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Presidential Blog

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Proud of our students’ responsiveness to community

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In the days following the tragic violence in Las Vegas, there has been understandable concern within our university community about the “humans vs. zombies” tag game scheduled for Monday through Friday of next week. While the multi-day game has taken place in the past using neon-colored Nerf “blasters” without incident, in the wake of previous shootings around the nation, student organizers have been responsive to heightened sensitivities and restricted their use.

I’m gratified to see that they have done so again this year as reflected in their statement. Our students seldom fail to impress me with their thoughtfulness and concern. I applaud their choice to recognize and address this sensitive topic and  to consider the impact on their fellow students and UW community members.

As new GIX building opens, collaboration holds the key to our future

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Yesterday marked the official opening of the new Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) facility – the newly-christened Steve Ballmer Building – in Bellevue’s Spring District. The celebration was a momentous occasion, fitting for the scale of impact I believe that GIX will have in uniting universities, civic leaders, government officials, industry partners, artists and entrepreneurs around global challenges. With the launch of this building, GIX welcomes the students, faculty and industry experts from around the world whose work and education will serve to benefit our region, and the world.

Welcoming the Cuban all-female orchestra, Camerata Romeu *UPDATE* Performance canceled

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I’m looking forward to Camerata Romeu making their Seattle debut at Meany Hall on September 25. I’m even more excited to be there surrounded Cuban string orchestra Camerata Romeuby our community of friends, alumni, employees and students. I hope to see you there.

Celebrating the life and impact of Jeff Brotman

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Photo of Jeff and Susan BrotmanWith the passing of Jeff Brotman the University of Washington has lost one of its greatest volunteers and most accomplished and generous graduates. His and Susan’s principled and passionate leadership, coupled with their generosity — particularly in support of students and of advancements in medicine — have left a lasting impact on our University and all those we serve. Thousands of students were able to attend college and earn degrees thanks to the Costco Scholarship Fund, which he helped launch, and his dedicated support for UW Medicine, including his vital role in the development of the South Lake Union Campus, are just two examples of the many ways his heartfelt devotion will continue to change lives for years to come.

Jeff earned two degrees from the UW, an undergraduate degree in political science and a J.D. in law. His role as a co-chair, together with Susan, of the UW’s Be Boundless campaign, and his previous service as a Regent, and as a leader on numerous UW boards and initiatives, including his significant roles at UW Medicine, have been defined by his strong advocacy and forthright counsel, both of which have been invaluable to me and to many UW leaders. He was actively involved in advancing the School of Law, and as a passionate Husky, he could be found at almost every home football game.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Susan, to their children Amanda and Justin, and to his loved ones. As we remember Jeff, we will rededicate ourselves to his long-held belief in social justice and equity. His generosity is a model for what it means to give back to your community and to provide opportunities for all, and for that we are forever grateful.

Inclusion and non-discrimination are now and will always be core to the UW

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LGBTQ rights are human rights. The Justice Department’s brief – even as it is being downplayed by some – has the potential to expose more people to workplace discrimination and signals broadly that discrimination against gays and lesbians is acceptable. This is a dangerous and destructive precedent that will have real consequences in people’s lives.

Board of Regents Chair Pat Shanahan confirmed as Deputy Defense Secretary

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On behalf of the University of Washington, congratulations to Pat Shanahan on his confirmation as Deputy Defense Secretary of the United States.  As an alumnus with both deep ties to the University and the Pacific Northwest and a deep ethos of public service, he has been engaged with the University in numerous capacities for many years, most recently as chair and a long-standing member of the Board of Regents.  We will miss his leadership and engagement tremendously.

As a senior executive at Boeing, a company whose first gift to the University a century ago was a full scale wind tunnel simulator that transformed generations of research in the aerospace industry and beyond, Pat has a deep understanding of the power of research to transform ideas, advancements, and society.  He has seen firsthand how what begins in the laboratories of our nation’s great public universities translates into benefits for both the public and private sector and ultimately for the security and prosperity of our nation.  We are proud and gratified that he will bring his leadership, experience and wisdom to this vital post in the federal government and look forward to his continued service on behalf of our nation and its people.

Counting the true cost of cuts to research funding

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Funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported countless discoveries that have saved or improved millions of lives, from Dr. Mary-Claire King’s discovery of the BRCA1 breast cancer gene to new, more accurate diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease.  As I’ve written before, the President’s budget proposal would dramatically cut NIH’s research funding, slowing progress in understanding and curing diseases that ultimately affect nearly every single American in some form.

This week, I reached out to the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and the Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to share our concerns about the very real ways in which those funding cuts could not merely impede but actually dismantle our nation’s biomedical research and discovery ecosystem, now the envy of the world.

Among the changes proposed in the budget are significant cuts to Facilities and Administration or F&A reimbursements (also known as indirect research costs). While direct costs like researcher pay and lab equipment are the expenses the public most associates with research, F&A costs are real and necessary expenses that are just as integral to research. Like the plumbing and wiring that make a building inhabitable, F&A covers essential infrastructure that a university’s labs and researchers all rely on, like secure computing systems, high-speed data processing and storage, radiation and chemical safety precautions, and personnel costs associated with meeting federal and state regulations related to the safety of human subjects, to name a few. Just as four walls and a roof are not enough to make a house livable, without the infrastructure covered by F&A, universities cannot conduct the kinds of cutting-edge research that results in cures and treatments that save lives.

Even under current law, F&A reimbursements do not cover the full cost of conducting research. The UW is able to make up the difference, effectively subsidizing federal research spending. But if these drastic cuts take effect, it would be impossible to provide the level of support that currently keeps our research efforts moving forward.

The UW and the many people who benefit from our biomedical research would suffer from this budget, and across the country, research universities, especially public institutions, would suffer as well. It would devastate the national biomedical research community and the economy built on research discoveries, leading to a decline in the number of biomedical start-ups based in the U.S. At a minimum, discovery would be slowed, but worse, the loss in momentum nationally to our research breakthroughs would cost many lives that could have been saved.

There is a clear and compelling case for the national interest we all share in federal investment in biomedical research and discovery. I invite and encourage all who care about this issue – and I believe that’s all of us – to raise your voices as well.