Alumni

Matthew Alexander (‘01) is founder of Ahmsa, an NGO in Bogotá, Colombia that provides skills training, microcredit, and other support to alleviate poverty in Bogotá.

Craig Nakagawa (’89) is co-founder of VillageReach, an NGO aimed at improving health care distribution systems in the most distant reaches of developing countries, beginning with Mozambique.

When Noah Purcell ('02) first met Supreme Court Justice David Souter, he couldn’t believe he was discussing the law with a Justice. Now, as a clerk for Justice Souter, it's all in a day's work.

Josh Johnston ('03) and a group of friends founded The Washington Bus as a way to involve young people in politics.

The new Northwest African American Museum opened in Seattle in March, with many A&S alumni among its dedicated staff. 

Drake Witham ('96) has taken his stand-up act to Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, and U.S. military bases in Iraq. 

Alumnus Maurice Woods created the Inneract Project, a summer program that introduces inner city youth to graphic design as a career option. The program is offered through the School of Art.

Baghdad, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Russia are just a few of the recent assignments for alumni in the Foreign Service. 

"[The students] make me laugh every day. And they will try anything," says Monte Cristo Elementary School teacher Andrea Peterson ('96), recently named Washington Teacher of the Year. 

Tim Egan ('81) has received the National Book Award for nonfiction for a book about the Great American dust bowl. 

Alumnus Don Logan, who spent years teaching Seattle public schools after earning two history degrees at the UW, has endowed a chair in the Department of History. 

Immediately after graduating from the UW School of Drama, 11 alumni founded Washington Ensemble Theatre, or WET. As they begin their third season, WET's members remain true to their original vision for the theatre. 

Just before graduating last spring, Julia Parker created a community service award for future philosophy students, raising the funds for the award herself. 

Alumni in fields ranging from biotechnology to finance believe their UW English degree has been a valuable asset throughout their career. Related stories: A poetry group created by an English alum and friends is still going strong after 15 years; a donor has funded "Ask Betty," an interactive website on English grammar and usage, in his mother's honor. 

Ed Viesturs’ (’81) first climbs were in the Northwest, during his years as a UW undergraduate. Now he has become the first American to successfully summit all 14 of the world's 8,000+ meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.