Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award
The Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award is made annually to a student, staff or faculty member who has created bridges and forged new paths that others may follow and build upon in turn. During his twenty-five years working at Western as a professor and administrator, Carl H. Simpson was a man dedicated to bridging intellectual, interpersonal and administrative worlds. With kindness, enthusiasm and creativity, he sought to unite divisions within academia, faculty, staff, students and administrative campus life. Carl helped people come together and facilitated creative process in a variety of settings. He acknowledged people’s strengths and encouraged them to trust themselves, helping people find and give their best.
The Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award is intended to benefit a WWU student, staff, or faculty member who has demonstrated a remarkable ability or innovative approach that effectively connects some aspect of academic or campus life with another, resulting in the betterment the Western community. Some recent examples: developing a new style of teaching to improve the quality of education; developing interdisciplinary study or intercampus diplomacy; creating supportive service; or mentoring others.
Nominations for the 2026 Carl H. Simpson Bridging Award are now OPEN. Please use the online 2026 Carl H. Simpson Award Nomination Form to submit a nomination by February 13, 2026.
Selection Criteria
The following criteria and policies are meant to secure comprehensive evaluation:
- Any current WWU faculty member, staff member or student is eligible.
- No person shall receive this award more than once.
- Only the name of the award recipient will be announced upon completion of the process; the names of other nominees and candidates shall not be published at any time during or after the process.
- Nominees will be asked if they wish to be considered, and, if so, will be required to submit supporting materials to the evaluation committee.
- The award is for creating bridges and forging new paths that others may follow and build upon in turn and supporting materials should relate to this theme.
- To secure consistency in the evaluation process nominees may be asked to submit the following materials.
- A current vita.
- Materials related to “bridging”-related contributions while at Western.
- The candidate will solicit up to five letters of support. The letters should register the impact of the candidate’s leadership activities. Letters of support should be sent directly to the Dean’s office administering the award.
- The candidate will provide up to three pages describing aspects of his/her “bridging”-type activities that may not be covered by the requested materials.
Award/Recognition
Award Administration
Nomination Process
Nominations for the 2026 award are now OPEN. Please follow the nomination link in the award description above to submit a nomination. Thank you for taking the time to nominate a colleague!
2025
Steve Hollenhorst - WWU Peninsulas Initiative
The longest-serving senior administrator at WWU, Steve Hollenhorst is dedicated to building bridges across divisions of the university and the communities we serve. As dean of the College of the Environment from 2012 to 2021, he championed university-wide partnerships like the Institute for Energy Studies and Sustainability Engagement Institute while nearly doubling the college’s enrollment. He then stepped in as associate vice president of Facilities during a tumultuous period, hiring 85 new employees and rebuilding its leadership ranks. As chief strategy officer, he leads our efforts to stand up a new campus on the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, extending Western’s reach and impact to the most underserved communities in western Washington.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steve volunteered with Whatcom Unified Command, leading community efforts to establish medical surge facilities and emergency housing. During COVID, he also co-founded the Islands Conservation Corps, which financially supports five graduate students and 10 post-baccalaureates each year as they integrate academic learning with hands-on experience to become master restoration professionals. He also advises Learning Environment Action Discovery (LEAD), a student-led program that partners with Facilities, the Sustainability Engagement Institute, and the city of Bellingham to provide service-learning opportunities for Western students to restore native vegetation on campus and the surrounding community.
Steve has directed his cash award to the Facilities Scholarship Fund, which offers scholarships to the spouses and children of FDO employees.
Past Awardees
1 awardee(s) for this year
2024 Awardees
Karen Stout - Morse Leadership Institute
Professor Karen Stout has been at Western since 2000, is the director of the Morse Leadership Institute, and the Bowman Distinguished Professor of Leadership. In 2019, she received Western’s Outstanding Leadership Award, as well as other service and teaching awards.
Karen works hard to bring people and organizations together for everyone’s benefit. She’s integrated community-based learning into nearly all her classes over her 30-year career, allowing her to work with many non-profits throughout Bellingham and Whatcom Counties. She values this form of pedagogy as it provides high impact learning opportunities for students. As a result, students have worked with local and international non-profits like Northwest Youth Services, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Brigadoon Service Dogs, the Max Higbee Center, the Volunteer Center of Whatcom County, and Days for Girls International, to name just a few. Karen’s a faculty advisor for Western’s Days for Girls club and a volunteer for the local Bellingham Chapter.
Her favorite work is to foster students’ leadership abilities by bringing them together with local and global internship and employment opportunities. She loves helping students become leaders to bring about the social and professional change most important to them.