DC Huskies

Husky profile: Emanuel Rouvelas, ’65

EMANUEL ROUVELAS, ’65, B.A., POLITICAL SCIENCE

“The University of Washington introduced me to two of the most important people in my life,” Emanuel Rouvelas says of his wife of 47 years, Marilyn, and his longtime friend and mentor Gerald Grinstein. “It’s a terrific place. I am always proud of it and very happy to have had my experiences there.”

Rouvelas, ’65, entered the University of Washington in 1962. Encouraged by the prospects he found at the UW, the political science major immersed himself in student government and Delta Chi fraternity. “I went to San Jose as part of the university’s Model U.N. delegation and served as president of the ASUW’s Political Union,” he says. While at the UW, he orchestrated the campus visits of Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Senator John Kenneth Galbraith. His work in student politics introduced him to Senator Warren G. Magnuson’s chief of staff, Gerald Grinstein, forming a connection that would lead to a job offer in Washington, D.C., where he has lived for 44 years, and a friendship that spans decades and states.

“It was a wonderful experience,” Rouvelas says of the UW. “Academically I learned a lot; socially it offered terrific opportunities. It prepared me for my lifelong dream of attending Harvard Law School.”