Lucas Meza, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, started his lab to build a new generation of tough and light nanomaterials inspired by natural materials like wood, shell and bone. Instead, he discovered “big gaps” in our basic understanding of what makes a material tough or brittle. Meza spoke to UW News about his strange and surprising journey into the nano realm.
University of Washington researchers show that wildfire is increasingly impacting lands managed under the Northwest Forest Plan, a seminal measure enacted in 1994 to preserve habitat for endangered species.
The American Geophysical Union honored five University of Washington faculty and researchers from the departments of Earth and space sciences and atmospheric and climate science this week for their valuable researcher contributions.
This year, the UW News social media team shared stories from the University of Washington community with reporters, news outlets and our social media followers. We also promoted special events happening around campus. Here are some of favorite moments from 2025. Welcome President Jones! The Board of Regents named Robert J. Jones the 34th President of the UW. Jones visited campus a few days later and talked about his excitement to join the University. Snow days on campus Students took…
Choosing highlights from 2025 for a video roundup is a tough task. UW video producers meet students, faculty and community members during some of the most exciting moments of their lives — from earning a degree to finding answers that will impact the world.
“The Memory of Darkness, Light and Ice” — a documentary film featuring Eric Steig, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences — tells the story of a U.S. military and research base established in Greenland during the Cold War, and how the samples collected there are driving modern climate science. The film is now available on YouTube, Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
The University of Washington is proud to announce that 56 faculty and researchers who completed their work while at UW have been named on the Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list from Clarivate.
A new study from Abhinav Gupta, professor of management in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, reveals that traumatic events can significantly dampen organizational risk-taking.T he findings challenge the long-standing view that decision-makers are largely rational, emotionless actors. The research instead shows that emotional experiences in the broader community can spill over into the workplace.
Stephen Price, artist in residence and head of organ studies at the University of Washington, will be joined by students and colleagues on Friday, Oct. 31, to perform a concert of spooky organ classics and Halloween fun.
The University of Washington School of Law has received a $7.1 million commitment from Honolulu-based real estate investor Jay H. Shidler to augment the technology and intellectual property programs at the UW School of Law. The gift, which will be realized over the next 10 years, cements the School of Law’s global reputation in the fields of technology and intellectual property (IP) law. “Our students and faculty are enriched by the generosity of Jay Shidler and his commitment to supporting innovations…
The public-private partnership led by Washington State University with support from the UW targets a global health problem: the lack of whole grains in people’s diets, which contributes to widespread health problems.
The 2025 Space Diplomacy Symposium at the University of Washington will be held on Nov. 7. The annual symposium, which brings together experts from across the world, aims to center diplomacy in civilian, commercial and military space activities.
In the wake of One Ocean Week Seattle, participating University of Washington researchers share highlights, connecting the week’s events to ongoing efforts to understand and protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities.
The Canopy Neurodiversity Foundation awarded a $15 million grant to the University of Washington Information School to support the launch of the UW Institute for Neurodiversity and Employment.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 8 awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks,” or MOFs. Both Dianne Xiao, a UW associate professor of chemistry, and Douglas Reed, a UW assistant professor of chemistry, use MOFs in their research at the UW. UW News reached out to them to learn more about the significance of these structures and how researchers use them.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit.” Clarke, a professor emeritus of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, collaborates with the Axion Dark Matter Experiment at the University of Washington.
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow — an alum of the University of Washington — along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.” Brunkow received her bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW in 1983. UW News spoke with Martha Bosma, professor and chair…
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow — an alum of the University of Washington — along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.”
The University of Washington announced a transformative gift that solidifies the importance and vitality of the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. It recognizes the legacy of former Dean John Simpson, his late wife Katherine, and the Simpson family by creating a namesake deanship for the College of Arts & Sciences. The Katherine and John Simpson Endowed Deanship in the College of Arts & Sciences provides flexible funding to promote interdisciplinary teaching and research across the College. These critical…
Bee experts wouldn’t have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, while collecting pollinators in Chelan County to study how climate and wildfires affect native bee populations, Autumn Maust, a University of Washington research scientist of biology, discovered eight bee species never recorded in Washington.
In her new book, Katharina Reinecke explores how “digital culture shock” manifests in the world, in ways innocuous and sometimes harmful.
This week the University of Washington campus is once again buzzing with energy as students begin to move into the residence halls and participate in annual fall activities for incoming undergraduates. A majority of the UW freshman class has signed up to live on campus for Autumn 2025, and thousands of students are expected to move into campus housing this week, beginning on Tuesday, September 16. Move-in occurs at various locations on the University of Washington campus during the following…
Quantum dots, which are 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, are unique materials that generate very specific colors of light. Researchers, including Brandi Cossairt, UW professor of chemistry, hope that quantum dots can one day be useful for more than just illuminating TV screens. UW News asked her to compare the quantum dots in QLED TVs with the ones her lab makes.
UW dental students, faculty members and community volunteers provide free care to communities across Washington, serving hundreds of patients each academic quarter.
The University of Washington is one of the top 10 U.S. public universities as ranked by return on investment, according to The Princeton Review.
The University of Washington is committed to upholding the highest standards of animal welfare and regulatory compliance in all of its research programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) conducted an unannounced inspection of UW’s animal research program in July 2025 as part of its routine annual process and to follow up on an anonymous concern submitted to USDA alleging unfair treatment of a researcher by the UW Institutional Animal Care and Use…
A new study from the University of Washington shows that households enrolled in the City of Seattle’s Fresh Bucks program experience a 31% higher rate of food security and consume at least three daily servings of fruits and vegetables 37% more often than those assigned to a program waitlist. Fresh Bucks, a $40 a month benefit, works with local partners to help residents access fresh food.
At the One Health Clinic, a nurse practitioner and veterinarian, often accompanied by veterinary students, provide primary care services while UW students volunteer as patient navigators, helping to coordinate care and address shared health needs such as extreme weather, environmental contaminants and zoonotic disease. The clinic also helps clients document their pets as emotional support animals, which enables them to access a wider range of housing and other services.
UW professor of aeronautics and astronautics Jim Hermanson took a ride Wednesday morning aboard a U.S. Navy Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet — better known as one of the Blue Angels.
Kendall Valentine, an assistant professor of oceanography at University of Washington, along with collaborators from the University of Rhode Island and the Desert Research Institute are traveling to Anchorage and the Copper River Delta to study marshes that formed in the years following the 1964 earthquake.
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce has announced that Jason Campbell will serve as interim senior vice president for Finance, Planning and Budgeting and chief financial officer, effective Aug. 2. Currently the vice president for Finance and Budget Strategy and deputy senior finance officer, Campbell will step in to the interim position following the departure of Sarah Norris Hall. “We appreciate Jason stepping into this interim role. I’m confident he will provide excellent support to both incoming President Jones…
The Pat Tillman Foundation this week announced the 2025 Class of Tillman Scholars, which included two University of Washington students who exemplify the values Pat Tillman stood for: leadership, service, scholarship and impact. Stephanie Mitchell is a third-year doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and a military spouse. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on global health and conservation. Brian Riley earned a degree in Economics from the US Air Force Academy, and served nearly…
University of Washington Provost Tricia R. Serio announced that Joel Thornton has agreed to serve as interim dean of the College of the Environment, effective July 1, until a new permanent dean is selected.
Adrienne Fairhall and David Hertzog are among 120 new members and 30 international members elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
The University of Washington is No. 8 on the 2025-26 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities rankings, released on Tuesday. The UW maintained its No. 2 ranking among U.S. public institutions.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a system of ocean currents that plays a crucial role in regulating Earth’s climate by transporting heat from the Southern to Northern Hemisphere. Climate models have long predicted that global warming will cause the AMOC to weaken, with some projecting what amounts to a near-collapse relative to the AMOC strength in observations today. But a new study from a team of researchers that included the University of Washington shows that the AMOC is likely to weaken to a much lesser extent than current projections suggest.
A new study from Abhinav Gupta, professor of management in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, examines how public universities decided whether to offer same-sex domestic partner benefits in the early 1990s and 2000s. The research offers timely lessons on how universities can navigate politically charged issues without abandoning their core commitments.
The University of Washington has received a notice that the federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism has initiated a review of federal grants and contracts at the University. This follows a several-hour building takeover on May 5 involving significant damage to the building and equipment inside it, setting dumpsters on fire outside the building, and delaying emergency responders. Thirty-four individuals were arrested subject to criminal prosecution and University disciplinary processes. The 21 students who were arrested have been suspended and banned from the all UW campuses. Non-student participants will be banned from the UW’s Seattle campus.
The UW is committed to maintaining a secure learning and research environment, and strongly condemns this illegal building occupation and the antisemitic statement that was issued by a suspended student group Monday. The University will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms.
When employees follow a three-day office schedule but choose different days to come in, certain team members naturally work together more often. New research from Michael Johnson, professor of management in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, found that, over time, these patterns create “co-location imbalance,” which divides teams into subgroups with stronger internal relationships.