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Category: President Young archive

Expanding health care in the Yakima Valley

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Faculty Field Tour - Day 2

Day two of the Faculty Field Tour found our bus heading east along the Columbia River, that precious resource for our state. As we drove, we saw the gradual transition of the landscape from forested mountains to dry rolling hills and the broad expanses of the eastern part of the state. Along the way we passed hundreds of wind turbines that dot the landscape, generating energy from this relatively new alternative energy source.

With its rich, fertile soil and proximity to the Columbia River, the Yakima Valley is an important hub for both agriculture and transportation. It is responsible for about 75 percent of all hops grown in the United States and is recognized as one of the world leaders in apple production.

The valley is also an important center for community health. Our Faculty Field Tour saw this firsthand during a visit to the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC), a comprehensive medical, dental and social services clinic that collaborates with the UW. Pediatric residents from the UW School of Medicine serve a rotation at the YVFWC to address the occupational and environmental health concerns of Hispanic farm workers and their families. As the area continues to grow, UW Medicine’s presence in the Yakima Valley has become vital to the health and well-being of patients from a diversity of backgrounds.

We visited Washington State University’s agricultural research center in Prosser, where they are doing innovative work in plant propagation and harvesting methods, among other things. It was impressive, and there were lots of questions from our faculty. We were given the crimson carpet treatment, with an actual Cougar carpet greeting us as we stepped off the bus.

Our last event of the day was a Welcome to Washington reception, organized by the UW Alumni Association. We invited Tri-Cities-area entering freshmen and their families to join other students and alumni at a dinner to welcome them to the UW.  ‎It was a wonderful event. Our new faculty introduced themselves to the gathering and did a fabulous job briefly describing their teaching and research interests. That was truly inspiring. And then our incoming freshmen told us a little about themselves. It was exciting to imagine them in the classrooms of the faculty they had just met.

The energy in the room was palpable. So much pent-up enthusiasm for learning that will have to wait until the fall to be unleashed.

On the road with the 2014 Faculty Field Tour

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This week, Provost Ana Mari Cauce and I are boarding the bus for the annual UW Faculty Field Tour, a five-day trek that explores the UW’s reach across Washington state. The tour is designed for faculty members who are new to Washington and new to the university. It’s an opportunity to learn about their newly adopted home state — its geography and topography, the foundations of its economy and some of its history — as well as to see where their students come from, learn about those communities and meet colleagues from a variety of the university’s rich array of disciplines.

The tour covers roughly 1,000 miles, and we’ll be making stops along the way to visit key UW partners, including high-tech manufacturers like Boeing, UW startup MicroGREEN Polymers and the Microsoft Data Center; local vineyards and orchards; environmental gems like Mount St. Helens; and even the great Grand Coulee Dam. The tour allows our 31 participating new faculty members to get a bird’s-eye view of our state and experience firsthand the rich tapestry of culture, economics and geography in Washington.

Today was a great start to the tour. We visited the Boeing composite manufacturing plant in Frederickson, where Boeing makes the tail sections for the 777 and 787. We had an exceptional tour guide who fielded a barrage of questions from a very inquisitive group of faculty. It is amazing to see the ingenuity and creativity that goes into the manufacturing process of this very complex airplane component. The faculty was duly impressed, like I was.

We then drove to the Johnston Ridge observatory to get a bird’s-eye view of Mount St. Helens. What an amazing example of the awesome power of nature — quite a contrast to the high-tech manufacturing plant. It was interesting to note that some of our younger faculty had yet to be born by May 18, 1980, the day the mountain erupted.

The conversations on the bus were lively and robust as people are getting to know one another. Looks like another terrific group of faculty setting out to learn more about Washington.

I encourage you to follow our tour’s progress in pictures on Tagboard (#UWFacTour), here on my blog and on Facebook.

President Young on the SPU shooting

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Dear members of the University of Washington Community:

Another tragic shooting occurred today, this time much closer to home at our neighbor, Seattle Pacific University. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to those who were shot, to their families and friends, and to the entire Seattle Pacific University community. We can only imagine the shock and horror they experienced today at the hands of an individual bent on destructive and violent acts.

Based on the news reports that have been forthcoming, the perpetrator is in custody and the incident at SPU is under control. Any occurrence like this raises concerns for the safety of the entire community, especially such a close-knit community as a college or university. I know everyone is especially vigilant at a time like this and rightly so. Again, I want to remind everyone that we have resources on campus where people can go to report any incident or event that causes discomfort or concern: http://uw.edu/safecampus/

Please be wary and look out for each other. Together, we are our best protection.

Sincerely,

Michael K. Young

The value of humanities in education

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As the academic year comes to a close, and graduates are seeking employment or considering their next move, my expectations for success of UW students and graduates are unparalleled — not only for those leaving here with computer science and other technical and professional degrees, but also for graduates of humanities and other liberal arts programs.

Recently, I met with the chairs of the humanities departments in our College of Arts & Sciences to discuss the benefit of humanities study for students of all majors. As the cornerstone of traditional liberal arts colleges, the humanities have enjoyed a special place in higher education as institutions expanded their offerings to meet the needs of enterprise and industry.

A study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities surveying employers about what they want in the ideal employee concluded that more than 90 percent of employers want someone who has a broad knowledge base and who can collaborate to solve complex problems, debate, communicate and think critically — all skills that humanities programs expect students to acquire before they graduate. And our terrific students do!

Other desirable qualities that employers listed are also integral to humanities degree requirements: ethical judgment and integrity, intercultural skills, the capacity for continued new learning and applied knowledge in real-world settings. And 80 percent of employers agreed that, regardless of their major, all college students should acquire broad knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences.

The UW is committed to providing a transformative experience for our students to ensure each one’s preparedness for life after college. Majoring in a humanities discipline or taking a course or two to complement another major will benefit students as they venture out into our interconnected world, where having an understanding of the tenets of humanities — language, literature, film and the history of ideas — is an advantage to succeeding in our modern, diverse and global economy.

Gifts from Washington Research Foundation fund Husky innovation

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President Young recently sent an email to the University community announcing a new, generous gift from one of the UW’s biggest supporters, Washington Research Foundation. Below is the official email announcing the details of the gift.

 

Dear Colleagues,

New opportunities are on the horizon for Huskies and the people we serve, thanks to an investment in innovation by Washington Research Foundation (WRF). Today, we announce a $31.2 million investment by WRF in four UW research initiatives, a show of support that speaks volumes to the UW’s strength as a center for enterprising innovators in our region.

The size and scope of WRF’s gifts to the UW are unprecedented. This represents entrepreneurial Washington investing in its research university and makes a strong statement about the importance of local investment. The four teams of grant recipients are among the UW’s most productive and creative faculty. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and deeply grateful to the foundation for its vote of confidence in their work.

The first award is an $8 million gift to launch a postdoctoral fellowship program for the Institute for Protein Design (IPD). Postdocs are critical to the success of the IPD’s outcomes, and this investment will help bring ideas out of the laboratory and into the lives of people who will benefit most from breakthroughs in protein design.

WRF also committed $7.2 million to jumpstart an Institute for Neuroengineering, which will bring faculty, students and postdoctoral researchers from several disciplines on board to develop new technologies for people affected by neural disorders.

The eScience Institute was awarded $9.3 million to embolden its global leadership in Big Data. The funding will support the institute’s work to find data-intensive breakthroughs in a breadth of disciplines.

And the Clean Energy Institute will receive $6.7 million to help recruit innovative faculty and postdoctoral fellows focused on advancing solutions in solar energy production, storage and delivery.

Details on each of these gifts are available on the UW Today website.

This is a watershed moment for the UW and WRF. Through this incredible partnership, we will bring our shared vision of innovation and implementing ideas into action to address some of our greatest challenges. Our sincere thanks to Washington Research Foundation. We are fortunate to have such a good friend.

Sincerely,
Michael K Young signature
Michael K. Young

Celebrating faculty excellence

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President Young recently sent an email to the University community announcing new research funding initiative, the Innovation Awards. Below is the official email announcing the details of the initiative.

 

Dear Campus Colleagues,

Breakthroughs occur every day in laboratories and classrooms across our campuses as Huskies work to tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems. Our faculty are at the heart of these innovations, and today I’m pleased to recognize a few who truly transform our world.

Benjamin Hall, professor emeritus of genome sciences and biology, and Eric D’Asaro, a senior principal oceanographer at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory and professor of oceanography, were among the 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected as fellows to the National Academy of Sciences just last week. Chosen for the distinguished breadth and continuing depth of their original research, Professor Hall and Professor D’Asaro’s significant contributions to academia, science and the University community have spanned decades.

As we celebrate Professor Hall and Professor D’Asaro’s storied accomplishments, we also want to inspire innovative faculty who are early in their careers. So today, we are announcing a new initiative to fuel their research: the Innovation Awards.

The Innovation Awards recognize the most creative thinkers in our midst who are addressing the problems of humanity through research and education. These awards support unusually creative early and mid-career researchers engaged in the medical, natural, social and engineering sciences, as well as researchers fostering new levels of student engagement and understanding through active learning.

The application deadline is September 1 each year. The selection committees are organized and run by the Office of Research and the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. In its inaugural year, three outstanding faculty members have been honored with Innovation Awards to fund their transformational work in research and education:

Brandi Cossairt, assistant professor of chemistry, is focusing on chemical innovation in solar energy capture and storage. She is devising novel materials and devices that use abundant natural resources and low-cost processing methods geared toward advances in clean energy technology.

James Carothers, assistant professor of chemical engineering, will create new approaches to produce renewable chemicals. He will address fundamental questions of cellular design, which will be used to redesign living systems for biotech applications.

Eric Klavins, associate professor of electrical engineering, and his colleagues aim to revolutionize how laboratory courses are taught. Students will learn to encode their experiments as computer programs and use advanced technology to automatically generate their lab notebooks.

Join me in congratulating Professor Hall, Professor D’Asaro, Professor Cossairt, Professor Carothers and Professor Klavins for their outstanding efforts in powering creative research at the UW. Their work nurtures our experimental and enterprising culture, and we celebrate their accomplishments in fostering Husky innovation and imagination.

Sincerely,
Michael K Young signature
Michael K. Young

Strengthening the bond between the UW and Japan

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At the UW, we have been going about the business of learning about other parts of the world almost from the beginning of the university, and certainly from 1908, when 15 Japanese students helped found our International Students Club. Today, Japanese is the second-most studied language at the university and demand for the study of this country’s history, culture and language has never been stronger. This warms my heart more than ever as my affection for Japan has only deepened since I first traveled there more than four decades ago.

The UW’s long-standing partnerships with Japan extend to the Japan-America Society of the state of Washington, which hosted me at their annual meeting last month. The event was an opportunity to deepen the UW’s relationship with our Japanese friends and partners, and celebrate our mutual collaborations — past, present and future. The continued vitality and importance of the UW-Japan relationship are aided by the enterprising culture and global worldview we are fostering on campus. At the UW, we consider every student an international student; in today’s interconnected world, weaving a global perspective into all aspects of education is critical.

There is a strong link between the continued success of the UW and the vibrant Japanese community that surrounds us. Our fates are tied and our futures depend on our abilities to work together. In this vein, I am delighted and eager to continue this legacy of educational exchange between the UW and our Japanese friends and partners. Thank you to the Japan-America Society for your friendship and for helping to create these opportunities!

Recognizing our retirees, Husky style

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Call it a commencement of a different sort.

Earlier this week, we honored this year’s “class” of UW retirees, faculty and staff members who have retired in the past year. Each of our retirees has been an essential contributor to making this University an outstanding place. And between the 475 people honored in this diverse group, they have collectively served the University for a combined total of 10,276 years. Now, that’s dedication to the Husky Nation!

The UW continues to be committed to our retirees. We urge them to continue their involvement with the UW community with opportunities for engagement through our new UW Encore Initiative. Encore.org has provided a grant to the UW Retirement Association to lead the way. Our first campus Encore workshop recently concluded (with an attendance of more than 70 — and a waiting list!). The UW is the first university in the country to support the creation of this initiative to all of our constituents, including retirees.

We are deeply grateful for the careers our faculty and staff have dedicated to the UW, sustaining and adding to the excellence of this institution. On behalf of the UW, thank you to all of our retirees in the “class” of 2014.

Photo from May 12, 2014, UW retiree reception
President Michael K. Young greets guests during the UW retiree reception. Photo: M Levin/U of Washington

Remarks to the Japan Huskies

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In Japan, 120 alumni, parents, donors, partners and friends turned out at the Tokyo American Club for a Husky reception on April 15. The event was part of our weeklong goodwill visit to Taiwan and Japan. Below is the official transcript of his remarks from the event.

I want to tell you about a very long-lived and rewarding partnership between researchers at the University of Washington’s marine laboratory in Friday Harbor, Washington, and marine laboratories in Japan.

For decades, a fruitful exchange has occurred between Friday Harbor Laboratories and the Misaki Marine Laboratory, and the Sugishima Marine Laboratory at Nagoya University. This arrangement has recently been formalized as the Edward Sylvester Morse Institute through the dedication and philanthropy of faculty, individual donors, and the Mikimoto Pearl Company.

We are delighted to have among our guests two very important supporters of this effort, Professor Motonori Hoshi and Dr Makoto Omore (the latter received his Ph.D. from UW Oceanography). Thank you for all you have personally and professionally contributed to the ES Morse Institute.

This year, 2014 we are celebrating the UW Alumni Association’s 125th anniversary with Huskies here in Japan. In 1889, a small group of UW alumni organized themselves to better support the University. Ever since, alumni chapters have cropped up around the world. In fact, there are organized alumni chapters dotting 13 countries around the globe, from Peru to the United Arab Emirates. And the UWAA Japan is one of our strongest. Alumni in Japan have played a vital role in keeping their fellow Huskies connected, informed and involved with the University. I want to thank all of the gracious volunteers and alumni involved with the Japan Huskies, who make events like tonight, special and keep the Husky spirit strong across the Pacific.

Before I give you an update about some exciting things happening at UW, I’d like to share a few points of pride. National Taiwan University ranks us 1st in scientific research among American public universities. And we are the 13th best university in the world according to U.S. News & World Report. I’ve been in higher education for a while now, and I’ve learned that the best universities have the most engaged supporters. And as we can see by these rankings, the UW is among the best universities not only in the United States, but in the world.

You are a key reason for that success. In this room tonight there are business people, civic leaders, educators, artists, parents and alumni. And though we come from different backgrounds, our common bond is purple and gold; we are a community of people joined together by how deeply we care about the University of Washington.

When alumni, parents, donors and friends invest in the UW, more Huskies can focus their unbridled energy on their studies instead of worrying about making ends meet. In fact, in the last fiscal year alone, we were able to create 37 new undergraduate scholarships, 33 graduate fellowships and 59 funds that help our students.

It’s because of private philanthropy that our students, faculty and researchers are able to thrive and bring their innovations out of the classroom and into the real world. The UW produces good global citizens, and we graduate the thinkers, doers and innovators who are making our world a better place. And we are succeeding thanks to the support of our closest friends and alumni.

Last week we were in Taiwan to attend the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Asia Conference in Taipei. I was honored to give the AUTM Conference keynote address on innovation and entrepreneurism in higher education based on the UW’s long-standing success in commercialization.

In 2013, the UW had a banner year, placing us among the top five schools in the United States for startup formation by producing a record 17 new companies through our Center for Commercialization (C4C). The UW is first in the number of licenses issued as well as first in different types of licenses, such as biotech, metadata, etc. And we intend to top our record in the coming years, thanks to 80 robust projects in the startup pipeline through our C4C New Ventures Program.

Universities contribute to society in a number of ways. One of the most important contributions we can make is to transform our research into new products, treatments, cures, and devices, etc. that will have a positive impact. In order to do that, we have created an innovation ecosystem at the UW to provide space and systems to support faculty, researchers, students and entrepreneurs to have the best chance to succeed. And the results are extraordinary.

Job Creation

  • On average, 60 jobs created in new companies
  • Kaufmann Foundation study (Economic Impact Report 2010) – 80% new jobs were created by companies 5 years old or newer
  • Job opportunities for UW grads

Economy Boosts

  • Developing new companies in state/region and attracting investors from out of state increases tax base
  • Creating wealth, leading to more investment, commitment to state/region
  • Attracting / retaining faculty members
  • Translationally directed – ability to make an impact through teaching and basic research / and rewarded financially for entrepreneurialism (who could make more money in private industry) because they get best of both (academic research and commercial enterprise).

Global Collaboration

As a first-tier world university, it is incumbent upon us to be engaged with our international partners so that we can extend the extraordinary work of our faculty and students to places where it can do the most good. During our visit to Taiwan, we were guests of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to tour National Taiwan University, National Chung Hsing University and National Chiao Tung University.

  • International education/research campus with promising Asian and European universities and potential private partners.
  • Exciting new ideas and plans for bringing the UW to the world and the world to the UW.
  • Opportunity to create on a larger scale

What’s Next?

  • UW is 2nd only to Microsoft in creating spin-offs in software
  • UW has life sciences and technology research pipelines for potential commercialization
  • Exciting opportunities for new innovation, commercialization, growth, etc.
  • Mutual benefits for local, regional, state, national governments.
  • Benefit to UW as well, but not exclusive
  • Collective interest in providing support for the best chance of positive outcomes

Many of our startups are based on UW research that is funded by private support. We are able to do this because of you. The UW is especially grateful for the support we receive from our alumni, family and friends. We can accomplish so much when we put our minds together toward common goals. Thank you for your gracious hospitality. It truly is great to be with you here in Tokyo.

Michael K. Young
UW President