As we conclude this academic year, and I conclude my time as University of Washington President, I’m overwhelmed with amazement and gratitude for this extraordinary University and the community of students, faculty, staff and supporters who make it so exceptional. I also congratulate our class of 2025 graduates on your outstanding achievements. Welcome to the ranks of the UW alumni! You’re joining an incredible community.
I have been a Husky for nearly 40 years, and over the decades, I have seen our University rise to every challenge put before it. We have undergone tough times before, but unquestionably, we now face some of the most significant challenges in our institution’s 164-year history. I wish this were not the case, but I believe with all my heart that the UW’s mission of impact for the public good will endure thanks to all of you who show up every day to realize it.
As faculty and staff, you create the learning, discovery, innovation, community engagement, patient care and public service that improves lives and catalyzes generational transformation. You produce research that expands the bounds of human knowledge and scholarship that opens the door to new ways of thinking about and solving our most pressing problems. As graduate and professional students, you train to become skilled professionals in healthcare, education, social work, law, government, business, technology, the arts and more. Many of you found new companies grounded in pathbreaking ideas that originate here. As undergraduates, you come here to pursue degrees and experiences that will take you far. I’m especially proud that so many of our graduates put your degrees to work helping our home state of Washington thrive – as I am so often reminded when meeting UW alumni everywhere I go.
It has been a profound honor to serve this University and the people of Washington, and I will continue to support our public mission from a different vantage point as I return to the faculty. I offer my wholehearted support and enthusiasm for our incoming president, Robert J. Jones. His wisdom, experience and vision have prepared him well to be the UW’s 34th president. I’m honored to serve as his predecessor, and excited for our community to welcome him.
I thank you all for the privilege of leading this great public university. It has been a journey that I never could have predicted, full of incredible highs (and yes, its share of sleepless nights), and I will always be proud of the impact that we created together. I look forward to our University’s next amazing chapter.