An artist in residence at the University of Washington School of Music, Steve Rodby produced “Mirror, Mirror,” which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. He now has 14 Grammy Awards.
UW Notebook
UW Notebook features stories of interest to the UW community — including projects and books by, and recognition of, UW faculty, students and staff. If you’d like to submit a story idea, email uwnews@uw.edu.
Robert and Saadia Pekkanen, both professors in the UW Jackson School of International Studies, are co-editors of the first Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics, published online in September 2020 and in print in January 2022. They worked with dozens of collaborators around the world to add the topic to the respected collection of Oxford Handbooks that presents surveys of original research.
In his book “The Sovereign Trickster,” University of Washington history professor Vicente L. Rafael examines the authoritarian rule of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and tries to make sense of a global shift to the political right.
Recent recognition of the includes the Butts-Whiting Award for L. Lincoln Johnson, INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine’s Jesse L. Moore 2022 Supplier Diversity Award, Ben Brunjes’ fellowship with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Policy Planning and Liaison, and the recognition of Yong Wei as a NOAA Ambassador of Tsunami Risk Assessment.
In France, a political controversy arose when a gender-neutral pronoun was added to a respected dictionary. This controversy made a new volume co-edited by the UW’s Louisa Mackenzie especially relevant. It describes how nonbinary French speakers are changing their language to reflect their identity.
A new book by Gregg Colburn, assistant professor of real estate at the UW, explores the factors that drive homelessness, and the cultural and economic shift that can ultimately benefit all — housed and unhoused.
Laada Bilaniuk is a professor of anthropology at the whose expertise is Ukrainian culture and society. The daughter of Ukrainian Americans, she shares insights on the Ukrainian people who are resisting, how the conflict relates to the use of language and the perspective of the local Ukrainian community.
The “Jeopardy! College National Championship” brought together undergraduate students from 36 U.S. colleges and universities. Kaden Lee, a UW junior from Medical Lake, Washington, majoring in aeronautics and astronautics, appeared in the tournament on Feb. 11.
Two faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 15, are Brianna Abrahms, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology, and Yulia Tsvetkov, an assistant professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.
Samson Jenehke, a University of Washington professor in both the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Anna Karlin, a UW professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, announced Feb. 9 by the academy.
The UW Custodian Project is advocating for custodians, lifting their voices and raising awareness about their important roles on campus. As part of the project, an art exhibit called “(in)Visibility” is hanging in UW Tower through March. It features photos taken by 16 custodians, paired with their testimonials.
The University of Washington’s Seattle campus saved more than 5 tons of food from being thrown away in 2020, preventing unnecessary waste and helping feed people in the community who struggle with food security.
Four current faculty members and the incoming executive director of the UW’s Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture have been named AAAS Fellows, according to a Jan. 26 announcement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among 564 new fellows from around the world elected in 2021, who are recognized for “their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements” in science and engineering.
The UW School of Pharmacy’s Drug Interaction Database — the core research tool from the school’s nonprofit Drug Interaction Solutions team — is celebrating both a national award for innovation and two decades of independent funding through licensing agreements with companies, research institutes and regulatory agencies around the globe.
In 2000, the late David Bowie recorded his album “Toy,” which went unreleased due to the financial struggles of his record label. On Jan. 7, it was finally released, and it features Cuong Vu, UW professor of music and chair of the jazz studies department. Vu look back at working with Bowie, the music industry and music education.
Angélica Cházaro is one of six researchers around the country to be named a “Freedom Scholar” by the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation.
The Hans Rosling Center for Population Health has won top awards in 2021 from state and national design and construction associations for both its architectural design and unique project delivery approach. The building was designed by The Miller Hull Partnership and the general contractor was Lease Crutcher Lewis. The Design Build Institute of America in November gave the Rosling Center its Award of Excellence in the Education Building category, the award for Best in Design and the culminating Project of…
Azjargal Amarsanaa, a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, is teaching the Mongolian language to UW students for the 2021-22 academic year. It’s the first chance UW students have had to learn Mongolian in 15 years.
In 2013, Seattle’s U District neighborhood lost one of its most cherished businesses. The Continental Greek Restaurant and Pastry Shop, owned by the family of the Jackson School’s Taso Lagos, sat on University Way for nearly 40 years before closing its doors that June. Lagos looks back on the restaurant and what it meant to his family in a memoir due to be released this fall.
Shyam Gollakota, a UW professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, has taken inspiration from nature’s tiniest creatures, creating inventions that allow humans to use technology to go where they haven’t gone before. He is being celebrated for those inventions as a 2021 Moore Inventor Fellow.
Hardship, change and resilience — that’s been the experience of the U District community during the pandemic, just as it’s been the experience of us all. As students, faculty and staff return to campus in September, they are going to find that the UW’s front door looks different — and it is on the precipice of even bigger changes to come.
The Nehemiah Studio, a UW class on mitigating gentrification in Seattle’s Central District, has been honored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Recent honors and achievements by UW faculty include an early career award for study of family communication and a distinguished service award for decades in support of theoretical computing.
Recent news from the Jackson School of International Studies includes a new endowed scholarship for study of India made possible by two alumni, and a book on angels in ancient Jewish culture by Jewish Studies professor Mika Ahuvia.
In her new book, Jana Mohr Lone of the UW Center for Philosophy for Children asks, how would the world benefit if children were recognized as independent thinkers?
Ocean Voices, a program of the UW Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center to advance equity in ocean science, has been named among the first group of actions taken in a United Nations-sponsored, decade-long program of ocean science for sustainable development.
Recent honors and achievements for UW faculty include an award for humanitarian contributions to computer science, early career research recognition and support, and the guest-editing of a new anthology of Black American literature.
Shawn Wong, UW English professor and longtime advocate for Asian American literature, has received the 2021 Stand UP Award from the Association of University Presses.
Two professors with the UW Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering — Shyam Gollakota and Anna Karlin — have received 2020 honors from the Association for Computing Machinery.
Recent honors for UW faculty include the 2021 Presburger award for theoretical computer science, an Early Career Faculty Innovator research grant for a collaboration in environmental studies with the Karuk Tribe in California, and a fellowship to explore war regulations and raiding norms among early Arabian Jewish communities.
Scott Radnitz, associate professor in the Jackson School of International Studies, discusses his new book, “Revealing Schemes: The Politics of Conspiracy in Russia and the Post-Soviet Region,” published by Oxford University Press.
A new UW Libraries digital exhibit explores the history of the University of Washington’s century-old fight song, “Bow Down to Washington” in text, video and lots of music.
In his latest book, “Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character: Principles and Best Practices,” Charles Wolfe asks: How can we create urban environments that are truly livable?
Recent honors to UW faculty include a Golden Apple Award for teaching innovation from Seattle television station KCTS and a Leading the Narrative award for community engagement from the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
UW biology professors Jeffrey Riffell and David Perkel have received grants from the Human Frontier Science Program.
Recent honors and achievements for UW faculty and staff include a Guggenheim fellowship in film history, a Fulbright fellowship for bioethics research in South Africa and membership in a new state cybersecurity team formed by the National Governors Association.
A root cause of America’s sharp division, UW international studies professor Dan Chirot says, is that the visions of the left and right are based on “drastically different histories.”
The retirement of Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden after a 30-year career with the company – at least in one way – had the University of Washington written all over it. Horizon Air recently unveiled a special Huskies-themed livery on a Q400 (tail number #N435QX) in honor of Tilden, who earned his MBA at the UW and has maintained a strong partnership with the University for several years. Tilden retired March 31.
John Schaufelberger, UW professor of construction management and dean emeritus of the College of Built Environments, has received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Associated Schools of Construction.
An Intel Corporation award for work to make computers more energy-efficient, a Research Corporation for Science award for chemistry research and education, and two Google inclusion awards to create technology for underrepresented populations.