Profiles

When she was working as the social impact and marketing director at Molly Moon’s, UW communication alum Emily Kim, ’08, saw an opportunity: a free pastry education program to help people facing barriers to employment. Thus the Pastry Project, complete with a Pioneer Square storefront, was born. 

UW Magazine’s Aleenah Ansari checks in with Kim about the origins of the Pastry Project, what it means to run a social impact business and how she developed the curriculum for their free pastry education program.

A top 4 finalist on Season 27 of The Voice, 2023 alumna Lucia Flores-Wiseman is just getting started. Read more about her journey and how her Journalism and Public Interest Communication degree influences her storytelling!

Pulitzer-winning reporter Evelyn Iritani uncovers the diplomatic exchange of American and Japanese civilians while the two countries were at war.

Between college and "the real world," design alum and animator Vivian Cho (BDes 2025) was the 2025 Artist in Residence at the University Bridge. Her final project will be on display at ARTS at King Street Station from June 4 through August 8, 2026.

Pulitzer-Prize winning editorial cartoonist David Horsey tells stories in long hand with his novel “Beach of Stars.”

Kristine Matthews, Professor of Visual Communication Design and principal of Studio Matthews, continues to earn national and international recognition for her work. She founded the Seattle-based design practice in 2008, building a studio of designers, teachers, and makers known for award-winning projects, elegant solutions, and a deep commitment to environmental responsibility.

The once small college campus gallery has grown into an eminent artistic center within the Pacific Northwest and a museum for contemporary art and ideas, at the fingertips of students and local residents alike. Given the growth it’s experienced, the Henry, and arts as a whole, continue to provide a unique, non-textbook way to engage and learn about the complex human experiences around us. 

PSYCH 210 has become a rite of passage for many UW students and as it is now the most popular course at UW with over 4,000 students taking it annually. But not everyone can take the class. So after five years of writing, McNichols is bringing her lessons to a wider audience with her first book “You Could Be Having Better Sex: The Definitive Guide to a Happier, Healthier, and Hotter Sex Life.”

Undergrad Francesca Espey receives a Mary Gates Scholarship for disability rights research, inspired by observations of society's attitude toward her father's disease. Meet Francesca

Lydia Berhanu is her own mentor. That’s not to say the University of Washington senior didn’t grow up in a supportive household (she did) or wasn’t surrounded by supportive educators (she was). But when it comes to illuminating her path forward, she’s been the one holding the flashlight.

Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert's legacy in language and culture preservation lives on through archival records collected in the Vi Hilbert Collection, first curated and digitized by retired longtime UW Ethnomusicologist Laurel Sercombe and now housed through UW LIbraries, and through a documentary film and symphony she commissioned, Healing Heart of the First People of This Land," staged at the UW in February 2026 by the UW Symphony and soloist (and School of Music alumna) Adia S. Bowen.  

According to the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, allegra was chosen for their unique approach to conceptual practice, interdisciplinary research, and community engagement. Allegra will spend January working with student assistants as well UW academic departments and resources to further develop their artistic work.

Emma Teal Laukitis, ’18, and her sister Claire not only catch and sell Alaska’s most famous fish, they help feed hundreds of thousands Alaskans through their donations.

After 15 years teaching a class about sex, the most popular course at the University of Washington, this professor shares her most important takeaways.

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