The University of Washington is home to 27 researchers included on Thomson Reuters’ list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” for 2015, which was released Jan. 14. The distinction, based on an analysis of over a decade of research paper citations among 21 general scientific fields, is meant to recognize scientists who are most cited by their peers.
“The awe-inspiring research being done every day at the University of Washington aims to create change and make the world a better place,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce said. “This recognition of so many of our faculty members as being among the world’s most influential minds is not surprising, but does serve as a reminder of the global impact of their innovative research and scholarship.”
In his recent op-ed in The Washington Post, Professor of philosophy Stephen Gardiner argues that climate change is a pressing ethical challenge. He writes, ‘Climate change presents a severe ethical challenge, forcing us to confront difficult questions as individual moral agents, and even more so as members of larger political systems. It is genuinely global and seriously intergenerational, and crosses species boundaries. It also takes place in a setting where existing institutions and theories are weak, proving little ethical guidance.’
Experts from the University of Washington are set to engage in next week’s Arctic Encounter Symposium. The largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States, the Symposium confronts the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development. It aims to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people.
Professor Kathie Friedman discusses the evolution of her course on immigration, and what each of us can do to stay involved with the ongoing refugee crisis.
Prime Minister Miro Cerar of the Republic of Slovenia met with University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce at the University of Washington on December 4, 2015 to express interest in sustained collaboration between the UW and academic institutions in Slovenia.
Vice Provost for Global Affairs Jeffrey Riedinger and UW President Ana Mari Cauce in discussion with Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Dr. Miro Cerar Photo: Piotr Horoszowski
The Slovene Prime Minister was accompanied by His Excellency Ambassador Božo Cerar, Slovene Ambassador to the U.S., Slovene Deputy Prime Minister Boris Koprivnikar, and other Slovene government officials. UW Vice Provost for Global Affairs Jeffrey Riedinger, Vice Provost for Digital Initiatives and Dean of Libraries Betsy Wilson, Divisional Dean for Humanities Michael Shapiro, Professor and Chair of Slavic Languages Katarzyna Dziwirek, Professor of Law Louis Wolcher, and Professor of Slavic Languages Michael Biggins also participated in the discussion.
Prime Minister Cerar praised the long-term impacts of the UW-University of Ljubljana Faculty Exchange, which has been in existence since 1979. He and President Cauce also discussed an initiative already underway at the UW to create an academic program in interdisciplinary Slovene studies, which would serve students at the UW and around the U.S. via distance learning.
UW graduate students working in Slovene studies, UW post-doctoral researchers from Slovenia, and two UW undergraduates recruited from Slovenia to compete as part of the UW men’s rowing team greeted the Slovene delegation at Gerberding Hall.
This was the first visit by a Slovene prime minister to the UW and took place as part of a larger Slovene trade delegation tour of five major U.S. IT hubs. Former Slovene Ambassador to the U.S. Samo Žbogar visited UW twice during his tenure, delivering a talk during a 2007 visit to a hundred students at the Jackson School of International Studies.
In developing or war-ravaged countries where government censuses are few and far between, gathering data for public services or policymaking can be difficult, dangerous or near-impossible. Now, researchers with the University of Washington Information School and Computer Science and Engineering Department have devised a way to estimate the distribution of wealth and poverty in an area by studying metadata from calls and texts made on cell phones.
As a response to the ongoing migration crisis, the University of Washington Department of Philosophy is offering a campus discussion forum every Wednesday. One crucial question is the nature and extent of our ethical obligation to help people in need. UW philosophers in our department would like to stimulate discussion about this important topic.
The Jackson School of International Studies will split a five million dollar award aimed addressing the disconnect between global research with policymaking. Resat Kesaba, Director of the Jackson School of International Studies, says the award furthers the school’s current work. “We have worked with the companies and nonprofit organizations of the globally connected Pacific Northwest to address critical international challenges, and brought the results of this work to policy makers,” he says.
In the current issue of Conservation Biology, UW Professor Dee Boersma and colleagues around the world outline risks to world penguin populations and urge stakeholders to take action to protect the species. Professor Boersma also directs the UW Center for Penguins as Ocean Sentinels.
