A Newsletter for Friends and Alumni of the University of Washington
News Stories

Book Lovers Dine to Benefit UW Libraries

Book lovers and library supporters had a rare opportunity to dine and dish with distinguished authors at the UW Friends of the Libraries Literary Voices 2006 event. More than 120 readers dined alongside 14 authors with UW ties during the event held April 29 at the UW Club. Participating authors included Dennis Andersen, Gerald Baldasty (’78), Linda Bierds (’69, ‘71), David Bosworth, William Calvin (’66), Ivan Doig (’69), Valerie Easton (’75, ’76), Margaret Levi, Eric Liu, Colleen J. McElroy (’73), Andrew Meltzoff (’78), Ronald Moore and David Shields.

The keynote speaker was UW creative writing professor Charles Johnson, who in 1990 became the first African- American to win the National Book Award for his novel Middle Passage. “I’ve enjoyed a lifelong love affair with libraries all over the world,” he said during his address, “and I know as I know nothing else that all of the things I’ve published during the past four decades would have been impossible if not for the blessing of the public library system.”

Proceeds from the event benefit the UW Libraries Undergraduate Student Research Awards and help with the acquisition of new resources and preservation of important research collections. The volunteer Friends of the Libraries organization has raised more than $250,000 over the past 15 years in support of Library programs and collections.

For more on the UW Libraries, visit www.lib.washington.edu/support.

Making Connections with Careers in Science and Technology

Dawn Trudeau’s first job in the technology industry involved assembling computers, not using them.But she eventually rose from the assembly line to become a general manager at Microsoft in the company’s fledgling days. Now Trudeau and her husband, Ron Beman, are encouraging Seattle high school students to pursue college studies and careers in technology and science through their contributions to the Making Connections Program at the UW Women’s Center.

“I really support the mission of the program, which is to give kids who don’t normally get exposure to math, science, technology and engineering support in pursuing those areas of study,” says Trudeau, who, in addition to her financial support, volunteers her time to the program as a member of its advisory board. The program is targeted to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and more than 60 percent of participants will be the first in their families to attend college.

Making Connections includes a mentoring program that pairs participants with college students or industry professionals; college prep sessions at area high schools; educational workshops for parents; and leadership development opportunities.
“The program reaches out to segments of the population that need a little bit of extra encouragement in pursuing these professional areas that will provide good economic futures,” Trudeau says. “I think it’s exactly the kind of outreach to the community the University should be doing.”

For more on the Women’s Center, visit www.depts.washington.edu/womenctr.

Theater to Be a Jewel in the Community

Floyd Jones’ (’54) education at the Business School led to a career as an investment broker and eventually gave him the means to give back to his alma mater. But it was his love of the arts — a passion he shared with his late wife, Delores (’50) — that led him to make a recent commitment to the School of Drama.

Jones’ pledge will enhance an upcoming restoration of the Playhouse Theatre, a venue that has been part of the Seattle cultural scene since the 1930s and is slated for a state-funded renovation to begin in 2007. His commitment will allow the University to go beyond safety and accessibility upgrades to create a facility befitting the School’s stature as one of the nation’s top five professional actors training programs.

“Floyd’s gift will make the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse a jewel in the community,” says Sarah Nash Gates, executive director of the School of Drama. “Our students will be able to work in a space that better supports their creations in acting, directing and design, and audiences will enjoy stunning improvements in comfort, access and production values. All of us at the School are very grateful for Floyd’s generosity.”

For more on the School of Drama, visit depts.washington.edu/uwdrama.

Creative Writing Program to be Transformed

A remarkable planned gift from Grace Milliman Pollock (’41) will position the University of Washington’s excellent creative writing program to become the country’s premier program by helping to attract the best writing students and faculty.

Pollock’s connections to the UW run deep. She majored in drama, her brother graduated with a degree in mathematics, and her father taught at the University for 30 years, briefly in the Department of Mathematics and for many years in the English department.

Pollock went on to distinguish herself as a dancer in Europe and the United States. Over the past three decades, she and her late husband, Wilson, created four UW endowments, three in English and one in Mathematics. The endowments have supported a number of distinguished students and professors, including Middle Passage author Charles Johnson, who holds the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professorship for Excellence in English, Snow Falling on Cedars author David Guterson (’82), a former Milliman Scholarship winner, and poet Heather McHugh, who has held the Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence since 1983.
To honor her generosity and long-standing ties to the UW, the University will rename the program the Grace Milliman Pollock Program in Creative Writing.

For more on the Creative Writing Program, visit depts.washington.edu/engl/cw.

Gift Will Help UW Scientists Explore the Ocean Floor

A generous gift from Jerry and Linda Paros will support UW researchers in their quest to explore the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The Kirkland couple recently established the Jerome M. Paros Endowed Chair in Sensor Networks. UW Oceanography Professor John Delaney was selected as the first holder of the chair.

A marine geologist, Delaney directs the NEPTUNE program, which is establishing a regional observatory in the Pacific Ocean. The project’s 2,500-kilometer network of fiber-optic and power cables will encircle and cross the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, located off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Delaney and his team will deploy thousands of sensors to record and respond quickly to environmental events, such as undersea volcanic eruptions, and create unparalleled access to the seafloor through real-time data and imagery via the Internet.

The Paroses hope that research made possible by advanced network systems such as NEPTUNE will improve measurements of geophysical phenomena and significantly enhance understanding of earth and ocean processes.
“Good science comes from good observers running good experiments with good sensors,” Jerry Paros says. “There are numerous opportunities to learn more about our planet through advances in the measurement sciences field.”

For more on NEPTUNE, visit www.neptune.washington.edu.

‘Little School’ Opened Big Doors for Grateful Contributor

Don Buethorn (’80) enrolled in the UW’s prosthetics and orthotics program after a chance meeting in a hallway with the program’s director sparked his interest.Despite the unintentional nature of his decision, he says the program couldn’t have been a better fit. “I’ve always liked to build things, and I’m fascinated with the way things are made,” Buethorn says. He also enjoys working with people who have special needs. The same person who convinced Buethorn to join the program also encouraged Buethorn to buy his own practice after finishing school. Today, Buethorn owns both a patient-care practice, Cascade Prosthetics & Orthotics Inc., and a prosthetic and orthotic design and manufacturing company, Cascade DAFO Inc.

Recently, Buethorn and his wife, Candace, established the Cascade DAFO-Don and Candace Buethorn Faculty Fellowship to support additional faculty as the program transitions to a master’s level program. It currently has just three faculty members and up to 12 students in each year’s class.

“That little school is a wonderful doorway for people to get into an exciting field,” Buethorn says. “It’s very important to people who need artificial limbs and braces. Most of us never experience that need, but when you do, you want someone capable of providing those services.”

For more on the prosthetics and orthotics program, visit www.depts.washington.edu/rehab/po.

Pharmacy Class of ’69 Members Join Together to Support Students

Ray Wilson (’69) knows that without his University of Washington education, he wouldn’t have reached the level of success he has today. He also knows that his education wouldn’t have been possible without the scholarships he received.

“I applied to the UW, they offered me financial support, I took them up on it, and I’ve been grateful ever since,” says Wilson, a graduate of the School of Pharmacy. After leaving the UW, he went on to earn a Ph.D. and medical degree at other institutions, but credits his UW experience with opening many doors. To show his appreciation for the opportunities his UW experience offered him, Wilson recently spearheaded the creation of the Class of 1969 Endowed Scholarship, which has received donations from about one-third of the class. It represents the first time Pharmacy class members have teamed up to establish an endowed fund. Wilson, co-chair of the School’s campaign, presented the idea to his class at its 35th reunion in November 2004, and the scholarship became fully endowed this year.

Wilson challenges other classes, not only in Pharmacy, but from all schools in the University, to create endowed funds. “It takes just one or two motivated people in each class to get the ball rolling and it’s a doable thing,” Wilson says. “Our class is a pretty small class and we’ve raised over $50,000 toward an endowment. I think there are lots of other classes out there that could easily top that or at least match it.”

Wilson figures more endowments mean more opportunities for students. A year’s tuition at the School now costs more than $10,000. “A lot of students just can’t do it,” says Wilson, a Kirkland resident who retired from his gastroenterology practice last year. “They have to go deeply in debt or forego their education altogether. If we want the best of the best of the best, we need to have scholarship money to offer because students are going to go where they get help.”

For more on the School of Pharmacy, visit www.depts.washington.edu/pha.

Return to Fall 2006 Campaign Newsletter