science Association in recognition of a lifetime of exemplary scholarship.

Derek Sheffield, ’90, ’99, a poet and English teacher, was appointed Washington State’s Poet Laureate in April by Governor Bob Ferguson. A passionate naturalist known for co-editing the best-selling “Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry” with Elizabeth Bradfield, ’94, and CMarie Fuhrman, Sheffield is “always packing” binoculars and hand lens and birds by ear—often in the woods near his home in Leavenworth. He has butterflied alongside Robert Michael Pyle, ’69, ’73, the lepidopterist, and once exchanged letters with Pulitzer-winning biologist E.O. Wilson.

Lisa K. Bambach’s path to becoming a design educator has been shaped by over a decade of professional experience, a deep commitment to collaborative inquiry, and a passion for shaping the future of design.

Arts & Science faculty and staff were among the recipients of 2025 UW Awards of Excellence for their teaching, leadership, and innovation. 

Each of the College's 2025 medalists received a special gift — a glass bowl, handblown in the UW School of Art + Art History + Design.

Recent awards celebrate Arts & Sciences faculty, staff, and students for their research, leadership, and more. 

Meet the four graduating students selected by the College of Arts & Sciences as 2025 Graduate Medalists for their accomplishments. 

Adrienne Fairhall and David Hertzog are among 120 new members and 30 international members elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research."

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

In the spring of 1970, a group of Native American students brainstormed ways to prioritize Native studies at the UW. By fall, the American Indian Studies Center was formed, with faculty from across campus teaching anthropology, art, and history from a Native perspective. Five faculty from the department share their thoughts on 55 years of Native knowledge at the UW.

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.

Lindsay Schwarz, '03, received the highest honor handed out by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers in independent research. Schwarz graduated from the UW with a bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology.

The College of Arts & Sciences celebrates undergraduate and graduate students from across all four divisions, who are recognized for making the most of their time at the UW. 

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes an EarthLab Innovation Grant, the Best Paper Award from American Political Science Association and honorable recognition mention from the American Society for Theatre Research. UW professor Richard Watts and team awarded EarthLab Innovation Grant Richard Watts, UW associate professor of French, is part of an interdisciplinary team...