Category: UW News

Since 2008, leadership of the UW’s athletics program has been provided by Scott Woodward, with numerous achievements and improvements in the academic and on-field performance of our student-athletes taking place during his tenure. We’re now preparing for a transition, as Scott has accepted the athletic director position at Texas A&M University. He will continue his position with the UW until the end of this month.

Intercollegiate Athletics has marked numerous accomplishments under Scott’s watch, including significant increases in student-athletes’ average GPA across our 22 teams; national championships in softball, women’s cross country and men’s and women’s crew; and construction of the new Husky Stadium, among many others. Scott’s leadership will be missed, and we wish him well at Texas A&M.

I will select an interim athletic director in the coming days and a search committee will be established.

Editor’s note: This is UW Board of Regents chair Bill Ayer’s email message to the UW community.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

It is my distinct honor to announce that the Board of Regents has selected Ana Mari Cauce to serve as the 33^rd president of the University of Washington.

President Cauce is truly of Washington, exemplifying the values of our University and our state in every respect. She is a highly respected member of the faculty, having joined the UW as an assistant professor of psychology in 1986 and rising through the ranks while increasing her responsibilities through a number of leadership positions, most recently as interim president. She is a recipient of the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award and is an accomplished scholar, most notably for her clinical research in adolescent development, specifically youth at risk. Raised in Miami after immigrating to the United States from Cuba as a child, she inherited her parents’ passion for education, earning degrees in English and psychology from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

The Board of Regents believe President Cauce has demonstrated that her enthusiasm, humility, tenacity, honesty, courage, keen intellect and deep belief in and genuine affection for the UW are just the right ingredients to lead our University to even greater impact and prominence in the coming years. She will focus on ensuring all students are ready for successful, engaged lives by enhancing the Husky Experience; on spurring the research and scholarship that truly transforms our world; and on continuing to infuse a spirit of innovation and creativity throughout the University.

We believe her nearly 30 years as a member of the faculty, as a leader in the greater Seattle community, and her well-known dedication to students will enable the University to forge and deepen relationships that are crucial to our success. And as a passionate champion of equity and inclusion and of higher education as the key to social mobility for first-generation and low-income students, we know she will both embody and remind us all about the deep importance of our work as a proudly public university – a University for Washington and for the world.

In honor of this occasion, please join us for a community reception on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom, after the Annual President’s Address at 3:30 p.m. at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House.

Thank you for the insights you shared with the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and the Board of Regents during this search. I hope you will join us in celebrating this remarkable leader and historic moment for the University of Washington.

Sincerely,

Bill Ayer
Chair, Board of Regents

Today, a group of students came to Gerberding to express their disappointment that students were not included in the UW’s decision to bring all employees to Seattle’s $11-per-hour minimum wage that went into effect today. While I understand their disappointment, I want to clarify why we didn’t include students unilaterally in today’s action. Student fees pay for many of the student jobs on this campus. Before we commit to a policy that may increase expenses for all students or potentially eliminate some jobs in order to provide higher salaries for others, we need to consult with our students. That is our commitment to shared governance and important to our relationship with the students we serve over the long term. These consultations are under way and in a matter of weeks, not months, we’ll determine our path forward. We have a steadfast commitment on all of our campuses to providing flexible, meaningful work opportunities for students, a commitment we have demonstrated by adding hundreds of jobs over the past five years. Expect a final communication on this soon.

Ana Mari Cauce
Interim President
Professor of Psychology and American Ethnic Studies

Dear UW family,

Today I am honored to begin the interim presidency of the University of Washington — an institution that’s been the fabric of my professional and personal life for nearly three decades.

I think of this time as a launch point: a time when we will hasten our pace and accelerate the great work we are doing together. We are at an incredible moment in time for the UW and the state we serve so well. Our University is thriving, and its contributions to the region and our world have never been greater. We truly have incredible, boundless momentum, thanks to you — the people who make the UW a preeminent, life-changing, public university.

I said in my Town Hall last week that I believe the UW is both boundless and boundary-less: We are not about teaching or research. Our conversations aren’t about access or excellence. We aren’t local or global. We don’t serve just eastern or western Washington. The University of Washington serves the entirety of our state, our country and our world because our DNA is fortified by the ideas and ideals that shape our public purpose. Our promise is to serve everyone — and we do so in truly limitless ways.

Our faculty seek solutions to society’s greatest challenges — and lead the world in doing so through their research and teaching. Our students — from all walks of life and circumstances — believe anything is possible, and whether they are in engineering or English, computer science or sociology, they are preparing for careers that will be reinvented time and again. Our staff makes all of this possible — from those who recruit students and serve patients to those who make our campus environment beautiful and keep our laboratories clean and safe. And our community of friends and supporters are our catalyst and our partners: They care deeply about our impact on the world and on the lives of our students.

Together with the University’s talented and committed leadership team, I will continue to move our vision forward, supporting our students, faculty and staff as we work to make the world better for all. Thank you for your support. Boundless opportunities are ahead for the UW and those we serve.

Sincerely,

Ana Mari Cauce
Interim President
Professor of Psychology and American Ethnic Studies