Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Robinson Center


January 20, 2026

Strong partnership bridges the distance

Danielle Marie Holland

Photo of about 30 middle school age kids standing in front of a yellow school bus on a sunny day.

Since its founding, the University of Washington’s Robinson Center for Young Scholars has served academically advanced students across the region. Yet for many Auburn School District families, those opportunities remained out of reach. The barrier was never a lack of talent or curiosity. It was access.


December 7, 2024

Bridging science and humanity

Danielle Marie Holland

Photo of Daniel Chen in a lab

Daniel Chen’s journey into research began with a fascination for ancient cultures and extinct creatures. As a middle schooler, he was captivated by archaeology and paleontology, dreaming of working at excavation sites, unearthing ancient bones and tracing the histories of lost civilizations. Over time, that early curiosity shifted toward biology, particularly as computational modeling emerged as a powerful tool.


September 27, 2024

The Robinson Center Husky Experience: A parent’s perspective

Danielle Marie Holland

Photo of the Gopal family, mom, dad and three adolescent daughters with Husky dog Dubs.

Nearly 50 years ago, UW professors Halbert and Nancy Robinson envisioned a school to serve academically talented students with accelerated needs. Today, the Robinson Center stands as a refuge, a long-awaited home for scholars eager to embark on journeys of intellectual and self-discovery. The Center’s focus, experience and infrastructure in nurturing gifted young scholars within the environment of a leading public university is a key factor in parents’ and their students’ decisions to drop out of high school and enroll in the program.


June 20, 2024

Finding my way

Nell Thompson

Photo of Nell walking in ocean at sunset.

Hiking through the flower-covered rolling hills of the Methow Valley in 2022, my field cohort headed for beaver habitat. Our trail involved crawling under barbed wire in the midday heat, and by the time we finally arrived at the steep slope, I didn’t even attempt to continue.


March 20, 2024

Uplifting one another

Danielle Marie Holland

Photo of Reese Johnston in front of a smart board teaching a math class.

Reese Johnston’s early childhood years were spent in traditional schools studying standard curriculums. Yet at a young age, he knew something was missing.


December 27, 2013

Innovative Robinson Center alumni inspire students

Deanna Duff

Picture of Christina Chan, Jason Tan, Allen Chen, and Lukas Svec

Students crowded together for the third-annual Robinson Center Alumni Speaker Series. The event’s topic—Startups & Entrepreneurs—energized students to appreciate that today’s studying can blossom into tomorrow’s business opportunity.