The Dream Project assists low-income and first-generation high school students in attaining higher education. Students in the Dream Project overcome incredible obstacles to attend college, but the challenges—and rewards—don’t end once they step foot on campus. Three Dream Project students describe their journey to UW, what they’ve learned their first year, and how it feels to give back (also, how important the bowling alley is and when to stop calling your mother!)
Tag: spring 2014
Honors students discover the world, themselves
Students at UW achieve incredible individual accomplishments and successes. But part of a good education is becoming aware that no man is an island. Learn how these five Honors students discovered the world and just how interconnected and global our lives truly are.
Entrepreneur Kirsten Rogers aims to take a bite out of cancer
In 2013, David Rogers was retired and living his dream, having made his boat his home, sailing with his wife through the Sea of Cortez, when he became very ill. He was advised to return to the States, where he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. When a loved one is diagnosed with cancer, most people feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness. Not so David’s daughter, Kirsten Rogers. Kirsten (‘05, ‘10) set out to research all she could about how to best support her father.
Undergraduate research to take over Mary Gates Hall on May 16
On Friday, May 16, more than 1,100 University of Washington undergraduates will participate in the 17th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium—an event that might well be the country’s largest “show and tell” for undergraduate research. The Symposium takes place from 11 a.m.–6 p.m. in Mary Gates Hall; select oral presentations will happen in Johnson Hall and visual arts and design presentations will be in Odegaard Undergraduate Library.
Message from Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor
These students are doing more than making sure they get the right classes for their majors. They are taking a deep dive into the UW and preparing to make unique contributions to our communities.
In Memoriam: Eliana Hechter
Eliana Hechter died on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Eliana graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 2006 with a degree in mathematics. She entered the UW at age 14 through the Robinson Center’s Early Entrance Program, was a student in the University Honors Program, and graduated when she was 18 years old.
As an undergraduate, she studied creative writing in Rome with the Honors Program, conducted research at Friday Harbor Laboratories, participated in the Mathematics Department’s highly selective Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, was a teaching assistant for honors accelerated advanced calculus (a course she took as a freshman), and was an involved student in the Honors Program community.
Eliana’s undergraduate honors and awards include UW and national recognition. Her UW awards include a Dean’s Medal in the natural sciences, a Phelps Fellowship, NASA Space Grant Scholarship, and a Best Graduating Senior Award from the Department of Mathematics. Nationally, Eliana received a Goldwater Scholarship and was a 2006 Rhodes Scholar—at the time she was the second-youngest person to ever receive the Rhodes. She was also selected for a Marshall Scholarship but declined in order to accept the Rhodes.
At Oxford University, Eliana earned her Ph.D. in statistics. According to her website, she was a visiting graduate student at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as well. At the time of her death, she was a first-year medical student at the joint Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program.
UW English professor and former Honors Program director Shawn Wong remembered an 11-year-old Eliana coming to his office door looking for critical feedback from him on her stories. When Eliana enrolled at the UW at age 14, she took Wong’s graduate creative writing class and was a student in his Honors study abroad class in Rome when she was 15. They stayed in contact through the years, and Wong read two of her novels-in-progress. Wong remarks, “There was no doubt in my mind that she was going to be a published novelist as well as a physician and mathematician.”
Eliana is survived by her father, former UW professor Michael Hechter. Her mother, Debra Friedman, passed away in January, 2014, from cancer. She was the chancellor of UW Tacoma at the time of her death but was also instrumental in establishing Undergraduate Academic Affairs, formerly known as the Office of Undergraduate Education, on the Seattle campus.
Photos, video, and stories from Justice Sotomayor’s UW visit
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited the University of Washington earlier this year. Provost Ana Mari Cauce interviewed Justice Sotomayor, asking questions submitted by students. The audience learned about the Justice’s formative experiences that shaped her into who she is today. Relive the event through video, photos, and links to media stories.