About the University of Washington

Founded November 4, 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the Pacific coast. The University is comprised of three campuses: the Seattle campus is made up of sixteen schools and colleges whose faculty offer educational opportunities to students ranging from first-year undergraduates through doctoral-level candidates; the Bothell and Tacoma campuses, each developing a distinctive identity and undergoing rapid growth, offer diverse programs to upper-division undergraduates and to graduate students

University of Washington is a state institution, which means:

We are accountable to tax payers in terms of how we use our resources.
We are affected by the state legislature.
We operate on a biennium (2 year) basis.
Some departments are 100% state funded, while other departments have no state funding.
Any funding received by the UW is subject to Washington State fiscal regulations.

The University Mission

The primary mission of the University of Washington is the preservation, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge. The University preserves knowledge through its libraries and collections, its courses, and the scholarship of its faculty. It advances new knowledge through many forms of research, inquiry and discussion; and disseminates it through the classroom and the laboratory, scholarly exchanges, creative practice, international education, and public service. As one of the nation's outstanding teaching and research institutions, the University is committed to maintaining an environment for objectivity and imaginative inquiry and for the original scholarship and research that ensure the production of new knowledge in the free exchange of facts, theories, and ideas.

The complete role and mission of the University is available in the Faculty Code.

Campuses and Facilities

The University of Washington is one of the nation's premier educational and research institutions with campuses in the cities of Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma.

In addition, the University has research and educational facilities throughout the state of Washington and in Alaska, Costa Rica, and Rome.

UW Medicine is also a part of the UW with two academic medical institutions:Harborview Medical Center and the UW Medical Center.

University Administration

Board of Regents:

Oversee the big picture of the UW
Appointed by the governor and set the major policies and programs

President: Dr. Michael Young

Provost and Executive Vice President: Dr. Ana Mari Cauce

Chancellor, UW Bothell: Dr. Kenyon Chan

Chancellor, UW Tacoma: Dr. Debra Friedman

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