Graduate eNews

Winter 2006 [Return to issue home]

Dedication to Education

Bob and Micki FlowersThrough 30+ years of service to the Seattle community, Micki and Bob Flowers have woven together public service, corporate affairs and community development with a level of success and efficacy few individuals achieve. Whether actively working to create safe, affordable housing for families fighting HIV/AIDS; bolstering funding programs to help African-American children learn the arts and strengthen their educational experiences; or helping students of diverse backgrounds attend college and continue on to graduate school, the Flowers have had an enormous impact on Seattle. For the UW and graduate education, Micki and Bob represent two of our most crucial advocates.

Providing access and flexible funding to students of diverse backgrounds was a goal that motivated Micki and Bob to become involved with the UW Graduate School. Micki's influence in the Graduate Opportunities & Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) spurred the creation of the Graduate Diversity Fellows Dinner in order to raise dedicated funds for graduate diversity fellowships. Her involvement with GO-MAP has also paved the way to develop the Graduate Diversity Initiative, a marketing and fundraising effort to build awareness of graduate diversity needs and to raise $1.5 million in endowed graduate fellowship funding to support students in perpetuity.

For Bob, a retired senior vice president of community lending and investment for Washington Mutual, and Micki, a retired 30+ year news correspondent for Seattle's KIRO-TV, graduate education represents a necessary and critical part of our society's growth and future success. "We realize how different our lives would have been if we had been denied access to a college education. We know from our personal experiences that a quality education can transform lives for the better, and as African-Americans, we feel a deep obligation to ensure that future generations of students from diverse backgrounds have the opportunity that enhanced our lives," say the Flowers.

Diversity within graduate education is key to expanding the potential of all students to relate in a diverse world of varying cultures and points of view. For these reasons, the Flowers recently established two endowed fellowships to support graduate students from diverse backgrounds attending the UW. Their generous gifts were given in support of two important needs, public affairs and the sciences. Through a partnership with the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation (ARCS), the State of Washington and The Graduate School, the Flowers' endowments total $250,000.