Past Awardees

Alejandro Acevedo-Gutierrez - Biology

A native of Mexico, Alejandro is interested in the interaction between marine mammals and their environment, in the teaching of science, particularly to groups underrepresented in the sciences, and in helping future scientists, teachers or conservationists achieve their goals.  At Western, he has mentored 15 graduate and 32 undergraduate students, and supervised 128 undergraduates.  He was featured in the Academy Award nominated IMAX film “Dolphins,” named MOSI Hispanic Scientist of the Year in 2001, and Science Spectrum Trailblazer, Top Minority in Science in 2005.

David Patrick - Chemistry

James Vyvyan - Chemistry

John Gilbertson - Chemistry

John Gilbertson is a Professor of Chemistry and has been on the faculty at WWU since 2008.  John graduated with a B.A. in chemistry from Augustana College in 2000; and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Oregon in 2005.  John’s research interests lie in the area of coordination chemistry; with a focus on the deoxygenation of pervasive environmental pollutants such carbon dioxide and nitrate/nitrite.  His work has been supported by over $3.5 million in external funding, including an NSF Early CAREER Award, a Cottrell Scholar (PUI class) Award, and a Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award.  John has mentored over 45 undergraduate students and nine MS students to date, including three Department of Chemistry Outstanding MS Graduates (2018; 2020; 2021), a Department of Chemistry Outstanding Graduate (2012), a 2019 Elouise Cobell Scholarship for Indigenous Education (2019), the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research (Team Award 2018), an NSF Predoctoral Fellowship (2010), and a WWU Presidential Scholar (2012).

John Misasi - Engineering & Design

John Misasi is an Associate Professor of Plastics and Composites Engineering at Western Washington University. Professor Misasi focuses his teaching and research on the relationships between the chemical structures, manufacturing processes, and properties of industrially-relevant polymers and composites. His passion, however, is in educating next generation engineers and scientists about aspects of polymer and composite sustainability through hands-on curriculum and meaningful research experiences. This philosophy has led to successful collaborations with industry heavyweights like Nike, Boeing, and HP, and start-ups like Vartega Carbon Fiber Recycling and the Ocean Plastic Recovery Project. Within seven years, Dr. Misasi has published fourteen peer-reviewed conference papers and nine posters at professional conferences with student co-authors, and half of the students that have conducted research under his guidance have technical papers on their resumes. Seven of Dr. Misasi’s students have gone on to graduate school to pursue their Ph.D degrees. John’s ultimate goal with his teaching and research is to make the world a cleaner, more sustainable, and overall groovier place to be. 

Kimihiro Noguchi - Mathematics

Statistics Professor Kimihiro Noguchi joined the Math Department in 2014 and has supervised more than 30 students on theoretical, computational, and applied statistics projects. In 2019, Noguchi and two undergraduate students, Patrick Carroll and Alexander Kuhn, created the student club RAW Stats (Research Assembly at Western: Statistics), which brings together students and faculty to discuss research projects and career opportunities in statistics. His undergraduate and graduate research students have successfully published peer-reviewed papers in highly respected journals, including Behavior Research Methods, Environmetrics, Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, Journal of Forecasting, and The American Statistician. In addition, they regularly present their research at regional, national, and international conferences, including the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, Joint Statistical Meetings, and Joint Mathematics Meetings. Furthermore, a few groups of his students won the Undergraduate Class Project Competition, a paper competition sponsored by the American Statistical Association and the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education.

Mark Bussell - Chemistry

Mark Bussell joined the faculty in 1990 and is a Professor of Chemistry, while also being affiliated with the Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center and the Institute for Energy Studies. Mark is a native of the Pacific Northwest and obtained a B.A. in chemistry from Reed College and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.  Mark’s research interests lie in the heterogeneous catalysis of energy-relevant processes, with particular focus on the development of catalytic materials to produce clean and renewable fuels.  His research has attracted more than $3 million in external research funding from federal agencies and private foundations.  Mark has mentored 62 undergraduate and 17 M.S. research students and 46 of these former students have pursued graduate or professional degrees.  Two of his M.S. student mentees received the Western Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award (1994, 2005), and two undergraduate student mentees received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships (2014, 2017). Mark served two terms each on the Science Advisory Committee of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA, 2005-2011) and the Petroleum Research Fund Advisory Board of the American Chemical Society (ACS-PRF, 2012-2017), and he recently completed two terms on the RCSA Cottrell Scholar Program Committee (2015-2020).

P. Clint Spiegel - Chemistry

Robert Mitchell - Department of Geology

Bob is the Digges Distinguished Professor of Engineering Geology in the Geology Department, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. His hydrology-related research includes assessing agricultural impacts on ground-water quality, characterizing aquifers, and modeling the effects of climate change on mountain hydrology and hillslope processes in the western Cascades. Bob’s research has involved more than 30 graduate students and has been instrumental to management and policy decisions regarding water quantity and quality for regional tribes, regulatory agencies, and municipalities. He works hard to provide student access to professional experiences and geologic licensing and serves as faculty advisor, for WWU’s student chapter of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists. Bob has held leadership positions in state and national professional organizations and currently serves on the Board of the Environmental & Engineering Division of the Geological Society of America. 

Shawn Arellano - Biology

Shawn Arellano is an associate professor in the Biology Department and the Marine and Coastal Sciences (MACS) Program. A native of Kansas, she earned her Ph.D. in marine biology in 2009 from the University of Oregon. She came to Western’s Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC) in 2012 to co-develop WWU’s Marine Science Distinguished Scholars Program, then joined the Biology faculty in 2018. She is a marine invertebrate larval ecologist and deep-sea ecologist.
 
The best part of her job is helping students who have had little previous research experience—due to life stage, cultural norms, where they grew up, or other barriers to access—get their start in marine science. Arellano has mentored eight graduate students, all of whom have received grants or fellowships. Three have earned the Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Student award, two have earned Biology’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award, two have been WWU’s nominee for the Western Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Thesis Competition, and one earned National Sea Grant’s prestigious Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Of the five students who have graduated, two have careers in marine environmental science and the others are in or entering doctoral programs. Arellano has also mentored a dozen Research Experience for Undergraduates interns, four interns through SPMC’s former Multicultural Initiatives in Marine Science Undergraduate Program, three MACS capstone or ESCI internship students, one Fine Arts intern, and one National Science Foundation-sponsored post-baccalaureate researcher.

Susan DeBari - Geology

Andy Bunn - Environmental Sciences

Andy Bunn is a climate scientist who focuses on changes to arctic carbon cycling and paleoclimatology. He has worked extensively in the Russian Far East and in mountains systems around the world.  The link between climate change and human use of energy led him to establish Western’s Institute for Energy Studies in 2012. However, he found that administration didn’t suit him and has returned to the regular faculty to focus on research and teaching. He holds a B.S. from the Evergreen State College, a Master’s of Environmental Management from Duke University and a Ph.D. from Montana State University. He did post-doctoral research at the Woods Hole Research Center before coming to Western in 2006. He has published dozens of scientific papers and is an enthusiastic communicator of science giving public talks on climate and energy around the region.

Bert Van Boer - Music

Bertil Van Boer has been active as a musicologist, composer, conductor, and violist. He received his BA degree from the University of California Berkeley in 1974 and his MA in Music History from the University of Oregon in 1978. His other musical education includes the Mozarteum, where he was a composition student of Cesar Bresgen. Following work at Cornell University he was awarded a PhD from Uppsala University in Sweden in Musicology in 1983. Prior to coming to Western as Dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts and Professor of Musicology/Theory, he was a faculty member, Chair of Musicology/Composition in the School of Music, and Interim Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. He has held other faculty positions at the Conservatorio Nacional of Nicaragua, Shasta College, and Brigham Young University.

Elsi Vassdal-Ellis - Design

Elsi Vassdal-Ellis’ list of accomplishments made her the clear recipient for the 2016 Outstanding Scholarship Award. The sheer number of her works, exhibits, awards, publications, and citations spans a lifetime of achievement, but the last five years show an impressive array of accomplishments. Her most recent exhibits include “Blood Quantum” at the Sandy Gallery, Portland in 2015; “DIY Cultures” in 2015 at a London gallery; and “Displaced” at the Wiener Library for the Study of Holocaust and Genocide in London in 2014. Her colleagues remark in their recommendations that her books are not only beautiful works of art but are “pioneering” and involve substantial research. In addition, she has strong support from a variety of sources and it is clear that her influence is international in scope.   As one letter mentions, she has exhibited all over the United States and around the world: in Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and England. She has achieved a personal and international voice—a voice of courage and poignancy.  We feel very fortunate to have such an outstanding scholar-artist among us.

Erika McPhee-Shaw - Environmental Sciences

Erika McPhee-Shaw, a native of Eastern Washington, received her BA in Physics from Dartmouth College and Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington. After postdoctoral research at UC Santa Barbara, Dr. McPhee-Shaw was on the faculty at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, SJSU, for 10 years before coming to Western in 2014. She studies ocean physics, coastal circulation, deep subsurface waves and their interactions with continental margin topography, and is an interdisciplinary scientist who often works with marine ecologists and chemists. She is currently co-lead investigator of a $1.3M National Science Foundation funded project studying internal waves and boundary-interior exchange in a fjord-like lake with colleagues at Cornell. This project has provided opportunity to involve graduate and undergraduate students in field work, instrument design, and data analysis. McPhee-Shaw has organized sessions at many national and international conferences over the past two decades, and her leadership has been particularly evident in being an invited speaker at several international conferences on ocean mixing and submarine canyon dynamics, and her election as Vice Chair and Chair of the influential Gordon Research Conference in Coastal Ocean Dynamics.

George Zhang - Decision Sciences

Zhang is a professor of Management Science in the Department of Decision Sciences. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Master of Arts in Economics from Nankai University, China; his MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto; and his PhD from the University of Waterloo, Canada. He has published more than 40 articles in many prestigious international journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Queueing Systems, and Journal of Applied Probability.

Zhang’s research interests include queueing theory and applications, stochastic dynamic programming, probability models in reliability, and supply chain management issues in manufacturing/service organizations. His current interests include: quantitative and economic analysis of congestion problems in urban/mass transportation networks, health/medical care systems, and public service systems with both customer service quality and security concerns.

John Rybczyk - Environmental Sciences

After working as a physical scientist at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan, John returned to academia. He earned a Ph.D. in oceanography at Louisiana State University and eventually joined Western’s Department of Environmental Sciences in 2000.  Over these past 18 years, he and his students have worked toward the development of integrated field and modeling methods to predict the effects of climate change on estuarine systems and to guide coastal restoration efforts.  He has applied his models to coastal systems in the Mississippi River Delta, Spain, Italy, Micronesia, Honduras and, most recently, the estuaries of the Salish Sea in the state of Washington.

Meg Warren - Management

Associate Management Professor Meg Warren in the College of Business and Economics is a researcher, keynote speaker, author, and psychologist with expertise in allyship, diversity, inclusiveness, and cultural factors affecting wellbeing. Her award-winning research uses a positive psychology approach to study how individuals from relatively privileged groups can serve as allies to marginalized groups.

Warren has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters, and two books. Many of these projects have involved mentoring students as co-authors. Her research has been covered by over 200 news media outlets, trade news outlets, and government media outlets, and her work has been translated into Italian, Vietnamese, German, and Dutch to reach wide audiences. She has given over 80 conference presentations and served as an invited speaker at numerous companies across a range of industries including consumer products, clothing and apparel, healthcare, financial services, automotives, public services, and property development. She has held such prestigious positions as the founding president of the Work & Organizations Division of the International Positive Psychology Association, and faculty affiliate of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan.
 

No nominations received - ---

 No nominations received for this award for 2019/2020 academic year.

No nominations received for 2020/2021 - ---

Roger D. Briggs - Music

Roger D. Briggs has been a part of Western's Music faculty since the fall of 1989 as director of the Composition Program. Briggs received his bachelor's degree from Memphis State University and his Master of Music and Ph.D. from The Eastman School of Music. Briggs has had his works performed all over the world with premiere performances in world-renowned concert halls. In addition to teaching composition at Western, Briggs established the Contemporary Chamber Players ensemble dedicated to the performance of 20th century compositions and was appointed conductor of the Western Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1993.

Angela Harwood - Woodring College of Education

Harwood, a professor of Secondary Education at Woodring College of Education, is beginning her 20th year of teaching at Western.  She graduated from the University of Utah with dual degrees in English and Political Science and earned her master’s and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at Emory University.  She is the co-creator of the Service-Learning Faculty Fellows program run through Western’s Center for Service-Learning and has been recognized nationally for her work in the field.  Shuksan Middle School named her “Community Volunteer of the Year” in both 2004 and 2010 in recognition of her extensive work with local school districts to support students and families and her creation of after-school mentoring programs for at-risk students. Currently, she is working with a team of Western students and staff, community partners and school personnel to more effectively support Latino and Latina students and families. This is also not her first university-wide recognition: In 2001 Harwood received the Excellence in Teaching Award.

Chris Friday - History

Chris Friday joined Western’s History Department in 1992 as a specialist in Pacific Northwest history and in 1994, began teaching American Indian history. Between 1999 and 2006, he directed Western’s Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and served as History Department Chair. In 2007, Friday initiated a Public History minor to help students engage in that field of endeavor. Since 2002, he has worked directly with Northwest tribes. His teaching increasingly focuses on modern regional tribal histories and includes a new course, “Tribal Sovereignty and Washington History,” which helps students meet new state laws requiring tribal “history, government, and culture” be taught in the state’s K-20 schools making it the first of its kind in the state. Over a two-year period starting in 2015, Friday also participated in a federally-funded grant program involving WWU and UW education faculty working with tribal education leaders and K-12 school teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators from eight school districts across the state to implement culturally sensitive and responsible social studies curriculum.

Friday received his B.A. from Lewis and Clark College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA. He has been the recipient of a national book award, been recognized for his work on civil rights and labor history, and received major fellowships from the Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Huntington foundations for his work over the years. 

Daniel Larner - Fairhaven College

Fairhaven Professor Daniel Larner’s service to Western began in 1968 with membership on university committees and a presidential task force.  In 1976, he was one of the founders of The College of Fine and Performing Arts. Larner then served as the dean of Fairhaven College from 1982 to 1989, and subsequently chaired critical personnel and tenure committees implementing new college policies. He has been an active member of more than 30 WWU committees, ranging from the University Planning Council, to search committees for faculty and administrative positions. He was also president of the Faculty Senate, 2009-10, and a member of the university President’s Cabinet. 

In service to the wider community, Larner has been a member the boards of directors of two influential organizations: the Mount Baker Theatre and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington. As a 40-year member of the ACLU, Larner has led many task forces and workshops, advised the WWU student ACLU Club, and given over 100 presentations about civil rights to a wide variety of community organizations. In 2008 he was awarded the Law Day Liberty Bell Award by the Whatcom County Bar Association, for lifetime commitment to civil rights education and advocacy.

Don K. Alper - Center for Canadian-American Studies & Border Policy Research Institute

During 43 years of teaching and research at Western, Don Alper’s work on Canada-US relations enlightened students as well as colleagues, and brought international attention to Western as a leader in cross-border studies. From 1993 until his retirement in 2014, Don served as director of the Canadian-American Studies Center, and he led the effort to create the Border Policy Research Institute in 2004. He has received numerous scholarly awards and leadership recognitions, including the prestigious Donner Medal for outstanding contributions to Canadian Studies in the United States. Don has helped Western form enduring partnerships with prestigious universities and think tanks that have led to funding and internship opportunities for students and brought Western into national and international policy circles.  Don has served as president of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, on the executive council of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, and continues as the lead faculty a comparative government seminar for state and provincial legislators. Don retired Professor Emeritus at the end of 2014.

Gordon Chalmers - Kinesiology and Physical Education

Gordon Chalmers joined the kinesiology program in Western’s Health and Human Development Department in 1996. Gordon has been the program coordinator for the Kinesiology and Physical Education Program for eleven years, including during its recent years of a rapid growth and a 70% faculty turnover. For a two year period he was the major advisor for over 200 kinesiology students at a time. His teaching and research focuses on human motor control, and in his classes he emphasizes the use of research studies to prepare students for lifelong learning in their professions. Beyond his department, Gordon has chaired the Human Subjects Review Committee of the WWU Institutional Review Board for fourteen years and has been a grant reviewer for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education for five years. Gordon received his B.S. from Simon Fraser University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from UCLA. He carried out post-doctoral research at the UCLA Brain Research Institute, the Neurosciences Department of the School of Medicine at the University of California San Diego, and as a Medical Research Council of Canada Post-Doctoral.

Karen Hoelscher - Woodring College of Education

Since arriving at Western in 1992, Karen Hoelscher has committed herself to teaching, scholarship and community service.  In 2006 Karen started co-facilitating the Western Faculty Research-Writing Series which has helped 70 tenure track faculty develop productive writing habits, set realistic goals, and find balance in their scholarly lives. As a testament to her ability to inspire others, this year’s workshop series will be comprised entirely of first-year faculty, with mentorship provided by recently-tenured alumni of the research writing series. 

During her career at Woodring Karen has taught in 11 areas, including courses designed for college freshmen interested in becoming teachers and Woodring students in the K-8 certification program. She has also led many multicultural efforts, co-authoring a book on supporting student identity differences, assisting Western students at Village Books’ annual Martin Luther King Jr. “read-in,” and co-founding Woodring’s Diversity Committee.

Karen Rohrbauck Stout - Leadership Studies & Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership

Karen Rohrbauck Stout received her BA from the University of Puget Sound, her M.A. from The University of Montana, and her Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

She joined the Communication Studies department at Western in 2000. Through a variety of service, volunteer, and committee positions on campus and off, she has developed a lengthy list of leadership experiences. Most notably, she served as the President of the Northwest Communication Association in 2008 (which is a small regional conference devoted to fostering undergraduate research), two consecutive terms as the President of the Faculty Senate (after many years of service as a Senator and Secretary to the Executive Council), and 6 years on the Executive Board for the United Faculty of Western Washington. In 2014 she became the director of the Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership and the Bowman Distinguished Professor of Leadership. In this role, she advises students in the Leadership Studies minor, teaches GUR classes on leadership, supervises a small group of adjunct Leadership Studies faculty, and provides leadership related programming for the campus and community. Her most important leadership role at Western is to foster students’ personal development so that they can become the leaders they want in order to effect the social change most important to them.

Stout has received a career achievement award for her service to the Northwest Communication Association and teaching awards from the International Communication Association and the National Society of Leadership and Success among other honors. 

Keith Russell - Health & Human Development

Since his arrival to Western in 2008, Keith has taken on many leadership roles to serve his program, department, the university, his profession, and the community at large. He is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Health and Human Development and a faculty member in the nationally accredited Recreation Degree Program. Keith’s colleagues extol his excellent skills in listening, facilitating discussion, resolving conflict, and communicating empathy to students, staff, and faculty. It is important to note that he was chair throughout the time when the faculty members in HHD were displaced from and relocated back to the Carver Academic Facility. The temporary location of faculty offices and laboratories, spread around campus provided many challenges that Keith successfully managed. Dr. Russell’s publications focus on the design, implementation and evaluation of educational and therapeutic nature-based programs for youth. He is a co-author of the recent text titled Adventure Therapy: Theory, Research and Practice (Routledge Mental Health) with Michael Gass and Lee Gillis. His over 50 publications have appeared in Psychotherapy, Group Dynamics, Mindfulness, Journal of Health Services Psychology, and Child and Youth Care Forum. 

Kevin Leonard - History

Kevin Leonard is a professor and the chair of Western’s History department and has been with the institution since 1997. From 2010 to 2012 he was the chair of the bargaining team for United Faculty of Western Washington. He is a former member of the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. His teaching and research areas include African American history, LGBT history and the history of the American West. Leonard has been an officer of both the Western History Association and Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.  Currently, he is serving on the President’s Taskforce on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Western. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and his doctorate from the University of California at Davis.

Kimberly Peters - Communication Sciences & Disorders

Kimberly Peters, Ph.D., is a speech-language pathologist and audiologist. She completed her graduate education and clinical training in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Connecticut. She has been at Western Washington University since the fall of 2002. Kimberly is a Full Professor, Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Program Director for the Speech Language Pathology Graduate Program, and Director of the Aural Rehabilitation Clinic. She provides clinical services to community members who are deaf or hard of hearing, supervises graduate students in speech language pathology and audiology, teaches courses in pediatric hearing loss and habilitation, and conducts research in language, cognitive development, and social competence in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Kimberly assumed the role of department chair in 2016. In 2017, the CSD Department opened the first doctoral level degree to be offered at Western, the doctorate in Audiology (AuD). The program is thriving with approximately 36 AuD students enrolled. In 2017 the Speech-Language and Hearing Clinics also launched the donations-based clinic model in order to provide a wider variety of clinical experiences to graduate students in speech language pathology and audiology, and to better serve children and adults with hearing and communication needs in the region.

Olin Eugene (Gene) Myers, Jr. - Environmental Studies

Dr. Meyers graduated from Western’s Huxley College of the Environment in 1982 and has taught here since 1995, after completing his doctorate at the University of Chicago. Gene’s work deals with four inter-related areas: the psychological foundation of children’s relation to animals; the ontogenetic development of environmental care and responsibility; the integration of psychology into conservation and sustainability practice; and the teaching of environmental ethics and the preparation of future environmental educators. He helped found the field of Conservation Psychology and is co-author of its first textbook.  At Huxley he helps lead the graduate and undergraduate programs in Environmental Education, including programs such as the “Spring Block,” and partnerships with area schools and nonprofits. Gene has furthered sustainability efforts at Western through courses, empowering student involvement, and collaboration. He and his wife Mardi Solomon were “Volunteers of the Year” for Bellingham Public Schools in 2013, honoring 9 years of facilitating school ground enhancements to enhance outdoor learning and recreation opportunities. He has served as an officer for several years for the Society for Human Ecology, including two terms as president. He is currently an active member of the Social Science Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology, and of the International Positive Psychology Association.

Past Recipients 2008-2009 - Various

Scott Linneman - Honors College

Since his arrival at Western in 2000, Dr. Scott Linneman has been a Professor of Geology and Science Education and, since 2015, Director of the University Honors College. He earned a B.A. from Carleton College and a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. His research has focused on volcanoes (in the Cascades, Central America, and Turkey) and large landslides. He used laser scanning and time-lapse photography to study surface geologic processes and how students learn about the rates of those processes. He has served on the thesis committees of more than 30 MS students and a few PhD students.

Also certified as a middle school teacher, he served as a Senior Fulbright Fellow working on teacher preparation at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. He has directed an NSF GK-12 Project and was co-PI for WWU’s North Cascades and Olympics Science Partnership. He also worked on Western’s Change-at-the-Core professional development project. After serving on the executive committee of the Washington Science Teachers Association, Dr. Linneman served as president of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. In 2011, he was named the Higher Ed Science Teacher of the Year by WSTA and, in 2013, chosen the Carnegie Professor of the Year for Washington. Under his leadership, Honors at WWU has successfully recruited and nurtured more than a 1,000 diverse, high-potential, high-achieving Western students.

Shirin Deylami - Political Science

Shirin Deylami is a professor in the Department of Political Science and affiliate faculty in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program.  She started her career at Western after finishing her graduate work in political theory from the University of Minnesota in 2008. She received her undergraduate degree in politics and women’s studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. As a political theorist, she has always been interested in the relationship between gender, sexuality, ethnicity and the production of the Other in both western and Islamic political thought. Her current research is interested in the role of emotions in feminist solidarity movements across the globe.
 
In her leadership roles, Deylami has made significant contributions to developing the WGSS minor and major. She was the inaugural director of the Faculty Mentoring Program, which pairs new faculty with more senior colleagues across campus in the hopes of retaining these excellent new faculty. From 2020 to 2022 she was the vice-president and then president of the Faculty Senate. Alongside this work she has served on a number of initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity and equity across campus and in the discipline of political science. She was the Chair of the Governance of Council of the Association for Political Theory, a representative to the Western Political Science Association, and currently serves on the editorial board for the American Political Science Review, the flagship journal in political science. 

Steven Garfinkle​ - History Department

Steven Garfinkle has been teaching ancient history in the History Department at Western since 2001. His research focuses on the history of early Mesopotamia with an emphasis on the origins of commerce and state formation.  Steven has authored and edited several books, including Entrepreneurs and Enterprise in Early Mesopotamia. He is a past recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Steven has served with distinction in leadership roles across the university, as well as for national and international professional organizations. He led the effort to create the Jaffe Professorship in Jewish History, which will be the first endowed professorship in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Western. Steven was an original member of the organizing committee for United Faculty of Western Washington (UFWW), and he served as President of UFWW from 2009 to 2013. He is currently the Vice President of the International Association for Assyriology, and a member of the board of directors for the American Oriental Society. He is the chair of the Committee on Mesopotamian Civilization for the American Schools of Oriental Research. Steven is the editor and co-founder of the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History.  Steven received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, master’s degree from the University of London, and PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Columbia University.

Andy Bunn - Environmental Sciences

Andy Bunn, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences, teaches classes on climate and energy science, researches climate change in the modern era and over the history of the planet. Professor Bunn founded a cross-college initiative now in development, to integrate energy science, public policy, technology, economics and business at Western’s new Institute for Energy Studies.  Before he came to Western, Bunn worked as a researcher at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts, where he studied ecology and biogeochemistry. He did his undergraduate work at Evergreen State College, obtained his master’s degree at Duke University and received his doctorate from Montana State University. He enjoys spending time outdoors, biking and being on the water. 

Aysha Kloub - Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies/Student

Aysha Kloub is a poet and community organizer who graduated from Fairhaven College with a concentration titled “Law, Diversity, and Justice: Queer Migrations, Diasporas and Identity Politics.”  She worked in the Social Issues Resource Center and served as the facilitator of the Queer People of Color Club on campus.

She was also an organizer with Re-teaching Gender and Sexuality in Seattle and the Student Coalition for Immigration Rights. Aysha is committed to working for transformative social change that focuses on the experiences of those most affected by racial, economic and gender violence. She hopes to continue working as a community organizer and intends to pursue a graduate degree in Cultural and Ethnic Studies. 

Carmen Werder - Teaching & Learning Academy

Werder worked at Western from 1984 until her retirement in September 2016. She began her career here as an academic counselor and Upward Bound Program instructor before becoming a lecturer in the Department of English. Werder also served in leadership roles in the areas of writing instruction, the scholarship of teaching and learning, curriculum development and assessment, the First-year Interest Group Program, and as the Director of the Learning Commons, the Teaching-Learning Academy (TLA), and Writing Instruction Support (WIS). During her many years of service to Western, Werder received a number of awards, including the Carl Simpson Bridging Award, the Carnegie  Scholar Certificate of Excellence, the Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship, and the first Presidential Scholarship of Teaching Award.

Cher Carnell - Theatre/Dance

Carnell has been teaching at Western since 1996 and is currently associate chair of Theatre and Dance as well as coordinator of Dance.  Before coming to Western, she danced ballet professionally for 11 years, followed by a nine-year stint as chair of The University of Louisville Dance Department. Carnell teaches two courses in dance history and courses in all levels of ballet technique, both for Western and for community members at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center. She also serves as director of the Western Arts Preparatory Academy and chair of the College of Fine and Performing Arts Integrated Arts Council.

David Patrick - Chemistry /AMSEC

Professor Patrick, who has served on the Western faculty since 1996, also is the current director of WWU Scientific Technical Services and is affiliate faculty in Western’s Institute for Energy Studies. He was the University’s Snohomish PUD Professor of Energy Studies in 2015.  He previously served as director of Western’s Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center. Patrick’s scholarly interests focus on solar energy concentration and conversion technologies, and organic semiconductors for electronics applications. He has been a strong proponent for involvement of students at all levels in research, and includes high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in his research group. He teaches courses in the areas of analytical and materials chemistry, and energy science.

Patrick is a distinguished scholar with numerous publications and several patents from his work at Western, where he has won awards and recognitions for his teaching and research, including a Cotrell Scholar award in 2016; Western’s Arlan Norman Excellence in Student Mentoring Award in 2015; the WWU Sustainability Award in Academics in 2012; the WWU Simpson Bridging Award in 2010; the WWU Olscamp Research Award in 2005; the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2001; the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2000, and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2000.

David Sattler - Psychology

David received a B.A. in psychology with a minor in Spanish from San Diego State University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in industrial/organizational psychology from Michigan State University. Since joining the Department of Psychology in 2000, David has  been actively engaged in bridging activities with departments across campus to promote a safer and more resilient campus community. David is grateful to colleagues in environmental health and safety, public safety, university communications, and video services, among others, and in the Bellingham community and abroad, for the many opportunities to collaborate and forge new paths. These collaborations resulted in new safety and emergency preparedness initiatives, research projects and publications, instructional videos, and local and international educational opportunities for students at Western and universities abroad. David established the International Tsunami Museum in Thailand which served as an educational center for and provided support to village schools and the community, and he was a delegate for the Kingdom of Tonga at multiple United Nations climate change conferences. David’s 46 publications, 6 books, and more than 200 professional and community presentations represent projects conducted in 13 countries focusing on resilience, posttraumatic growth, climate change adaptation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Heather Davidson - Communication Studies

Heather brings a background in adult education, nonprofit development, grassroots community advocacy and fundraising to her courses in Professional Communication, Fundraising, Conference and Event Planning, and Advocacy through Media. In her first year at Western she facilitated over 2,100 hours of service-learning, connecting student teams to over 50 community and campus partners. Most notably, students in her Communication in Fundraising course developed an accessible philanthropy campaign to raise scholarship funds for Western students. Working with dozens of businesses, campus representatives, and community members the students brought over $9,000 in support. The result is the #WeAreWWU Scholarship, an annual award to be given to multiple students and raised through the student-driven initiative in her courses. She also serves as a Community Engagement Faculty Fellow with the Center for Service-Learning. This year she was recognized by the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment’s Innovative Teaching Showcase for her use of empathy to infuse diverse perspectives in her curriculum. Her innovative thinking, fearless community outreach, interdisciplinary approach and pursuit of meaningful experiences for her students have created and reinforced a number of fruitful, meaningful relationships for Western, for Whatcom County, and, most importantly, her students.

James Hearne - Computer Science

Professor Hearne assumed his position at Western in the Computer Science Department in 1986, moving directly from positions in the computer industry in which he had worked in radar and sonar. Because his career in computing came as an afterthought to a graduate education in philosophy and linguistics, he early became involved at Western in the humanities, teaching courses such as the philosophy of history and Chinese philosophy. From 1991 to 1995 he served as the Director of the Center for East Asian Studies. Later in his career, he became involved in Western’s Faculty Club where he served for several years as president and now serves as treasurer. In these two positions, he has consistently sought to build a community that transcends departmental boundaries, as well as the boundaries separating faculty and administrators.   His efforts to bring to bear the resources of computer science to problems in the humanities has recently found expression in the application of techniques from the machine learning tradition to the computer analysis and dating of ancient Sumerian writing.  Professor Hearne is a stellar example of the interdisciplinary perspective and collaboration that makes Western such a special place for students, and a worthy recipient of the Simpson award.

Jessica S. Cohen - Mathematics

Jessica Cohen joined Western’s Mathematics Department in 2010 as a specialist in mathematics education. She teaches courses for preservice teachers and traditional mathematics courses. 

Her scholarship focuses on professional development of preservice and inservice teachers and higher education faculty, with an emphasis on incorporating the same research-based effective teaching practices across all grade levels. Jessica strives to connect teacher education, the STEM disciplines, and the regional K-12 community in her work.

During her time at Western, Jessica has had the opportunity to partner with faculty in her own department, the College of Science and Engineering, Woodring College of Education, and with curriculum directors and math coaches in regional public schools on a number of projects.  These include the Middle School Math Partnership, professional development for middle school math teachers in Whatcom and Skagit counties; Change at the CORE, professional development for CSE faculty; an AFT Innovation project joining preservice teachers and their mentor teachers for common professional development experiences; and Advancing Equity and Excellence in Science, professional development for CSE faculty with a focus on fostering equitable classrooms. Jessica is grateful for the many opportunities to connect across campus and with the community, and for the growth this inspires in her own practice, both as a teacher and as a facilitator.

Jessica received her PhD in Mathematics from Oregon State University.  She and her husband, a middle school teacher, are parents to two boys, ages six and three.

Josh Cerretti - History

Josh Cerretti arrived at Western in 2014 and is an associate professor of History and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His work focuses on the problems of state violence in 20th century U.S. history, with a particular focus on sexuality, race, and gender. 

Cerretti created “Bellingham History from Below,” a place-based learning experience and virtual tour that critically examines how a settler society established itself on Coast Salish territory in what is now downtown Bellingham. As interim director of WGSS, he collaborated with Litav Langley from LGBTQ+ Western to curate the Queering Research series, a set of virtual and live events highlighting queer scholars and practitioners of color. 

Cerretti is also a proud union educator and has been active in the SUNY Graduate Student Employees Union, the United Faculty of Western Washington Executive Board and Bargaining Team, and the Northwest Washington Central Labor Council. Additionally, he serves as the board secretary for the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center and has been active in local campaigns for anti-racism, economic justice, and the transformation of the criminal legal system. Cerretti is grateful for all the opportunities people on and beyond campus have provided him to collectively envision and enact a better world.
 

L.K. Langley - LGBTQ+ Director

L.K. Langley began their role as Western’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Director in August of 2018. Previously, they served as Manager of Equal Opportunity Programs in the Equal Opportunity Office. Langley’s work strives to collaboratively build connections between individuals, between majority world views and forms of knowledge and lived experience that are often unseen on the margins, and between people in the Western community and networks of care and community engagement beyond the University.

During their time at Western, Langley has been privileged to partner with passionate and dedicated faculty, staff, and students to cultivate learning opportunities and develop initiatives that open Western’s culture, administrative systems, and built spaces to be more equitable and inclusive. Langley believes that the work of deeply committed people throughout and beyond Western illuminates the transformative potential in our personal and collective willingness to cross boundaries of discipline, department and rank to create more just and caring communities.

Langley is the advisor to TAG Team, a club for transgender and non-binary Western students. Beyond Western, Langley serves on the board of directors of Northwest Youth Services, which provides housing, street outreach, vocational programs, support for LGBTQ+ youth, and connection to mental health services for young people in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. 22 North, a partnership of Northwest Youth Services and the Opportunity Council, will open later this year and provide 40 housing units and wrap-around services to people experiencing homelessness in Bellingham.

Lindsey MacDonald - WWU Sustainable Communities Program

Lindsey MacDonald was hired to coordinate Western’s Sustainable Communities Partnership Program in 2017. She has maintained partnership work while also teaching courses within the Sustainability Minor, and she is now serving as Interim Director for the Office of Sustainability.  

In her Sustainable Communities Partnership role, she connects community challenges with Western student energy and faculty expertise. She seeks opportunities for collaboration across traditional siloes wherever she can. These partnerships have included courses, independent studies, field work, and internships focused on community-identified projects. Some of the partner communities include City of Ferndale, Skagit County, City of Stanwood, east Whatcom County, City of Bellingham, City of Bainbridge Island, City of Monroe, and City or Arlington. Partnerships have engaged Bellingham and Western on the Peninsulas campus students and faculty. Lindsey is passionate about convening groups of people with different life experience, expertise, and passions to work together for positive social change.    

Lindsey has her BA and MS from the University of Michigan, where she found her passion for sustainability, leadership, education, and connection work.  

Maria Timmons Flores - Elementary Education

As the director of an alternative route to teacher education program, Dr. Maria Timmons Flores works with local schools to foster the development of highly trained, culturally and ethnically diverse teachers.  She is the faculty leader of the “Building Bridges with Migrant Youth,” a mentoring program which also brings adolescent students from migrant backgrounds to campus to consider higher education options. Dr. Timmons Flores was instrumental in developing a collaboration with the Burlington-Edison and Mt. Vernon school districts as well as Skagit Valley College to forge a pathway for students of color interested in becoming teachers.  On campus, Maria has worked with faculty in Fairhaven College on the development of the new Education and Social Justice minor.  Within Woodring College, she was co-chair of the Equity and Diversity Committee, the primary leadership group guiding Woodring’s work around equity, inclusion, and diversity. Her commitment to change in pursuit of equity and justice spans Western’s colleges and reaches into local communities and educational institutions.

No recipient for 2020/2021 - ---

Vicki Hsueh - Gender & Sexuality Studies

Vicki Hsueh is currently the Director of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) and also a professor of political theory in the Department of Political Science. She received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. from Williams College. She has been at WWU since 2003 and has been active in service to both the university and the Bellingham community, with a particular emphasis on projects that tackle issues of equality, justice, and violence prevention and care.

Dr. Hsueh has served as the director of WGSS since 2013 and has collaborated with an amazing and wide-ranging group of students, staff, and faculty from across the university. As an interdisciplinary program, WGSS emphasizes the theories and practices shaped by feminist, queer, postcolonial, multiracial, and multicultural contexts. Our work is very much in the spirit of Carl H. Simpson. Our program encourages theory and praxis that critically considers global and local communities in efforts to revise, re-envision, and reimagine social change. We create connections and build alliances across difference in order to more powerfully pursue the work of examining and challenging systems of oppression, inequality, and privilege from a variety of perspectives.

Aquila Flower - Environmental Studies

Associate Professor Aquila Flower is a geographer and ecologist whose research focuses on the forest, alpine, and coastal ecosystems of the Salish Sea and Cascadia bioregions. Flower uses methods drawn from geographic information science (GIS), statistics, ecology, and dendrochronology to explore long-term patterns of environmental change. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications as well as the fully open-access Salish Sea Atlas. 

Flower teaches geography, GIS, climate science, and biogeography classes. She is the program lead and faculty advisor for WWU’s GIS certificate, GIS minor, and climate change minor. As a teacher, she is deeply committed to her students’ success both in the classroom and in their future careers as environmental professionals. She is fascinated by creative pedagogical approaches and uses a combination of alternative grading models, active learning strategies, incremental knowledge acquisition, and a range of technological tools to create an engaging, interactive, and empathetic classroom culture that fosters curiosity and critical thinking.  

Brian Bingham - Environmental Sciences

Brian Bingham came to Western in 1990 after completing a doctorate at Florida State University and has enjoyed working with students ever since. His primary teaching goal is to engage students deeply in a topic by involving them in hands-on learning and meaningful research experiences. Through courses that emphasize state-of-the-art technology and modern research methods, he and his students study the ecology of marine species and their responses to a changing environment. Students in his classes gain real-world experience and have regularly taken their work to the next level through presentation at local, national or international science conferences and, in some cases, through publication in the refereed literature. He is grateful for gifted teachers and mentors who, through memorable field experiences and shared research activities, introduced him to the adventure of science. He deeply enjoys sharing similar discoveries with his own students.

Brooke Love - Environmental Sciences

Brooke Love came to Western in 2009 after earning her doctorate at the University of Washington.  Her teaching goals include opening a door to how science can help us understand the wonders of the world. She wants to help students develop respect for the complexity of natural and social systems and the confidence that they have the tools to understand them, even if our understanding is imperfect.  Her classrooms are interactive and engaging.  Her students take a practical approach to environmental problem solving and practice the skills needed for independent work, including the ability to identify and correct their own mistakes.  Brooke helps them draw inspiration from the voices of others who are making a difference in the community and from the total awesomeness of the oceans.

David Carroll - Elementary Education

David Carroll, professor of Elementary Education, has been teaching at Western since 2001.  He began his educational career as a teacher of Pre-K- second grade in the School District of Philadelphia from 1973-1982. He was awarded the Rose Lindenbaum Teacher of the Year award there in 1980. A sabbatical year experience at the Prospect Center for Education and Research in Vermont in 1983 led Carroll to directing and teaching in Prospect’s teacher education program from 1984-1991.  He met and married Susan Donnelly while at Prospect and they moved to Michigan State University in 1991 where he was co-coordinator, with Susan, of one of the MSU teacher education programs and completed his Ph.D. David’s teaching interests at WWU have focused on helping teacher candidates develop a sense of identity and agency associated with the practices of equitable teaching.

Dina Benedetti - Teacher Outreach Programs

Dina Benedetti has been recognized as an exceptional, enthusiastic and dedicated educator for 42 years. After receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1984, she gained extensive administrative experience as the director of Special Education, Psychologists, and Counselors, and as an elementary school principal for the Highline School District. After supervising WWU student teachers and teaching courses for the WWU Teacher Education Outreach site since 1990, she became Academic Program director in Seattle in 2004 and was promoted to senior instructor in 2009. She is passionate about preparing effective, thoughtful and caring teachers through highly interactive courses, and then actively coaching them during field placements. The program’s “cohort model” fosters community, collaboration and excellence among prospective teachers from highly diverse personal and educational backgrounds. She has maintained deep connections with former students across 15 school districts in the Puget Sound region, many of whom volunteer to serve as mentor teachers to current students and all of whom represent WWU exceptionally.

Dolores Calderón - Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies

Dolores Calderón (J.D., Ph.D.) is an associate professor at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University. Calderón teaches in the Law, Diversity and Justice Program and the Education and Social Justice Minor. As a researcher who embodies the complicated subjectivities of the U.S./Mexico border—Mexican (arrivant/immigrant), Indigenous (Tigua Pueblo), and U.S. citizen—Calderón is interested in researching and participating in work that untangles and unpacks the complicated way multiple colonialisms impact decolonial practices in education, including the classroom.

She is from the El Paso/Juarez border region where her family (Mexican & Tigua) have lived since the 1680s. Her research interests include coloniality/settler colonialisms, land education, and border issues as they manifest themselves in educational contexts. Some of her research projects include examining how settler colonial ideologies manifest themselves social studies curriculum, in teacher education, and teacher professional development. As a firm believer that theory is best illuminated by engagement, she values the work educators do to concretize critical perspectives. Specifically, while Calderón’s teaching offers critical perspectives, Calderón emphasizes that theory is best illuminated by practice, encouraging students to explore engaged community and policy work.

Ed Love - Finance & Marketing

Providing applied, socially responsible marketing education is at the core of Ed Love’s work. An assistant professor in Finance and Marketing, Love earned his bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College in 1990, an MBA from University of Arizona in 2001 and a doctorate in Marketing from the University of Washington in 2008. He first developed significant experience in teaching and training in the late 1990s as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Ivory Coast, where he started a program that provided business training and health education to women’s cooperatives. He takes a unique approach to teaching by focusing on innovation, application, integration and accessibility. He finds the majority of his students to be ambitious and intellectually curious. Working with them to develop their proficiencies in marketing has been among the most satisfying experiences of his life.

Eric Wehrly - Finance & Marketing

Eric Wehrly earned his B.A. in business administration in the honors program at Gonzaga University. He then went to earn an MS in business administration and a Ph.D finance and business economics at the University of Washington. Eric teaches a variety of finance courses in the undergraduate and MBA programs for the College of Business & Economics, including foundational principles, multinational corporate finance, and the capstone case course. His holistic pedagogy makes extensive use of business cases and shared dialogue to motivate students to learn, adapt, and apply financial tools to challenging and complex real-world problems. His approach encourages students to bring valuable ideas and outside content to discussions and to take intellectual risks, which can create the opportunity for them to  learn from their failures as well as their successes.

James Helfield - Environmental Sciences

Jim joined Western’s faculty in 2005 as an assistant professor of terrestrial and aquatic ecology in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Huxley College. His research focuses on rivers and salmon. He earned his Ph.D. in forest ecology at the University of Washington. He also holds an M.Sc. in physical geography from the University of Toronto and a B.A. in English literature from Duke University. Jim’s approach to teaching emphasizes the development of critical thinking and clear communication, as well as an enthusiasm for ecology and learning in general. His most valuable teaching skill is being unafraid to look foolish in front of a room full of people.

John Korsmo - Health & Community Studies

Dr. John Korsmo is a Professor of Human Services, and Chair of the Health and Community Studies Department. His scholarship relates to human ecology - particularly related to youth and family efforts to deal with and depart from cycles of poverty. His dedication to supporting low income and first-generation students has been central to his work at Western. His teaching is inspired by more than two decades of practice in the human services sector – primarily working with children, youth, and families experiencing poverty, systemic racism, and marginalization.

John’s relational practice in the classroom supports sense of belonging and connection, which enhances his ability to work with students on critically understanding complex systems and emotionally-laden topics such as personal identity, systemic oppression, racism, and inequities. With a PhD in Urban Education and a MS in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, John has developed numerous case studies, curricular materials and simulations that are used by thousands of educators and practitioners around the country and globally. His scholarship has been published in dozens of journals and professional publications as well as books and periodicals, and more.

John’s motivation comes from his own experiences in poverty and as a 1st-gen college graduate, and is sustained through his family, friends, community partners, and students.

John Miles - Environmental Studies

Miles grew up in New Hampshire and migrated to the Pacific Northwest for graduate school, arriving in Bellingham in 1968. He found himself in paradise for an outdoorsman and student of nature, conservation, and environmental learning. Huxley College, a new college dedicated to the environment, was forming -- something he could not have imagined in his life before coming to Western. Miles has served as chair and dean in Huxley College of the Environment, created experiential programs for undergraduates and graduates, written and edited six books (with more in the works), and has generally had a great time with great students and colleagues over 43 years.

Kristen B. French - Elementary Education

Kristen B. French, assistant professor of Elementary Education, graduated from Western with bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology (with a minor in Native American studies) and Elementary Education. She earned a master’s degree in Bilingual, ESL and Multicultural Education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. While in Massachusetts, she taught in an urban magnet Montessori school, coordinated the Elementary Teacher Education Program and taught the Introduction to Multicultural Education course at University of Massachusetts, where she earned her doctorate in Language, Literacy and Culture. French is director of the Center for Education, Equity and Diversity. Her return to Western has provided her the opportunity to put the theories of social justice into practice by giving back to the university and students where her journey began 21 years ago.

Mark Staton - Finance & Marketing

Mark Staton joined Western’s faculty in 2012, as an assistant professor of Marketing and director of the MBA and graduate programs for the College of Business & Economics. He earned his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Washington. He has taught digital marketing and principles of marketing in the undergraduate program as well as marketing management and marketing strategy in the MBA program. His teaching philosophy is that learning is collaborative and a lifelong journey and he encourages alumni to share their knowledge with current students. He holds an MBA in marketing from Boston University and a B.A. in history (concentration in Southern United States) from the University of Virginia.

Past Recipients 2000-2009 - Various

Rich Brown - Theatre Arts

Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Rich Brown focuses his teaching style on creating positive learning environments for students. He says this begins with a human relationship; he strives to “create a safe space where students are encouraged to participate without fear of making mistakes, where experiential learning through process outweighs product.” To Brown, teaching is more than conveying information, “teaching must provide an emotional hook, a connection into some aspect of the students’ lives.” When students feel something personal is at stake in the classroom, Brown says, that’s when he finds success as a teacher.

During winter quarter Brown directed and toured regionally with six WWU students for the Theatre Ambassadors Tour. The group then traveled during spring break to New York City, England and Japan, where Brown and the students performed in Japanese. Brown also just returned from Romania teaching a two-week intensive course in the physical acting method known as Viewpoints.

The selection committee was impressed with Brown’s commitment to push students outside of their comfort zones, his introduction of new material into the Theatre Arts major, and the rigor of his courses. Brown’s passion for teaching is also evident in his extremely high student evaluations. The comments from students show their great respect for him and their appreciation of what Brown is teaching them.

Ruth Sofield - Environmental Sciences

Ruth Sofield earned her doctorate from the Colorado School of Mines in 2002 and joined the faculty at Huxley College of the Environment the following year.  She and her students study environmental toxicology and chemistry in the classroom, in the field, and in the lab.  Numerous undergraduate students have worked in Sofield’s lab as student researchers, studying, among other things, the effects of light on nanoparticle toxicity, the use of fungi to remediate contaminated soils, and anthropogenic impacts on water quality in a Peruvian national park.   She doesn’t stop with classroom learning, though.  She arranges field trips to Hanford to understand clean-up activities and encourages students to attend scientific conferences, workshops and competitions. She arranges meet-and-greets with local professionals and volunteer opportunities.   Sofield’s connection with her students is often long-term -- many students stay in touch and become colleagues. It is the best reward she could ask for.

Verónica Vélez - Secondary Education

Dr. Verónica Vélez is an Associate Professor in Secondary Education and the Founding Director of WWU’s Education and Social Justice Minor. Dr. Vélez’ work broadly analyzes racial inequities in education, the causes of those inequities, and how they impact the educational trajectories of Students of Color, particularly for Latinxs. Her research is informed by interdisciplinary expertise in Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latinx Critical Theory (LatCrit), Radical and Tactical Cartography, and Chicana Feminist Epistemologies. She has published in multiple academic journals including Educational Forum, Harvard Educational Review, Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, and Race, Ethnicity, and Education, and has contributed several chapters to edited anthologies.  

In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Vélez worked as a grassroots organizer with Latinx im/migrant families for over 15 years calling for educational reform. She is currently organizing with teachers, administrators, and community members to develop an Ethnic Studies curriculum for Bellingham public high schools. In 2017, she was one of six faculty across Washington State awarded The Ormsby Award for Faculty Citizenship to recognize exemplary service in the public interest for her efforts to create systems through which institutionally underrepresented and underserved students can access higher education. Dr. Vélez is the proud daughter of a Mexican im/migrant mother and a Panamanian im/migrant father, whose journey to provide her with a quality education fundamentally inspires her work for social justice. 

Janelle Leger - Physics & Astronomy, and Chemistry

Janelle Leger was the first faculty hire for the Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center, with a split appointment between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry. Janelle was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington, Department of Chemistry from 2005 – 2008, after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz, Department of Physics. Her research group explores organic and hybrid electronic and optoelectronic devices as well as structures for subwavelength optics. She has mentored over 40 undergraduate research students in interdisciplinary scholarship since joining WWU in 2008 and won the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2016.

Árpád Bényi - Mathematics

Árpád Bényi holds degrees in mathematics from West University of Timişoara, Romania (B.S., M.S.) and University of Kansas, Lawrence (M.A., Ph.D.). After receiving his doctorate in 2002, he spent the next three years as a visiting assistant professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and then joined the ranks of the Western faculty in 2005. His main area of research lies at the interface of Fourier analysis, operator theory and partial differential equations. So far, he has authored one book and 48 scholarly publications, several of them joint works with some 23 collaborators from prominent research universities in the U.S. and Europe. For the past few years his work has been supported by a Simons Foundation Collaboration Grant for Mathematicians.

Bernie Housen - Geology

Bernie Housen earned a B.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington in 1988, followed by a M.S. and Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Michigan in 1990 and 1994. After that, he was a research associate at the Institute for Rock Magnetism at the University of Minnesota until he was hired by Western in 1997. His research and teaching includes innovative applications of rock-magnetic and paleomagnetic methods to address a range of problems, such as rock deformation, plate motions and particulate matter pollution. His ground-penetrating radar studies of cemeteries have been the subject of numerous papers with many student co-authors.

Craig Moyer - Biology

Craig Moyer earned his master’s degree in microbiology from Oregon State University and his doctorate in oceanography from the University of Hawaii. He joined Western’s biology department in 1997. His research focus is geomicrobiology, the study of  the community structure and function of microbes fueled by submarine and terrestrial vulcanism. He has had 16 publications in the last five years, 11 of those with Western student co-authors. He is the co-discoverer of a novel class of neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria that act as hydrothermal ecosystem engineers. His research has also helped to identify a region of intense microbial diversity, called a microbial hotspot, along the Mariana Island Arc. This discovery helped to justify the formation of the Mariana-Trench Marine National Monument.

David Hooper - Biology

David Hooper, professor, Biology Department, has been teaching at Western since 1998. He earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University, and post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. Hooper's research focuses on how the functional traits of plants affect ecosystem processes and the benefits of ecosystems derived by society. This work often includes students from Western, and has involved studies of how plant diversity affects nutrient availability and invasion by exotic species in California grasslands, how different vegetation types influence carbon storage in Alaskan tundra in response to climate warming, how restoration of streamside forest buffers influence water quality in lowland Whatcom County, and, most recently, how plant composition and water and nutrient availability affect recovery of grasslands from overgrazing in Inner Mongolia, China.  Previous honors include a fellowship in the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program in 2006 and the Mercer Award for an outstanding paper in the field of Ecology from the Ecological Society of America in 2000.

David Sattler - Psychology

David N. Sattler received a B.A. in psychology with a minor in Spanish from San Diego State University, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in industrial/organizational psychology from Michigan State University. Social justice and environmental justice are at the core of David’s international research and scholarship, which examine discrimination and stigma, climate change risk perception and adaptation, and disaster preparedness and response. The resulting grants, projects, and publications represent and give voice to people in 14 countries, including Mongolia, Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States. David established the International Tsunami Museum in Thailand to assist with community recovery and has been serving as a delegate for the Kingdom of Tonga at multiple United Nations Climate Change Conferences. David is especially grateful to superb colleagues and students at Western and institutions around the globe for collaborating on these seminal projects.

Edward Vajda - Modern & Classical Languages

Vajda has been a professor at WWU since 1987 and currently serves as director of the Center for East Asian Studies and interim director of the Linguistics Program. He teaches Russian language, culture and history, as well as general linguistics and courses on Inner Asian and Siberian peoples. Vajda has conducted extensive documentation work on Ket, an endangered language spoken by fewer than 100 elderly people in a remote area near Siberia's Yenisei River. He has recently presented evidence supporting a genealogical link between Yeniseian, the family to which Ket belongs, and the Na-Dene languages of North America. Vajda received Western’s Excellence of Teaching Award in 1992.

Greg O'Neil - Chemistry

Greg O’Neil received his B.S. in chemistry from Boston College and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Before joining the faculty at Western Washington University in 2008, he was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim Ruhr, Germany. Dr. O’Neil’s research efforts and results are truly outstanding in terms of publications, external funding, and mentoring of students. He has published 32 peer-reviewed papers in high quality journals describing work done at WWU and has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Research Corporation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, and the Washington Research Foundation to support his research focused on natural products chemistry. In all, his funding since arriving at WWU is close to two-million dollars.

Hud Hudson - Philosophy

Internationally renowned philosopher, Professor Hud Hudson is arguably among the very best metaphysicians in the world today. The branch of philosophy known as metaphysics is in a golden age, with more groundbreaking work in the last 50 years than during any similar period in the history of philosophy – and Hudson is among those leading the way.

James Vyvyan - Chemistry

Vyvyan was raised in rural southeastern Wisconsin where he was fascinated by all things scientific from an early age. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1991, and earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1995. After a Camille and Henry Dreyfus postdoc at Hope College, he joined the WWU faculty in 1997. Vyvyan’s research on the synthesis of biologically active natural products and new synthetic methods has included nearly 50 undergraduates and 14 graduate students, resulting in 14 publications with 24 different student coauthors. His work is currently funded through grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the ACS-Petroleum Research Fund. Among Vyvyan’s awards are a NSF CAREER Award, a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the 2008 Peter J. Elich Excellence in Teaching Award.

Jay Teachman - Sociology

Jay Teachman was trained as a formal demographer at the University of Chicago during the mid-1970s. Many of his first publications dealt with measuring the determinants and consequences of change in family structure. This interest continues to this day. He has also continued his methodological interests by developing and illustrating procedures for analyzing longitudinal data. In the late 1980s, given his background as a veteran, Teachman noticed a substantial gap in our knowledge of the consequences of military service for young men and women. Accordingly, he began to investigate the impact of military service for outcomes such as income, education, family status, health and troubled behaviors (crime and delinquency).

Jeffrey Grimm - Psychology

Jeff Grimm studied biology, psychology and chemistry as an undergraduate at Whitman College.  At Washington State University he earned a M.S. (1995) and then a Ph.D. (1999) in Experimental Psychology studying the neurochemical effects of antipsychotic drugs and also cocaine relapse in a rodent model of addiction. He continued to study addiction during a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, where he co-authored a study describing abstinence-related increases in drug craving (“incubation of craving”).  Since arriving at Western in 2001, Grimm has continued to examine this effect, including molecular events related to it, with a focus on sugar as the “drug” of choice.  His research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2003 and dozens of undergraduates and several graduate students have participated as research assistants.  Forty have been co-authors on published manuscripts and over 100 on presentations at professional meetings.  Grimm is happy to have been able to establish his research program at Western, partly because it is close to Bainbridge Island, where he grew up.

Kate McLean - Psychology

Kate McLean trained in developmental and personality psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2004.  Her research focuses on adolescent and emerging adult identity development.  She holds grants from the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, serves on the governing council for the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, is an associate editor for the Journal Personality and Social Psychology: PPID, and is the director of the Center for Cross-Cultural Research at WWU.

Melissa Rice - Geology

Dr. Melissa Rice is an Associate Professor of Planetary Science at Western Washington University, where she has held a joint appointment in the Geology Department and the Physics & Astronomy Department since 2014. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University in 2012, and was a NASA Astrobiology Institute Postdoctoral fellow at Caltech from 2012-2014. Dr. Rice has established a top-flight, highly productive, research program in Planetary Geology here at WWU, with a focus on the evolution of landforms and evidence for water-involved mineral and landscape processes on the surface of Mars. Her active work on four separate Mars lander/rover missions is one excellent indicator of the top-flight quality of her scholarly work. Her research focuses on the history of Mars, and she and her students are part of NASA’s active Curiosity and Perseverance rover teams. Specifically, she works with the Mastcam-Z cameras, which are the “scientific eyes” of the mission. She also manages a reflectance spectroscopy laboratory facility at WWU.  When she’s not exploring Mars, she enjoys traveling and exploring the best planet in the solar system: Earth! 

Myrl E. Beck - Geology

No recipient for 2020/2021 - ---

Past Recipients 1983-2009 - Various

Brittanie Lockard - Health & Human Development

Since 2013, Brittanie Lockard has been teaching for the Department of Health and Human Services, including courses in physical education, kinesiology, and community health. She encourages students to move beyond comprehension into real-world application. A technology enthusiast, her teaching techniques include hands-on labs and online discussions. She also gains instant feedback in her classroom through a smart-device-based learning response system, and creates educational materials to share with the community on blog sites. Brittanie received her B.A. in exercise science from UNC-Chapel Hill, her M.A. in Teaching from East Carolina University, and her Ph.D. in kinesiology from Texas A&M University.

Cole Taratoot - Political Science

Cole Taratoot, visiting assistant professor of Political Science, was born in Atlanta. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and his master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of West Georgia and his doctorate in Political Science from Georgia State University. His research focuses on the federal judiciary, bureaucracy and public law with a specialty in administrative law. Previously an assistant professor at Western Kentucky University, he teaches courses on criminal procedure, constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, judicial process, law and society, law and stratification, American government, bureaucratic politics and statistics. Currently, Taratoot teaches in both the Sociology and Political Science departments at Western. His favorite thing about teaching at Western is the high-quality students.

Daniel Chard - History

Historian Daniel S. Chard has taught at Western since 2019 and is the author of “Nixon’s War at Home: The FBI, Leftist Guerrillas, and the Origins of Counterterrorism” (University of North Carolina Press, 2021) and other publications. A visiting assistant professor of history, his courses for the History Department include America since 1865, History of the Pacific Northwest, U.S. in the Cold War, U.S. and International Terrorism, and Violence in America Since 1941, and he has taught seminars for the Honors College including an interdisciplinary history course, The American Right. Chard enjoys making research a central component of his courses, empowering students to develop skills and knowledge while pursuing their personal interests and career goals. 

Currently, Chard is collaborating with a colleague at Whatcom Community College and members of the Lummi Nation Cultural Commission to develop an open-source lesson plan on the history, present, and future of the Lummi Indian Aquaculture Project established in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Working with Lummi elders has reinforced Chard’s commitment to defending tribal sovereignty and the environment, and informs his approach to teaching, which values students as whole people learning and growing in relationship with others, inside and outside of the classroom.
 

Heather Davidson - Communication Studies

Heather Davidson is an in instructor in the Communication Studies Department and a two-time alumna of WWU who received her M.Ed. in Adult and Higher Education in 2012. Her experience in nonprofit development and management complements her pedagogical focus on empathetic community building through civic engagement with her student-colleagues. Highlights include the development of an ongoing sustainable philanthropy project for and by WWU students, #WeAreWWU, as well as service to Western as a Community Engagement Faculty Fellow and as a facilitator of the Equity and Inclusion Forum. She also received the 2015 Carl H. Simpson Community Bridging Award and published her work on empathy and diversity through the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment.

Kathleen Nuzum - History

Nuzum grew up in Northern England as well as in the Pacific Northwest, graduating from WWU in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland with a Master of Letters in Historiography in 1997 and Ph.D. in Modern History in 2005. Her areas of research include the philosophy of history, history of education, and intellectual history. She began teaching at Western in 2004 and currently teaches a wide range of courses in the History Department, as well as the first-year seminar sequence and a junior seminar for the Honors Program.

Kathleen Saunders - Anthropology

Saunders joined Western’s Anthropology Department in the fall of 2000, directly from graduate studies in Anthropology and Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota. Her specializations are science, technology, society and economic anthropology. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in fall of 2009. Her courses include Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Social Theory, Qualitative Methods, Kinship and Family, Sex and Gender, the Anthropology of Reproduction and her signature course, Cyborg Anthropology.  In 2004, Saunders was invited to become a Service Learning Faculty Fellow. She applied the pedagogy learned in that program to her teaching of Economic Anthropology by incorporating projects around hunger and food insecurity to make the connections between local conditions and global processes. This anti-hunger work was one of the reasons she received the 2010/11 Eleanor Roosevelt Global Citizenship Award from the Center for Public Anthropology, a U.S. and Canadian organization that promotes anthropology in the service of humanity.

Kirsten Drickey - Modern & Classical Languages

Kirsten Drickey has taught at Western Washington University since the Fall of 2009. As part of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, she regularly teaches courses on language, literature, and culture in the Spanish-speaking world. Kirsten also teaches in the Honors program and has led study abroad programs in Guatemala and Ecuador. In addition to her own courses, Kirsten coordinates the Spanish facilitators as part of Western’s Employee Language Program, in which upper-division language students lead conversational language workshops for university faculty and staff. Recently, Kirsten has collaborated with colleagues in Linguistics, and an evolving cohort of undergraduate students in Spanish and Linguistics, to create a research team focused on helping intermediate students of Spanish better understand and produce the sounds of the language. The team’s work includes creating materials to teach Spanish in ways that build confidence and encourage students to engage with the language beyond the classroom. This team has shared research at numerous academic conferences; samples of this work can be found on their site, Talleres Guacamayo. The unifying thread of all of Kirsten’s work is an abiding commitment to building community through thoughtful engagement with language and culture.

Lee Gulyas - English

Lee is a senior instructor in the English department and a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s MFA program in Creative Writing. Her nonfiction and poetry have appeared in journals such as The Common, Prime Number, Barn Owl Review, Fugue, Event, The Malahat Review, and Full Grown People, and she reviews books for Contrary Magazine. She teaches creative writing, specializing in creative nonfiction. Areas of interest include: creative writing pedagogy, marine life, poetics, travel writing, art and social justice, sustainable development, and Canadian literature. She received a 2014 Washington State Artist Trust Grant, and for the last three years has participated as faculty in WWU’s Service-Learning Study Abroad Program to Rwanda.

Lindsay Poynter - Health & Human Development

As a graduate herself of the Recreation Management and Leadership program at Western Washington University, and with 18 years of private mental health counseling practice in Washington State often drawing upon her master’s work in wilderness therapy, Lindsay brings a unique lens to her instruction at Western. In the 11 years she has been teaching at WWU she has taught over 15 different courses in RML and Health and Human Development.  Some of the early training that has created her foundations in teaching include work in outdoor and contemplative education, group development, and adventure therapy including former work with Outward Bound School, Passageworks Institute, Women’s Wilderness Institute, and her time as a graduate student at Naropa University.  Lindsay has long been passionate about the intersection of nature and health and lifting barriers that get in the way of humans accessing nature connection.  During the fall of 2021, one of her students (Ben Crandall) approached her to help advise his Fairhaven senior project—an idea that involved creating an Outdoor Wellness peer mentoring program. With the support of the RML program, the Counseling and Wellness Center, and the Outdoor Center, the Outdoor Wellness program launched this spring. Mentors and mentees meet weekly and utilize nature connecting experiences, mindfulness, physical activity, and socialization as support for mental health wellness. 

Mark Lester - English

Mark Lester, professor of English, has been teaching at Western since 2005.  He studied literature and philosophy at Michigan State University and Boston University before receiving his Ph.D. in English at the University of Washington in 1999. He is translator of Gilles Deleuze’s "Logic of Sense" (Columbia University Press, 1990) and has written on Leibniz and modern literature. In almost nine years that Lester has been at Western, he has taught courses on writing, literature, and literary and critical theory. Among the courses he has taught are: “The Animal in Art and Literature: Defining the Human,” “Possible Worlds,” “Law and Identity,” “The City in Modern Literature” and “Narrative Consciousness.”

Nancy Pagh - English

Nancy Pagh earned her doctorate from the University of British Columbia and has taught at Western for a little over 20 years.  She teaches classes in creative writing, literature, and culture for the Department of English, the Canadian-American Studies Program, Viking Launch, Honors, Extended Education/iLearn, and the Academy for Lifelong Learning.  Nancy is a passionate and deeply caring teacher, and students express appreciation for the safe learning environment she creates as they share work and develop their writing skills. A successful writer herself, Nancy generously shares her writing practice and work with her students, who comment on the positive influence she has on their success in the classroom and on the page. Most recently, Nancy has published the textbook titled  Write Moves: A Creative Writing Guide & Anthology. This work is  based on her experiences teaching at Western and includes work written by Western students.

Stephen Howie - Journalism

tephen Howie is a prize-winning reporter, editor, nonfiction writer, college professor and videographer. His first book, The Bluffton Charge: One Preacher’s Struggle for Civil Rights won the Mammoth Books Nonfiction Prize. From 2016 to 2018, Howie collaborated with Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center, to research and write AntiCancer Living: Transform Your Life and Health with the Mix of Six (Viking/Penguin). In addition to books, Howie has written articles, in-depth features, profiles and investigative journalism for top newspapers and magazines across the country. He has published personal essays in prominent literary journals and has shot, edited and produced short documentaries focused on social justice and masculine identity. To see and read examples of his work, visit his website at: stephenshowie.com.

Tristan Goldman - History

Tristan Goldman earned his degrees at the University of Washington in Classics and Ancient History. His two role models in developing himself as a teacher are professors Lawrence Bliquez and Carol Thomas, both of whom graciously invested the time and energy necessary to develop him as a scholar and a human being.  Goldman looks to do the same for his students. Goldman’s research area is the Ancient Mediterranean and draws parallels between the ancient world and modern society while using humor and historical fact. He’s known for having high expectations of his students and is committed to seeing them succeed as members of a broader social, political and economic community.

Yu Lei - Modern and Classical Languages

Yu earned her Ph.D. in linguistics and applied linguistics from Beijing Language and Culture University in 2015. Her research focuses on Chinese linguistics and Chinese pedagogic grammar. She teaches Chinese language classes in all levels. She sees herself as a coach guiding students to study, and to practice, and students are the center of learning. She uses Chinese language and culture as a window to help students see the common and difference between cultures, so students are more open-minded and empathetic to others with diverse backgrounds.

Her students praise her for caring deeply about both their academic progress and their health and well-being both inside and outside the classroom.

Byron Gouette - Facilities Management

Byron Gouette started his WWU employment as an ACS student worker in 2009 acquiring the skills that led to his current position as an ACS Supervisor for the Project Crew, Repair Shop, Supply Delivery team, Shannon Point Marine Center team, and Old Main/Humanities team.  After graduating from WWU with a BA in English and Film Studies, he made it a mission to inspire and promote inclusion and equity; and  to further his knowledge and to better communicate with the deaf members of his team, Byron took ASL classes and continues to provide assistance.

When asked to join the Water Damage Response Team, Byron jumped at the opportunity; quickly becoming instrumental with tackling large and small-scale floods campus-wide.

Byron serves as one of the four members of the ISOQ Transport and Response Team relocating sick students (off and on campus) to isolation/quarantine areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. This high-risk task has been a challenge that he has graciously accepted despite being on call after-hours and during weekends.

Outside of WWU, he works in film and photography and has utilized these skills to create videos highlighting the WWU Facilities Management team and all of their hard work.

Carol Brach, Emily Gibson, Casey Hayden, Sue Hoidal, Lloyd Hungate, Derek Jones, Diane Knutson, Dina Murphy, Pam Smith - Journalism, Student Health Center, AS Productions, Colleges of Science & Technology, Facilities Management, University Police, Environmental Studies, Financial Aid, University Communications

Carol Brach, Journalism

Carol Brach is the glue that holds the Department of Journalism together. But that has been more the case than ever in the past year and a half as the department has dealt with the declining health and subsequent death of our chair, Shearlean Duke. Carol is dedicated to the faculty and, especially, the students, but her nomination is more fitting this year than ever because of the difficult circumstances she has worked under. Through it all, she has maintained her composure and positive attitude, and that has rubbed off on everyone around her. It comes to this: if Carol be so magnanimous and dedicated at this time, how can the rest of us not be? In short, without her the Department of Journalism would not have been able to function at such a high level during such a difficult time.

Emily Gibson, Student Health Center

Dr. Emily Gibson works tirelessly to meet the health care needs of the students of WWU. She is on call every night for student's urgent needs, and she sees patients in clinic during the day, many times overbooking her schedule so that every student gets seen as quickly as possible and receives quality medical care. She also serves on several committees, including the Suicide Prevention Team, keeping our students safe and in school so they can be successful. Dr. Gibson's expertise in mental as well as physical health issues, and her coordination of services with the consulting psychiatric providers and the Counseling Center, helps many students complete their academic coursework successfully. Dr. Gibson is exceptionally supportive and accommodating of the needs of the health center staff members and has fostered a true team spirit in a high-pressure work setting. She makes very hard decisions about staffing, schedule changes, policies and budget, all while trying to balance the needs of the students and the health center with the budget restrictions. She has found innovative ways to use specific staff expertise and creative scheduling to continue to meet the expanding mental and physical health care and education needs of our students.

Casey Hayden, AS Productions

Casey serves as the adviser for AS Productions, which is comprised of six student programming offices including Pop Music, Films, Underground Coffeehouse, Viking Union Gallery, Civil Controversy, and Special Events. During the summer of 2010, Casey went from co-advising the club system to taking on full responsibility for management of the AS club system (which includes more than 200 clubs) and advisement of these clubs and the AS Activities Council. Casey consistently provides high quality advisement to students and provides them the resources and support necessary to help them achieve their goals. He does an excellent job of working with students on both the process of planning and organizing their clubs or events, as well as the intended outcome or product of their efforts. He is adept at working with students on a wide variety of topics and interests, and always keeps a focus on student learning and development at the forefront of his work. Casey has developed very positive and effective working relationships with colleagues, student employees and student club leaders and members. Casey is never hesitant to get his hands dirty and get excited about creative ways of reaching students.

Sue Hoidal, Colleges of Science and Technology

In her role as assistant to the dean of the Colleges of Science and Technology, Sue is continually called upon to be in contact with other departments, divisions and offices throughout the campus, obtaining information, problem solving and most importantly, creating solutions. Her phone does not stop ringing throughout the day, as the go-to person that so many on campus look to for answers and assistance. Sue is gracious, helpful and respectful of everyone she speaks with. She has regular interaction with the department managers in the college, and she sets the bar high in her example of service to the college - but more importantly, she does everything she can to help those around her attain that same level of excellence. Sue has recently been instrumental in facilitating the transition to Millenium with the other department managers. Sue also actively pursues personal interaction through her service as the current president of the PSO and also on the President's Council.

Lloyd Hungate, Facilities Management

Lloyd Hungate, Facilities Management's academic maintenance supervisor, was assigned the project lead on the recent Old Main flood repairs. He exceptionally stands out for his thoroughness, his always-friendly and helpful approach, his constant smile, and his desire to go above and beyond the call of duty during his leadership and supervision of the recent Old Main repairs after a frozen sprinkler pipe decided it was time to take Western and Facilities Management down yet another emergency rabbit trail. Lloyd worked with many occupants who all noticed the job would get done because someone actually cared for each person's concerns and needs. Lloyd coordinated many unique solutions, difficult scheduling, many different skilled trades and other involved campus departments accomplishing the work considerably ahead of schedule and estimate. Lloyd worried and willed the Old Main repairs to completion, tapping his creative and personal interaction skills and often working many extra hours and impacting his personal life. Old Main, campus and Facilities Management are fortunate to have Lloyd's exceptional attitude, skills and expertise on our side.

Derek Jones, University Police

Officer Derek Jones is a fairly recent addition to Western's Police Department, but his service and dedication to the university are unparalleled. Derek is one of Western's most proactive officers, constantly seeking opportunities to interact with the public and effect positive change at Western. Derek volunteered last year to be one of two WWU Police representatives on the Bellingham Police SWAT team. The extra time and effort Derek puts into participating as a SWAT officer is something it is hoped the university will never have to call upon. However, if needed, Derek's knowledge of Western and his training as a SWAT officer will surely be invaluable to the entire campus community. Derek is also captaining a team for the 2011 Whatcom County Emergency Responders Fitness Challenge. He cares deeply for everyone he works with. To him, his co-workers are all part of his extended family. Though Derek is young, it's clear to those who know him that he is gifted in many ways. He is the kind of officer Western needs, and the kind of person we all should hope to be. His courage, strength, passion, and humility are what make him a real-life hero.

Diane Knutson, Environmental Studies

Everything Diane does, she takes to a new level compared to how it was done before and constantly challenges herself to do even better. All around she is an excellent performer. Diane uses common courtesies in every interaction. She is poised and pleasant, even when there are tensions. The Department of Environmental Studies has been undergoing a major revision in its curriculum for the past two years. This required the pulling together of a vast amount of information, and requires preparation of the new curriculum and the hundreds of forms that requires. Diane has been the point-person on all of the detail work in this long, laborious and sometimes contentious process. Diane is an incredibly hard and efficient worker, and an unbelievably compassionate and pleasant friend. The Department of Environmental Studies has depended totally on her for a million wonderful things that have made the department's ambitious work possible. She is the sort who goes far beyond the call of duty or job definition. She has worked with faculty and staff wonderfully well, both the few under her supervision, and the many "above" her. Along with this task she was also appointed the Secretary of the HCC.

Dina Murphy, Financial Aid

Financial Aid Manager Dina Murphy epitomizes the best of Western through her dedication to students, the care with which she stewards scholarship dollars in accordance with donor wishes, her collaboration with academic and Student Affairs departments to select scholarship recipients, and her leadership in designing and implementing software that will result in more effective delivery of scholarship funding to students. Dina works well beyond 40 hours per week to ensure that Western students receive not only their scholarship funds, but their federal, state and institutional financial aid. Dina serves as the liaison with the College Success Foundation to help ensure that high-achieving, at-risk students receive the funding they need to access higher education at Western. She also provides guidance and support to the state Washboard scholarship program hosted by the State of Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, has led College Goal Sunday financial aid outreach efforts, and routinely gives financial aid presentations at area high schools. Through Dina's leadership, software to support private donor scholarship processing has been fully implemented within the Scholarship Center. Despite the demands placed on delivering $7.5 million annually in scholarship dollars and resolving the aid-related concerns of students and parents, Dina maintains a positive, can-do attitude and a good sense of humor.

Pam Smith, University Communications

While she has worked at the Office of University Communications, Pam Smith's strong organizational skills and tireless efforts have greatly increased the effectiveness of the office in getting out the many messages and stories that showcase the excellence at Western. Pam's work is always exceptional. The very busy office deals with offices throughout campus, as well as with the media, students, parents and members of the community, sometimes in stressful, fast-moving situations. Pam represents Western to all these groups with a high degree of courtesy and professionalism, and it is evident in all her interactions that she cares deeply about Western, its students and its mission. In addition, she also regularly volunteers to help with university commencements and helps with the Employee Arts & Crafts Show. Her interaction with students, faculty, staff and the greater community always is superb; she tackles all new projects with a great deal of creativity and initiative and the result of her efforts are outstanding achievements by the entire staff of the Office of University Communications, as well as many others. She makes a difference, every day, in the lives of our students and campus community members.

Chris Powell - ATUS

Chris Powell has held several IT positions during his 24 years of employment at Western. In his current role as Canvas Admin, Chris has built his approach on the conviction that relationships create the context for excellent customer service and collaborative skill-building. Chris strives to serve the faculty and staff in a way that takes their stress, their priorities, and their work/teaching style into consideration. He has found, especially during the COVID-era transition to remote learning, that empathy, listening, and creative problem-solving move the conversation beyond simple tech Q & A and instead be a resource to faculty as they explore online curriculum, transition to online teaching modalities, and use the Canvas LMS in ways they never have before.

During the past year with the pandemic, Chris has responded to over 13,000 email requests in a timely, helpful, and friendly manner. He has also provided over 240 consultation hours to encourage new ways of using Canvas and to improve the user experience for faculty, students, and staff.  He also assisted 28 University departments with developing non-academic Canvas courses to communicate information and content in a way students can easily access it, and post announcements to students’ Canvas dashboards with timely reminders. 

CJ Seitz - Small Business Development Center

CJ’s relationship with Western began with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1993. After working in the private sector, CJ returned to Western to earn a Masters degree in Business Administration in 2006. Her passion for business kept her at Western, where CJ was appointed as a Certified Business Advisor at Western’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), that same year.  

After executive roles in the public and private sectors, CJ came back to Western in 2015 to serve as the Center Director for the SBDC. Established in 1989, the SBDC is a grant supported center and as its director, CJ has raised over seven million dollars to sustain center operations.

CJ is a leading partner in Whatcom County’s economic development strategy and works closely with the Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham to support our small businesses and community growth.  Much of this work falls outside the mandate defined for SBDCs by the federal Small Business Administration.  Another area of unmet need that CJ and team have identified is the lack of tailored technical assistance for emerging Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and Black-owned businesses in Whatcom County.

David Engebretson Jr. - Web Communication Technologies

David Engebretson Jr. graduated from Western in 2001 with a degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. As a blind engineer, he has helped companies learn how to make their technologies accessible to all people – independent of their clientele’s physical and sensory abilities. He then stepped out of the work-force for 10 years to be a full time stay-at-home Daddy. David is currently the Digital Technologies Accessibility Coordinator in the Web Communication Technologies department at Western, where he works to help the Western community learn to understand what it means to provide accessible digital technologies to all humans. He is committed to being a collaborative co-worker and strives to be humble and concise while explaining complicated technical issues to all of the colleagues at Western he communicates with. David also helps the greater Western community by sharing his expertise with other key stakeholders in the Western community such as Bellingham Public Schools, the City of Bellingham, the Bellingham Public Libraries, the Whatcom Transit Authority, the Whatcom County Auditor’s office, and more. David is an optimistic colleague and enjoys blending humor into the serious work of providing equal access to the lives of all of Western’s stakeholders.

Debbie Arthur - Marine & Coastal Science

Debbie is currently the department manager for Western’s new Marine and Coastal Science (MACS) Program but was nominated for this award for her administrative contributions to the Sociology Department, Fairhaven College, and the MACS Program. She supported the Sociology Department through the transitions between three chairs and served as the temporary operations manager for Fairhaven College. In MACS, she has been instrumental in launching the new program by recruiting and coordinating the first student cohort and establishing financial and administrative program structure. She co-championed the programs’ first fundraising campaign which raised $15K of scholarship funds.

Debbie has been with WWU for 2.5 years. Her previous 30 years of professional experience includes working as a research chemist and leading outerwear design and development teams in the Outdoor Industry. Debbie believes in "doing the right thing" and strives to eliminate barriers for those that she supports. She constantly looks downstream at the “big picture” to develop efficient, long-term processes that will continually yield positive outcomes. Debbie is an active Bellingham community where she serves on the board and plays in the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra, volunteers regularly with the Bellingham Schools, and can be found at swim meets as a USA Swim official.

Derek Bryson, KaSandra Church, Holly Diaz, Julie Larmore, Ron Marks, Elaine Mehary, Karen Peila, Shannon Warren - University Communications and Marketing, Counseling Center, University Residences, Facilities Management, Human Resources, Secondary Education, Communication Sciences and Disorders, SMATE

Derek Bryson, University Communications and Marketing

Beyond the outstanding graphic design work that he produces on quick turnaround, Derek is admired and respected for his gracious demeanor, great sense of humor, and patient partnership in helping stakeholders from all over campus bring their ideas to life.  While his plate is always overflowing with new projects, he always makes time to support his co-workers and field new projects with an open mind and heart.  Derek makes Western and the University Communications and Marketing team look great!

KaSandra Church, Counseling Center

KaSandra is responsible for developing a systematic approach to suicide prevention and the promotion of emotional wellness on campus.  In addition to offering suicide prevention training across campus she more recently began coordinating the efforts of additional trainers to support a zero suicide campus, and created a faculty and staff resource guide  that was disseminated across campus in support of students.  By encouraging students to coordinate the annual juried Building Resilience and Voicing Empathy art show and the seasonal affective disorder screening day, KaSandra helps students learn about mental health and serve the campus in creative ways.

Holly Diaz, University Residences

Holly is an exceptional role model within Residence Life. In a highly people-oriented unit, Holly is consistently able to bring a refreshing honesty and perspective to her work that pulls people in. She is regularly consulted by University Residence Staff and is always willing to listen and provide helpful feedback. She brings empathy to everything she does and is an example of what it means to be a professional in higher ed.

Julie Larmore, Facilities Management

Julie's contributions to building a better business platform for Facilities Management are truly exceptional. Most recently, she led Facilities Management in the deployment of the AssetWorks database management system, a daunting project with millions of data fields to coordinate. Julie's detailed grasp of the inner-workings of the AiM software and how it interfaces with best practice business processes make her an invaluable asset to her colleagues. With such a volume of information, it is tempting to just say "good enough," but Julie has had the tenacity and forethought to hold the end vision in mind and inspire the rest of the deployment team to do the same.

Ron Marks, Human Resources

Ron was initially hired to help create an entire training platform for employee professional development.  In three short years the program has grown from being an independent training hub to a multi-functional partner for individuals and departments across campus.  Ron has gone above and beyond in creating the "Leader as Coach" cohort program, and assisting employees with their personal and professional growth.  Ron has a passion for organizational development and has become a highly respected partner making a positive impact across the institution.

Elaine Mehary, Secondary Education, Education and Social Justice

Elaine has transformed the Education and Social Justice minor from an academic program into a thriving home for students and the source of several new initiatives on campus. Her commitment reflects the vast experiential knowledge and wisdom she continues to build and refine in her daily work. Elaine’s position has many complex parts, including academic support to students, connecting students with other support services on campus; coordinating the peer mentoring program; and supporting the recruitment and retention of historically underrepresented students. As a result of her leadership with Justice Speaks, a student-organized forum for exploring topics related to social justice, each event resulted in packed auditoriums, reaching a broad base of participants from Western and the larger community.

Karen Peila, Communication Sciences and Disorders

Karen consistently exceeds expectations overseeing the managerial and operational responsibilities of the Communication Sciences and Disorders department. Karen prepared and proposed a budget that would allow the clinic to shift to a no-fee clinical service provision model, benefiting both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the greater Bellingham community. Karen also supported the development and implementation of the Clinical Doctorate in Audiology, Western’s first doctoral level program, and was indispensable in organizing the Pacific Northwest premier of the film “When I Stutter.”

Shannon Warren, SMATE

Shannon has been instrumental in assisting over 80 faculty in the College of Science and Engineering and Huxley College in the creation of partnerships between Western, community colleges, K-12 schools, and other community partners around science education reform. In her work within and beyond Western, Shannon is seen as a source of expertise and wisdom, creating an environment where participants feel cared for, appreciated, and understood.  A true treasure to Western and well-deserving of recognition for her efforts, passion, and ongoing commitment to improving teaching and learning at Western.

Doug Adelstein, Max Bronsema, Clint Burgess, Clara Capron, Jeanne Gaffney, George Liu, Marcia Merth, Stan Wolf - Human Resources, University Relations & Community Development, Scientific Technical Services, Enrollment & Student Services, Admissions, ATUS , Registrar's Office, Facility Management

Doug Adelstein, Human Resources

As Associate Director for Human Resources Doug works closely with local union representatives. His outstanding achievement has been his ability to hit the ground running and be a pivotal player in his role as a contract bargaining negotiator and labor relations representative for the university.  Doug is admired not only for his professional skills and abilities but also his efficient, thorough, and thoughtful approach.  Doug is a very likable, friendly, engaging and caring individual, who has a knack for keeping the big picture in view while respecting individual concerns.

Max Bronsema, University Relations & Community Development

Max and the team he leads in WebTech are the linchpin in the Academic Affairs Drupal websites. He uses innovative tools to provide rapid response to requests for features and improvements. He reaches out to ascertain needs and minimizes downtime on the sites. He has organized a "Drupal Coffee Hour" to bring together those using the platform on a regular basis to share best practices and ideas to improve the sites.  Max is thoughtful, humble, and good-natured. There is comfort when bringing him questions and challenges; he is genuinely excited to meet the challenges.  He is a pleasure to work with, and has been a unifying force in regards to building a community of Drupal users and web developers.

Clint Burgess, Scientific Technical Services

Clint is “instrumental” in maintaining the wide array of highly sophisticated scientific equipment at the College of Science and Engineering.  He’s a reliable colleague and is extremely attentive to the needs of faculty and staff, and directly supports positive outcomes for the many students in lab courses and research labs. All of his excellent work is carried out with respect, attentiveness, and a willingness to go above and beyond.  Known as "Clint the Wizard" he has a reputation for bringing instruments “back from the dead.” For nearly 30 years Clint’s “can do” attitude” and professionalism has been an invaluable asset to scientific and technical support at Western.

Clara Capron, Enrollment & Student Services

Several years ago Clara was asked to step out of her comfort zone in Financial Aid, where she had been an excellent administrator for many years, to act as interim Director of Admissions in addition to her financial aid duties. During this challenging time, Clara demonstrated the many fine qualities that make her an exceptional administrator. With dedication, organization, creativity, and just plain hard work, she successfully met each challenge while fostering increased collaboration between Admissions and Financial Aid for the betterment of Western and Western's students. In her relatively new position Clara provides inspiring and skillful leadership over the areas of Admissions, Financial Aid and New Student Services/Family Outreach. Her ability to integrate the strengths and resources from each of these areas has furthered Western's ability to serve the needs of the state of Washington by increasing our capacity to attract and enroll an academically talented and diverse group of students. Under her leadership, Western received a record number of freshman admissions applications for fall 2015.

Jeanne Gaffney, Admissions

Despite Jeanne’s impressive workload as Associate Director of Admissions, she never shies away from a request. She keeps her door open and if you stop by her office, she will greet you with a kind "Come in", put her project aside, and give you her undivided attention.  Jeanne is responsible for overseeing transfer and international recruitment initiatives and related admissions procedures, community college relations, and matriculation and credit acceptance policies. Jeanne was instrumental in changing the transfer application deadline from April 1 to March 1, after noting that Western was losing opportunities to recruit high-achieving transfer students to other universities with earlier transfer deadlines. Jeanne's experience at Western and in higher education, combined with her keen insight, are invaluable assets to the Office of Admissions and Western as a whole.

George Liu, ATUS

Recently assuming the position of Information Technology Specialist Manager for the ATUS computer maintenance office, George has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently.  George has a strong work ethic, supports his fellow workers, and is gracious with his colleagues by encouraging self-care. He is an expert technician in all phases, and is an efficient, effective and thoughtful manager who truly wants to make everyone’s job easier to get done. He has the ability to fix small parts that are not available for replacements thereby greatly extending the useful period of a particular piece of equipment.

Marcia Merth, Registrar's Office

Marcia is an integral part of the Registrar's Office, looking at issues from every angle and using her extensive knowledge, experience and sound judgement to contribute to the issue at hand. She has been responsible for the confidential safekeeping and processing of over four and a half million grade records and over a quarter of a million transcript records.  She comes in early and stays late during grade week to make sure all the grades get entered and rolled to academic history in a timely manner so degrees can be awarded as soon as possible. Even when faced with daunting tasks Marcia retains mutual respect and shows incredible grace as she moves to challenge and affect positive change in every aspect of her work.

Stan Wolf, Facility Management

Stan was one of two key programmers who participated in two energy saving projects routed through the Puget Sound Energy’s 258 rebate program.  This work upgraded and optimized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning controls.  This excellent work cost just under $254,000, took over 2,500 hours of FM’s crew time to complete, resulted in $250,000 in rebates, and has a verified annual utility savings of $30,000 per year.  The programming within campus’ control system was highly innovative, beyond anything PSE has seen from any of their customers to date.  In fact, the vendor was looking to Western to teach them!  FM’s crew innovation went one step further by packaging the control software programming code in templates that can be applied to many other locations across campus for yet more energy savings.

Ellen Kuhlmann - Space Administration

As the Space Analyst for Space Administration & Management (SAM), Ellen has visited just about every room on campus outside of the residence halls. She conducted a survey of all academic and administrative rooms soon after joining Western in 2013, a long-overdue audit of Western’s space data. Such a survey had never been done and it strengthened the integrity of Western’s space data while providing Ellen with a stellar education of the university’s built-environment. Since that auspicious beginning, Ellen has been involved in all facets of the department’s operation, including the coordination of institutional moves, the shared management of Western’s classrooms, representing the department on committees and project teams, and analysis of space data. When the SAM Director unexpectedly left Western in 2019, Ellen stepped into the breach, juggling many department responsibilities until such time that the specialized post is filled. During the past year she has co-led a team that developed a 6-year plan to upgrade all the General University Classrooms, led the Academic Space Modeling and Capital Plan task force, and managed ongoing projects and data requests. Multi-talented and creative, Ellen has a central role in making sure Western’s current spaces are used wisely and in planning how to meet the institution’s space needs. 

Jeffery Osthimer - Facilities Management

Jeff Osthimer has been a critical member of the Western Washington University’s ISOQ Transport Team since September 2020. Jeff is one of only four team members that have volunteered for the responsibility of safely transporting students to and from the isolation spaces in Ridgeway Beta and Ridgeway Gamma. This work requires Jeff and the team to interact at close proximity to students who are positive with the COVID-19 virus during the transport process. Jeff has shown a high level of empathy and compassion for the students who are needing the isolation support services. This attention to the student’s emotional needs has garnered multiple compliments from the students and their parents. Jeff has willingly participated in the ISOQ transports afterhours, weekends, and even holidays with a positive attitude. Jeff has also cleaned and disinfected the Student COVID-19 Testing Center daily since it opened and shows deep care for the students and staff who are utilizing the College Hall Testing Center. Jeff is an eight-year army veteran and has worked at Western for 12 years.

Jeniene Bengtsson - University Advancement

Jeniene Bengtsson has worked in University Advancement for more than 15 years and is a 2004 graduate of Western, following her family’s Viking tradition. Throughout her tenure, she has consistently brought integrity, innovation, and professionalism to her division from her previous roles as administrative assistant, then office manager, and her current role as the Associate Director, Alumni and Constituent Relations, Western Engaged. Western Engaged is revolutionizing not only alumni engagement at WWU, but is seen as a model in the Advancement/Alumni Relations profession nationally, raising the stature and visibility of Western. Jeniene enjoys and excels at collaborating and partnering with colleagues across campus in strategic efforts to keep Western alumni engaged throughout the University. Due to COVID-19, Jeniene creatively pivoted from in-person to remote events including managing dozens of Western Insight and CFPA, Huxley, and CHSS webinars to bring thousands of attendees and dollars to support the Racial and Equity Fund and the Student Emergency Fund.

When not working, Jeniene enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys outdoors and finding new places to explore.

Jessica Heidemann - Student Health Center

Jessica started working at WWU in 1998 as a student and has been here ever since. In 2002 she was hired to move the Student Health Center from a paper system onto an Electronic Medical Records system. Then this last year, she facilitated the move from the now antiquated EMR to a new EMR designed with universities in mind. The move to this new EMR has allowed the Student Health Center to provide superior remote care for patients during the pandemic. During the move to the new EMR, the Student Health Center also went through the process of becoming AAAHC accredited – something that few University Health Centers have accomplished. Jessica’s unique skillset allowed her to support the forward momentum of both massive projects while continuing to balance the day to day IT needs of the clinic and users. Her incredible work ethic applies not only to the university, but also to running a horse training facility. Every day after her work is done at Western, she gets on horse and does several hours of riding and training. That experience in the saddle brings a unique dedication and perspective to university challenges, which require balancing the needs of all stakeholders.

Joe Attolini, Debbi Baughn, Esther Harris, Donna Janigo, Timothy Kraft, Lori Larkin, Paul Madison, Joan Vandersypen, Tim Wynn - Facilities Management, Accounts Payable, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, University Advancement, Communication Sciences & Disorders, Admissions, Athletics, Institute for Watershed Studies, Facilities Management

Joe Attolini, Facilities Management

Wherever the job is the toughest or the dirtiest, you’ll find Joe. As a Plumber in Facilities Management, he is unfailingly cheerful in the face of many seemingly insurmountable problems. He is the first to respond to a phone call to handle emergencies in the middle of the night, no matter the weather. Joe is more than just an outstanding plumber; he is also sets a standard of what it means to be an outstanding leader at Western. Both in Facilities Management and across the University, he is respected by his peers and supervisors alike for his constantly encouraging and positive communication within the organization. Even more importantly, he inspires others to share his enthusiasm for his work and for Western. Outside of Joe’s excellence in Facilities, he is also a world class auctioneer who has donated endless hours of his time and talents in raising funds for worthy causes. He has helped numerous members of the Western family, assisting in the raising of funds for employees with severe injuries or illness. His superb skills as a plumber, auctioneer, and as a human being are so often in the benefit of our community and touch so many on our campus.

Debbi Baughn, Accounts Payable

To describe Debbi is to describe what it means to be a consummate professional; she is efficient, kind and courteous, and exemplifies an exemplary work ethic among her peers by going out of her way to be helpful. She brings positive energy to the Accounts Payable department and is a wonderful role model at Western. As the Program Coordinator in Accounts Payable, Debbi has spearheaded the development of several significant efforts in serving the Campus Community. One such project included the creation and implementation of an on-line archive of training presentations on Accounts Payable procedures and rules. Her hard work has provided a means to deliver excellent service and efficiency with minimal impact on an increasingly limited staff through her innovation and knowledge.

Esther Harris, College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Many would agree, there are few individuals who have supported the academic mission of Western with such unflagging energy, keen intelligence, and professional acumen as Esther Harris. As Assistant to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Esther supports 15 academic departments working tirelessly with each in providing leadership, support, and direction in significant contribution of the University and College mission. Her prowess has made possible the smooth and strong transition of the new college in its formation, and her outstanding leadership during the recent economic downturn in supporting a diverse array of needs from faculty, staff, and students has made the challenges that face the college, the seeds of her success. Esther demonstrates and models the absolute highest of performance standards, a reason why much of her work has become the process that is adopted across the entire campus. With nearly half of all graduating students and the largest cadre of faculty across numerous disciplines, the demands on the Dean’s office could not be higher. To Esther, this is just another day at the office.

Donna Janigo, University Advancement

It is impossible to overlook the work of Donna Janigo, or as many of us know her, Data Donna. Donna’s work as Director of Constituent Records in University Advancement makes a significant impact on the quality and operation of the entire division. She sets a high bar for customer service, and meets countless requests for information day after day with a positive attitude and infectious enthusiasm. Donna always takes the initiative to improve existing processes. She has collaborated with her colleagues in redefining how donor receipts are sent and received through a new electronic system while ensuring that the important relationships with our donors are continually met. She is always looking for new ways to be more effective, and is never afraid to think outside of the box to do so. Donna is instrumental in the positive results for University Advancement. Whether it is her numerous contributions towards our Comprehensive Campaign, or in her unflagging positivity in her contribution to Foundation efforts, Donna represents the best that Western has to offer.

Timothy Kraft, Communication Sciences and Disorders

No matter how challenging the job demands or how stressful the day, there is always a smile on Tim Kraft’s face. His positive spirit in serving as the Biomedical Electronic Technician Lead is both a contagious and remarkable contribution to the success and excitement of working in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Through the years that Tim has been with at Western, he has been a major contributor in placing Western’s program among the best equipped in the nation. Some examples include the implementation of improvements to the closed-circuit TV system, and the successful migration of the clinic into the new AIC space. Through Tim’s expertise the potential for constant improvement and upgrades have been limitless and made the Clinic and the department more effective in teaching and serving the community. Tim’s ability to troubleshoot and problem-solve allow for a superior system at a considerable cost savings. Tim exemplifies what it means to create excellence through engagement of the students, faculty, and the staff around him in the interest of supporting both education and client service.

Lori Larkin, Admissions

In many ways, the Office of Admissions often stands on Lori Larkin’s shoulders. Particularly in this year of tremendous staff turnover; her efforts as an Information Technology Specialist have been an instrumental part of the success of the Admissions office. Lori takes tremendous pride in her work. She is always assisting in the completion of projects, finding answers, or brainstorming on what changes could be made for improvement. Her role as leader and mentor in the office with new staff is tremendous and raises the level of success of the office, and their careers. She is peerless in her ability to work with both students and permanent employees, and she bridges effectively scholarship-related efforts with Financial Aid, the Western Foundation, and Student Accounts, not to mention the dozens of students and parents she talks with throughout the scholarship awarding process.

Paul Madison, Athletics

Paul Madison is a Viking’s Viking. For over 40 years of service as the Sports Information Director one thing is certain about Paul: His blood runs blue. Two things to recognize about Paul, first he never stops caring for his students and staff, and he is always striving to tell the Western story. He spends each day scouring a multitude of media sources for both past and present Western student-athletes, always keeping the Athletics connection active for all who participate. Always supportive, always positive, Paul delights in his interaction with students, faculty, staff, and Viking Fans, getting the word out, and preparing each student-athlete and staff member for the rigors of media inquiries and interview requests. Whether it is large scale projects, such as the creation of the highly regarded Athletics website, or departmental leadership and connection to students, Paul is always out front and giving his all to Western and its students.

Joan Vandersypen, Institute for Watershed Studies

Joan on the surface is the laboratory supervisor for the Institute for Watershed Studies, a state-certified water quality testing lab. But in reality, Joan is a scientist, an educator, a supervisor, and a mentor of student research and development all wrapped into one. Whereas, most labs have trained and paid technicians to conduct analysis, Joan spends countless hours training and preparing students to perform their own analyses. This model of student empowerment has provided a huge benefit for student growth and experience, while maintaining a competitive standard of excellence rarely exceeded by other laboratories in the state. The testament of Joan’s success is exemplified in numerous letters of commendation from the Wash. State Dept. of Ecology. With each step, Joan is the primary individual teaching field and lab techniques, quietly and calmly approaching a standard that many could scarcely dream, let alone achieve. Joan has for nearly 20 years consistently served as an exceptional role model for our students. In providing superior training and mentorship whilst never sacrificing consistency and excellence, Joan represents the perfect balance of performance, excellence and scholarship.

Tim Wynn, Facilities Management

With significant funding reductions and marked increases in service requirements, Tim has personified leadership and poise throughout, calmly guiding the Facilities Management department through each challenge strategically to support his staff and the university effectively. Some of the many key initiatives requiring Tim’s participation include: re-engineering of the Capital Planning Process, the Buchanan Towers Addition project, the climate action plan initiative, the opening of the AIC, the new energy risk management committee, and the means to communicate them all through the development of a bi-monthly campus e-newsletter. Each of these initiatives involves complex collaboration with numerous off- and on-campus offices and departments. The only link in common from the above list initiatives is Tim and Facilities Management. To grasp the scope of Tim’s involvement on campus is an exercise in futility, as there is no part of campus he does not touch or influence. With dignity and class, through challenge and hardship upon Western and his Facilities team, Tim has been the example of excellence in the face of difficulty. A true model for our time.

John Solberg - Print, Copy & Mail Services

John earned his Bachelor’s degree in Communications/Graphic Design from Western Washington University (Western) in 1992. He has over 25 years of experience in marketing, graphic design, digital and offset print production, project coordination, supervisory and management, sales, and consulting. 
John started at Western in 2014 as the Supervisor of the Print and Copy Center. Under his leadership, the Print and Copy Center has shown demonstrated growth with a focus on quality, collaboration, and client satisfaction.

John’s overall demeanor, in a very intense work environment, contributed to these achievements and because of his high performance and capabilities, John was promoted to Manager of Print, Copy and Mail Services in 2019. This promotion provided John with a higher level of administrative responsibilities in which he has both excelled and exceeded expectations. In fact, the transition was almost seamless. He continually seeks, reviews, and implements improved processes and capabilities. It is most certain that John will continue to be an important and valuable resource for Western Washington University.

Julie Weisgerber - Athletics

Julie is currently in her 20th year at WWU as an athletic trainer in the Department of Athletics, serving the last two as the head athletic trainer for the Vikings. She earned a B.A. in Physical Education from San Diego State University and an MS in Education from Southern Illinois University. Julie is certified member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and a member of National Strength and Conditioning Association. A diligent worker that always has a positive attitude, Weisgerber helped the department through the difficult time during the pandemic, coordinating the various needs of student-athletes across all sports while meeting the demands of keeping everyone safe while returning to play. She logged extra hours without complaint balancing the ever-changing testing protocols and was in constant communication with coaches, administrators, and student-athletes. Julie always places the health and safety of WWU’s student-athletes at the very front of her priority list and does it with professionalism and dedication. She is not only well-respected by her peers across the nation, but our coaches and student-athletes value her expertise and trust her in every situation.

Juliet Barnes, AJ Barse, James Brady, John Dlouhy, Dan Hanley, Ted Pratt, James Suh, Anne Marie Theiler, Samantha Zimmerman - Advanced Materials Science & Engineering Center, ATUS, Facilities Management, University Advancement, SMATE, Student Life, Athletics, Counseling Center, Procurement

Juliet Barnes, Advanced Materials Science & Engineering Center

The quality of Juliet’s work is exceptional. She works efficiently, balances a range of projects and meets deadlines in a timely fashion. She excels in creating strong working relationships across campus with staff, faculty, and students and her positive attitude and helpful and cooperative approach is highly appreciated by the students, staff and faculty involved in AMSEC. AMSEC is thriving as a center for materials science education and research, and much of the success is traced to the excellent work of Juliet. She is straight forward and gets results, always goes above and beyond her job and makes her coworkers’ jobs a lot easier by anticipating issues that may arise. She is also very personable and always helps the students she advises with a smile.

AJ Barse, ATUS

AJ has directly impacted course outcomes in his service by providing highly customized technical training for classes so that students can provide quality results to the numerous service learning partners.  He aids in the production of videos, graphics, web development, and other organizational materials.  He willingly facilitated over a dozen workshops for students, has a firm grasp on technological tools and works to understand faculty, student and stakeholder needs. He is an active and notable digital presence and serves as a model and mentor for those wishing to engage technology.  His guidance was pivotal in the promotion and overall success of the “We Are WWU”. AJ is a generous and attentive collaborator and represents the finest traditions of teaching and learning in a higher education environment.

James Brady, Facilities Management

Jim consistently demonstrates excellent performance, initiative, and creativity in his duties as a Lead in the Plumber/Pipefitter/Steamfitter shop. When the heat exchanger in Edens North failed in January 2016, leaving the residents without hot water, Jim fabricated custom parts to facilitate the repair. His ability to weld and machine the parts, and his ingenuity and creativeness in conceiving the repair plan are just some examples of his excellence.  In addition to his role as plumber, Jim proudly serves at the Washington Federation of State Employees union President, showing dedication to WFSE members.  He is a true asset to Western. 

John Dlouhy, University Advancement

John is the mastermind behind the campaign celebrations - all three happened with perfection over a two-week timeframe, bringing together hundreds of faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends of Western. These events were truly special, as they were engineered to thank the people who made the campaign successful, and to show the impact of the gifts to Western. John operates in a team environment, and is the classic man behind the curtain. His creativity accounts for many of the large and small touches that make the guest experience unmatched. His "gratitude" events deserve a nod of gratitude to him, for his tireless pursuit of perfection, his unparalleled passion for details, and for his care and concern for always showing off Western in the best light. He is Advancement's unsung hero.

Dan Hanley, SMATE

Dan is a hidden gem.  He has proven to be an invaluable asset to faculty and programs across Western and in the extended Washington education community. He helps faculty with proposal development, oversees several part and full time research associates, and is engaged in a variety of federal and state education grants. He also works closely with local K12 teachers and principals, and is always willing to share his expertise.

Dan has done an outstanding job managing and overseeing the projects’ for five education research components. These efforts have led to new insights about effective mentoring practices by both teacher mentors and student mentees.  As a part of this work Dan and his team have built strong, collegial partnerships with local elementary schools, teachers, and preservice students, but perhaps his greatest asset is his personable and thoughtful demeanor.

Ted Pratt, Student Life

Ted Pratt has been the Dean of Students for Western since his appointment in 1997.  However, his love of Western started much earlier when he became a student in 1981.  His love of the University and of students has allowed him to translate even the most difficult situations into a compassionate interaction with human touch and a caring outcome. Walking across Western’s campus with Ted you begin to know why he has trouble making it to meetings on time.  He pauses repeatedly to say hello, and is constantly stopped by students, faculty, and staff for a quick hug or to share a word or two.  Whether it is walking and talking, time for coffee, or after meetings he always keeps his door and heart open to those around him.  Ted has provided leadership in expanding cultural competence with sponsoring speakers to campus and has added assessment and accountability measures for his unit and has shared those resources for the assessment of campus wide equity and inclusion training. Ted is a master bridge builder and his ability to connect people through patience and support is one of the most important traits in any leader of our time. He exemplifies this trait at the highest level.

James Suh, Athletics

James has been a part of the volleyball program for 15 years. His major responsibility is as the recruiting coordinator and he knows he is not only bringing in student athletes to represent the athletic program, but the university as well. He feels so strongly about what the university has to offer and seeks people who believe in and live the values of Western. Once they arrive on campus, James feels a strong responsibility to hold those student athletes accountable to those values, and guide them into being well rounded individuals when they graduate. James is a great example of what Western stands for and all that come in contact with him come away with a positive feeling. This year they were tied for 3rd in the country. Those are the kind of student-athletes in the volleyball program and they are here because of the exhaustive efforts of James.

Anne Marie Theiler, Counseling Center

Anne is responsible for overseeing services at the Counseling Center. She provides guidance and mentoring to the staff and interns who respond most directly to students struggling with a variety of concerns. Her sense of responsibility for her work and for the wellbeing of Western students is extraordinary.  She is truly the counselor to the counselors, as well as the students. She brings order to emergency situations, skill when working with the challenges, and warmth and compassion with all.  She strongly believes that the campus should be the village that educates and supports every student through their journey from the entering freshman to the graduating student and beyond. Anyone who knows Anne quickly becomes aware of her belief in hard work to reach goals.

Samantha Zimmerman, Procurement

Samantha is consistent, delivering an exceedingly high quality of assistance from the Travel Desk. Her service is without doubt significantly important to the University as a whole. She maintains a most professional demeanor, centering on solutions and is an excellent problem solver. She is instinctively positive and has a willing nature, making every interaction pleasant!  Samantha puts employee needs before her own and no one would have guessed she had anything else pending.  Thank you to Samantha for all your hard work getting the Travel Expense Module up and running, and for being such a good natured employee. She is a treasure in the true sense of the word. Western is extremely fortunate to have someone of her caliber!

Justina Brown - ATUS

Justina Brown, M.Ed, is an instructional designer in the ATUS Teaching, Learning, & Technology division, and directs the Center for Instructional Innovation, WWU’s teaching and learning center. She leads faculty professional development efforts, creates online resources to support best practices and promote teaching excellence, and supports faculty use of innovations in their teaching. 

In this role, she found herself perfectly poised--along with the team assembled from ATUS, OCE, and the Library-- to be at the fulcrum of support for faculty during the monumental pivot to teaching remotely this past spring and summer.  

Since 1999, the annual Innovative Teaching Showcase has been one of Justina's most enjoyable and challenging projects, featuring exceptional teaching practices of over 70 WWU instructors. A compliment to the Showcase is the Teaching Handbook, a resource she has developed for 20 years. 

Justina has worked to promote open educational practices at Western. She was the project director for a $36,000 Washington State grant to help faculty replace high‐cost textbooks with free and openly-licensed materials--saving about 2,000 students over $270,000 in the first year alone. 

Justina also teaches a first-year seminar (FIG), where students examine issues of diversity, class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual identity, and mental health from different perspectives.  

Kathryn Cabe, Kaimi Deardorff, Rose Kawczynski, Whitney Kiewit, Adam Leonard, Nick Sanchez, Wanna VanCuren, Seth Vidana - Western Libraries, University Residence, Environmental Studies, Western Foundation, Campus Recreation Services, Human Resources, Financial Systems, Office of Sustainability

Kathryn Cabe, Western Libraries

Without Kate the Western Libraries might not have a functioning circulation system.  Before the Libraries switched circulation systems last June, Kate spent endless hours completing configuration forms, undergoing training, testing the new system, and communicating with the vendor and her co-workers.  The transition to the new system was extremely difficult because if wasn’t fully built yet. Throughout the process Kate kept plugging away, methodically testing all the changes, and making improvements as required.  Kate’s leadership, skills, patience, and troubleshooting abilities have made it possible for the library to function, improve, and serve not only Western but additonal sites throughout Washington and Oregon. Kte's skills have also been recognized by the 37 partner institutions of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, which regularly call upon her to help them implement their own transitions to these new systems.

Kaimi  Deardorff, University Residence

Kaimi consistently goes beyond her job responsibilities to assist both students and staff in University Residences. While juggling multiple duties, she is prompt to respond, provides clear communication, is friendly, and knowledgeable. Regardless of whether it's in her specific area or not, Kaimi goes the extra mile to answer any questions about housing.  She is not only fabulous at working with staff across campus, but also with students, including international students with limited English.  Any time there are last minute changes or unexpected issues, Kaimi always responds with a smile and goes out of her way to make sure the students are taken care of, and pleased with their residential situation.

Rose Kawczynski, Environmental Studies

Rose's performance as Administrative Services Manager in the Environmental Studies Department consistenly exceeds expectations. She is detailed-oriented, always professional, and is recognized by colleagues for her follow through and pleasant and calming demeanor.  When she was appointed coordinator for six faculty searches in Huxley College, she didn't miss a beat in adding this challenge to her regular duties, quickly educating herself about the relevant policies and procedures to bring the searches to successful conclusions. Rose has to be well organized and budget her time effectively, as she serves in two different offices every day. Rose has distinguished herself in only seven months at Western Washington University, and her coleagues and co-workers are glad to have her on their team.

Whitney Kiewit, Western Foundation

Since Whitney began as the Western Foundation's Gift Coordinator in 2009, she has continuously improved donor recognition and relations by increasing efficiency, accuracy, and processing time for over 10,000 gifts per year. While the number and complexity of the gifts have increased during her tenure, the turnaround time from receipt to acknowledgement has decreased.  Her ability to keep up with the fast pace of gift entry, while thanking the donors in a personalized and timely fashion, is crucial as Western embarks on the ‘Western Stands for Washington' campaign. Her ability to prioritize and process ever increasing volumes of gifts without compromising the personal touch makes donors feel appreciated.  In her every interaction she continuously serves the Western mission with her patient,  friendly demeanor, her creative approach to problem solving, and her attention to detail.

Adam Leonard, Campus Recreation Services

Adam is a highly motivated professional. In May of 2013 he filled the Campus Recreation Director position for an extended period, while continuing to perform his current job responsibilities. During this same time frame, he was asked to fill the budget support needs within the Athletic Department.  Adam balanced and performed all three jobs with excellence, many times spending weekends and evenings at work to ensure that all received the attention they deserved.  Whether it's evaluating operations, guest speaking in an academic class, or contributing to the growth of our student employees, Adam demonstrates excellence in every task he undertakes. He communicates effectively, thinks strategically, and engages enthusiastically with both the professional and student staff at Western.

Nick Sanchez, Human Resources

Nick has a deep personal commitment to changing the culture of diversity at Western and engaging employees to assist in creating an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for all.   Nick's engaging yet professional style helps him build trust and confidence, making others feel they can come to him with ideas and suggestions or simply have a timely and important conversation. This makes him an excellent facilitator for sometimes challenging dialogues about diversity, as he strives to make those conversations inclusive of all view points and backgrounds.  Nick is a visionary, developing ambitious goals and well-conceived strategies for leading Western’s recruitment and retention efforts into the future. He has an ability to envision meaningful change at the institutional level without losing sight of the personal engagement and consensus-building required to make it happen. Rather than telling people how they must change, he invites them to work together by showing how their contributions are vital to the outcome.  His enthusiasm for helping Western become an even more inclusive and welcoming place to work and learn is contagious, and he inspires by example.

Wanna VanCuren, Financial Systems

Wanna consistently demonstrates excellence of performance on a daily basis. She approaches her work with dedication, passion, and consistently provides outstanding service to the Western community. This is demonstrated by her outstanding performance as Portfolio Manager on the Banner Initiatives Steering Committee, her day-to-day management of Financial Systems, and her willingness to step in as Interim Director of Business Services earlier this year. She is innovative, collaborative, willing to listen, and excels at accomplishing projects and achieving goals. She will do whatever it takes to get the job done while maintaining an exceptional outlook and positive attitude. Her management style makes it possible for those who work for her, or with her, to perform at their best. She is an exceptional employee and an asset to the University.

Seth Vidana, Office of Sustainability

Seth provided outstanding leadership in the planning and hosting of the first statewide higher education sustainability conference. He assumed the role of establishing a planning committee then coordinated the ideas and activities of that committee, culminating in a very successful and highly praised conference hosted by Western in February 2014.  Seth consulted with other universities which had hosted similar conferences and worked diligently with the consultant and Western's own Conference Services and Procurement department to devise a scope of services to meet Western’s unique requirements. The impact of Seth's efforts are evidenced by the results! The conference hosted over 500 attendees including representatives from 37 colleges throughout Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. 

Kathy Thompson - Human Resources

A proud South Carolinian, Kathy Thompson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, Insurance, and Economic Security from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. She met her husband, John Thompson, who works in Western’s Office of University Communications, while she was in college. He persuaded her to move west in 2012, and she started working in Western’s Human Resources department in 2013. Kathy’s work as the Assistant Director of Benefits & Operations allows her the opportunity to interact with Western employees throughout their tenure at Western – from onboarding to the day they retire, which she finds particularly rewarding. In 2020, the coronavirus brought the addition of multiple new federal and state programs to her already full plate. All of these programs were complex, required a thorough understanding of every aspect of how they would impact the university, and so many hours of research were needed. Kathy embraced this with a commitment to ensure these programs were instituted quickly, accurately, and with support for all the campus. Kathy was, and continues to be, a key HR representative -- responsible for development, implementation, monitoring, and communication. Her genuine and sincere kindness is reflected in every interaction she has with employees. 

Laural Ballew - American Indian/Alaska Native and First Nations Relations

Laural Ballew serves as the university's first-ever Tribal Liaison. An enrolled member of the Swinomish Tribe, Ballew has lived on the Lummi reservation with her husband of 43 years, Timothy Ballew Sr. She received a bachelor’s degree, with a major in American Cultural Studies and a minor in Native American Studies, from Western in 2002. She earned a master’s degree in Public Administration, from The Evergreen State College, and is studying for a doctorate in Indigenous Development and Advancement from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, in New Zealand.

Laural has led the effort to establish a traditional Coast Salish longhouse on Western's campus, including legislative advocacy that led to the project being prioritized for funding in the Governor's proposed 21-23 biennial budget. She has worked with Enrollment & Student Services on new requirements for Native students to verify tribal enrollment and descendancy; and she has created ongoing Government to Government training between Western and local tribal governments.

Her advocacy has a direct impact on Native American students, families, and communities and her work to enhance and encourage the development of Indigenous programs, events, seminars and activities has helped to educate the campus community and increase our capacity to serve American Indian, Alaska Native, and First Nation communities.

Lea Aune, Chris Hadley, Marlene Harlan, Bob Hofstetter, Brad Jackson, Sara Nichols, Rick Osen, Jane Wareing - Human Resources, Facilities Management, Extended Education, Campus Recreation, Athletics, Athletics, Western Libraries, Counseling Center

Lea Aune, Human Resources

Lea Aune, Human Resources services manager, led the effort to respond to the campus community's call for improved accuracy in data and reporting as well as improved information regarding HR's expectations of the departments. The demands on Lea were very challenging.With a relatively new staff she needed to significantly transform the human resources information system processes and analyze numerous complex issues, solicit meaningful feedback from the campus, and built consensus for change. Her collaborative approach and encouragement for new ideas helped to inspire creativity and build a productive team atmosphere.

Chris Hadley, Facilities Management

Chris Hadley, who consistently sets and meets the highest standards for himself as a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems engineer. He has the most difficult of jobs, commissioning systems after they are installed, and ensuring that these systems are able to perform as specified. He analyzes system potential for energy savings for the university, and applies solutions that are unique, inventive and imaginative. His creative use of materials in optimizing controls and control sequences is based on his keen desire to save taxpayer dollars. His high standards in energy efficiency has led to substantial reductions in utility expenditures.

Marlene Harlan, Extended Education

Marlene Harlan, director of Marketing and Summer Programs for Extended Education, continually contributes to Western and Extended Education through sound leadership, consistent and thoughtful communication, and strong visioning. She is the first to raise her hand and take on more responsibility. She demonstrates exceptional ability and willingness to work positively and effectively with others. Marlene is a quiet, but talented communicator, leader and negotiator. She has been consistently instrumental in developing new partnerships across campus and beyond, in addition to fostering and nurturing current partnerships.

Bob Hofstetter, Campus Recreation

Bob Hofstetter, Marketing and Memberships Services manager for Campus Recreation, consistently offers his professional best to the faculty, staff, alumni, students and parents of students at Western. He welcomes people into the Wade King Student Recreation Center with kindness, respect and a big smile. He consistently steps up and takes on additional job responsibilities for the good of the overall operation and management of the Wade King Student Recreation Center. The student employees that are mentored by him express great pleasure in their work experience.

Brad Jackson, Athletics

Brad Jackson, Western's head men's Basketball coach, who was nominated for the award before his team won the national title. Brad is in his 27th season, the longest tenure of any coach in WWU history in any sport. Earlier this season, Brad became just the fifth four-year college basketball coach in the state of Washington to reach the 500-win milestone and the 40th in NCAA Division II men's basketball history. He is the most successful men's basketball coach in school history, both in total wins and winning percentage. In addition to his great success on the court, Brad has continually been an inspiration, an outstanding role model and mentor to the many young men who have gone through his program.

Sara Nichols, Athletics

Sara Nichols, development director for Athletics, who led the University-Foundation partnership to provide a gift in place of a renovated softball field. Over the course of the year Sara's leadership and attention to detail on this critical pilot project has been stellar. The success of the project is important to many facets of the university: improving the physical appearance of the grounds; improving Western's ability to recruit students overall, working closely with colleagues in BFA to model a collaborative working relationship on a non-public works project; and raising significant new funds and gifts-in-kind to advance the Foundation's reputation and assets.

Rick Osen, Western Libraries

Rick Osen, assistant dean for Administration and Planning in Western Libraries, has worked at the library for over 33 years. Since becoming a member of the administrative unit in 1991, his leadership, ability to identify key issues, and ability to work effectively with units across the campus have been instrumental in moving the library forward. Under Rick's leadership, greater efficiencies have occurred and allowed the library to continue the work necessary to provide materials efficiently and effectively to the university community. Perhaps most significantly, this has been done in a collaborative, transparent and collegial way.

Jane Wareing, Counseling Center

Jane Wareing, who as patient services coordinator for the Counseling Center, sees more clients than any counselor at the center. She greets every person who walks through the front door or who calls the front desk with warm, attention and care, providing that human connection that creates a sense of safety and genuine caring for people who are often feeling vulnerable, especially for those people who have never stepped foot in a counseling center. She is at the helm of the counseling center operations, with an eye for detail and follow-through so that no clients fall through the cracks.

Matthew Anderson, Marc Fromm, Francis Halle, Elizabeth Mason, Gayle Shipley, Scott Stilts, Steve Treloar, Carmen Werder - University Communications, Financial Aid, Space Administration & Management, Enrollment & Student Services, Environmental Health & Safety, Facilities Management, Enterprise Infrastructure Services, Teaching-Learning Academy

Matthew Anderson, University Communications

Matthew Anderson consistently demonstrates the highest levels of excellence in his demanding and complex job duties. He has been an outstanding leader in the development, fostering and utilization of social media for Western, staying abreast of and mastering the many changes in this rapidly evolving communications revolution. Matthew interacts with students, student interns, faculty and staff from across campus and his personal interaction is unceasingly friendly, pleasant and entirely professional. He makes others' jobs easier by always looking for solutions to problems, often before those problems are even noted by others. He frequently receives praise from people from throughout campus, as well as alumni, the media and the public. His caring and thoughtful manner inspires confidence and trust. His leadership of the development of social media at Western and his agile response to a shifting social media landscape has enabled Western to greatly expand its ability to communicate effectively with multiple crucial constituencies.

Marc Fromm, Financial Aid

Marc excels in his duties day-in and day-out in our department. Marc figures prominently in our effort to become a paperless office to save resources and increase efficiency. He cleverly designed a web-based application form that includes a student authentication process. His work on this application improved service delivery to our students and to staff both within and external to our department. Marc continually supports and refines our web-based Counselor Scheduling System. He’s incremental innovations throughout the year contribute positively to our increasing departmental efficiency and works late at night performing the maintenance to minimize the impact of the planned downtime. Marc is a go-to guy whenever there are software or hardware problems. He is patient and answers questions and resolves problems promptly, accurately, and with good humor. He is open and approachable. Marc is more than happy to share his work and in fact, after designing a web-based calculator he made the code especially easy to share. Marc recently innovated a solution to communication. He programmed a web-based process to provide better information and reduce staff interruptions. He simply does excellent work. He is a high performer and enhances the lives of staff in our department, students campus-wide, and members of the Bellingham community.

Francis Halle, Space Administration & Management

Francis Halle's depth of professional experience and creative thinking skills have profoundly transformed space planning and management, and influenced capital planning processes at Western. With his ability to maintain a broad university-wide perspective, Francis has a positive impact on countless decisions related to space planning throughout campus. Working with Facilities Development and Capital Budget Office he successfully implemented innovations across campus that includes the Classroom and Lab Upgrades and Fraser Hall Renovation. He has also had successes in lease consolidation, One-Stop Student Business Shop, and the Library Learning Commons. From planning ideas and decisions related to the smallest office space or to an entire building, Francis’ greatest strength lies in his creative, innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. He genuinely cares about people, seeking the very best way to accommodate their space needs. Francis is resourceful in mapping the functional needs of a unit onto space and is tireless in examining many options to that end. He has high standards, a high level of integrity, excellent business sense, and a strong commitment to the institution. Francis cares first and foremost about the people that comprise the Western community and incorporates that concern into the university’s need for efficient and appropriately purposed space use, and the need to align space needs with the university’s and academic division’s strategic plans.

Elizabeth Mason, Enrollment & Student Services

Elizabeth has demonstrated all of the characteristics imbedded in the exceptional effort award not only in the past year but for many years. She makes the ordinary extraordinary, whether it is in handling difficult phone conversations with complainants or drafting correspondence for donors. She drafts, edits, manages a myriad of details with constant changes, all the while handling incoming communication and prioritizing work. She listens to her surroundings and connects information in a way that reflects sophistication well beyond the job description. It is not just what she does, but how she does it! She is trusted both in her ability to prioritize and communicate and to remain level headed in the middle of chaos. She is respected because of her personal interaction style which is consistent and welcoming. Elizabeth has demonstrated a commitment that goes well beyond the norm. Her attitude of service is what makes Western a great place. She does not respond, she anticipates what needs to be done, while still ensuring that her actions are appropriate and fit the needs of the University.

Gayle Shipley, Environmental Health & Safety

Gayle consistently puts the needs of the University and its people first. She has a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of students and employees. She is a tireless advocate for doing the right thing. Gayle also provides excellent management of her department and is able to step in when necessary to perform any of the diverse functions of her staff in their absence. Her passion for safety fuels the greatest benefit in her interaction with others and she is respected for it. She provides knowledgeable support for each of her employees, but she does so in a consistently positive manner. She is her staff’s greatest cheerleader and gives them ample room to grow professionally and personally. Gayle has consistently provided an effective response to day-to-day issues and emergencies while building on a vision of a safer and healthier future for the Western community. She has worked tirelessly in building partnerships with local and state community members. Her efforts to guide individuals to a higher level of readiness are widely acknowledged and respected, and position Western and the greater community to better manage incidents, emergencies and disasters of all types. Without a doubt, Gayle has proven an indelible champion in making Western a safer place and we are all the better for it!

Scott Stilts, Facilities Management

Scott began researching energy saving ideas for campus lighting in 2000, and has been a key figure in Western’s efforts to obtain rebates for conversion of lighting fixtures around campus. These projects will reduce the amount of hazardous waste Western generates from fluorescent lamps. Scott is also a leader among his peers in Facilities Management. He is a staunch supporter of Western’s recycling and sustainability initiatives, and continuously works to increase FM’s recycling efforts. Scott fully embraces his role as a customer service provider to all of campus. He strives to respond in person to customers’ needs rather than just an e-mail or phone call so no details are missed and needs are fully understood. He actively listens to customer requests then reaches out to other subject matter experts to ensure he provides the most complete and accurate expectations possible. He never fails to follow up in a timely manner, delivering good news and bad with a positive and optimistic demeanor.

Steve Treloar, Enterprise Infrastructure Services

Steve shows exemplary dedication to keeping the computer infrastructure running for all of us. He has been performing duties that have kept him very busy while remaining personable and diligent through the process. Steve has managed many changes with university servers with skill, patience and grace. He has helped many during very stressful times. Steve has stepped up and ran meetings, planned changes and improvements, and made himself available to help other units on campus. He did all of this while balancing his desire to support his family and community. Steve is a true, unique asset to the entire University.

Carmen Werder, Teaching-Learning Academy

Carmen’s contributions to Western are continuous and remarkable. Rarely have I worked with a person who is so consistently inclusive and supportive with everyone she encounters. Carmen has the unique ability to level the playing field between faculty, staff and students and create a rich environment for dialogue and exploring new ideas. Her global perspective helps to connect our Western community with the local and international communities. Her inclusive and affirming style has made the Teaching Learning Academy a mainstay for many at Western. Western is a priority and love for Carmen. Her passion about her work is contagious. Carmen champions the best in all of us when we work with her. It is a win-win situation for all. She is a role model for many on how to walk through this world with wonder and curiosity. She is a gift and more than deserving of this award.

Melinda Assink - Provost Office

Melinda Assink is the Assistant to the Provost at Western Washington University.  Before joining the Provost’s Office in 2012, she spent four years teaching middle and high school Social Studies and English Language Arts.  Melinda earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Social Studies and a Secondary Education teaching certificate from WWU. She is currently working on a Masters of Education in Adult and Higher Education.

While much of her job involves supporting the Provost administratively, she works closely with Academic Deans, Vice Presidents, faculty, and staff. Along with her  incredible colleagues, Hannah Okotcha and Casey Garboden, during Academic Year 2020 - 2021, she built a new workshop on academic integrity for students who have violated the Academic Honesty Policy at Western. The Academic Integrity Program (AIP) was designed as an informative, interactive, and positive learning experience for students going through this process. The team, along with the Western Coalition for Integrity, is currently developing a proactive workshop for new students to learn about Western’s academic integrity expectations, and compiling resources and education for all community members regarding this important issue.

Melinda’s work is integral to creating and maintaining an academic integrity culture at Western, and directly impacts students’ success. Her passion lies in helping support students and faculty within our university community.

Peter Thut - Biology

Peter first came to Western in the mid-1990s as a graduate student in Biology. He returned in 2005 as the Biology Stockroom Manager supporting teaching and research. During his career, Peter has created a supportive and effective team of dedicated lab techs who facilitate the highest caliber of student learning and experiences.

Peter has been instrumental in many important renovations, including Western’s first cadaver teaching labs, culminating in the new Interdisciplinary Science Building. He has taken on a leadership role acting a liaison between contractors, facilities management, architects, and ends users from five different departments. The additional duties have led to a revision of his job description and a new job title: Biology and ISB Laboratory Manager.

Peter’s greatest pride comes from his connections with the people at Western. He enjoys working throughout the University, chaired the Central Health and Safety Committee, and advocating for staff. Peter has served on search committees across multiple divisions and departments. He actively seeks out collaboration and cooperation with people across campus from ATUS and FM to Business Services and Academic Affairs. Above all, Peter works to create a supportive community in which people love to work.

Richard Henderson - University Residences

Richard Henderson, M.Ed, is an Assistant Director for Residence Life. He supervises the full-time staff in the South area of campus serving approximately 1100 students. He leads the efforts for student staff training, curriculum development, Residence Hall Association and Pride Housing. Two of Richard’s biggest projects has been the creation of Black Affinity Housing and a virtual student staff training experience. Richard led the committee in shifting a typical two-week full-time training schedule all in-person to online, including CANVAS courses, videos and an online workbook that takes staff through all their priorities for the year.

The Residence Life staff team has been discussing the topic of racial injustice due to the heightened awareness of racism, specifically, the summer 2020 months. Based on these conversations and the criteria outlined by WWU’s Black Student Organizations at Western, Richard was inspired to facilitate a new initiative in housing to create a more welcoming and inclusive community for Black identified students. Over the summer, Richard developed a task force to create this new community and is spending this academic year collaborating with students and campus partners to develop learning outcomes, programming, and outreach to shape this new learning community.

Ryan Key-Wynne - Admissions Office

Ryan leads a small, dynamic team to execute communication and marketing initiatives to attract prospective students, engage applicants, and retain admitted students through their initial enrollment. She enjoys collaborating with colleagues across campus to tell Western’s story, serving prospective and incoming students by providing them with helpful information in easily digestible formats, and diving into data and research to better understand emerging communication preferences and improve communication delivery. 

She has served as a member of Western Brand Council, served on the search committee for the Executive Director of American Indian/Alaska Native and First Nations Relations & Tribal Liaison to the President, and sits on the university’s Marketing Committee. She is also a founding member of Western’s External Recruitment Marketing Team, established to better align marketing efforts across campus, and reduce work being duplicated across marketing teams. She works with deans, faculty and staff to promote a growing number of Distinguished Scholars programs to admitted students, and with colleagues in Enrollment and Student Services to promote orientation and first-year programs. And, she is one of three Slate Captains implementing a new CRM for Admissions and other offices within the ESS.

Sara Wilson - Student Success Initiatives

Sara Wilson, M.S., is the Executive Director for the Student Success Initiatives unit in the Division of Enrollment and Student Services at Western. The SSI unit includes the Academic Advising Center, Career Services Center, Student Outreach Services, the Western Success Scholars program as well as unit support for marketing/website/technology needs and divisional support with assessment and strategic planning initiatives. She has served at Western since January 2010, initially as the Special Assistant to the Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services.

Sara’s primary work is focused on working with her team and institutionally to find strategies and solutions that improve Western’s retention and graduation rates. This includes identifying institutional barriers to student success along with implementing advising/academic supportive measures and outreach initiatives that assist students with degree completion. Since 2012, she has also shared a principal role with Western’s VPUE in the initiative to implement SSC/Navigate – a tool that allows advisors across the institution to communicate and share information with each other in supporting students. Beginning in March 2020, she has also served as the Planning Section Co-Chief in Western’s institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of her colleagues praised her ability to maintain an incredible balance between grit and sensitivity, and bring rich experience, insight, and wisdom to her work.

Sarah Crawford - Human Resources

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is originally from Alaska but has lived in Bellingham for almost 10 years. Sarah started working at Western Washington University in the Human Resources department approximately 9 years ago. Most of this time has been as Payroll Manager but she recently moved into the role of Senior HR Analytics Manager. She is committed to ensuring the accuracy of HR data and in turn, accurate paychecks. When faced with any challenges or opportunities in reaching this goal, she approaches it with a calm demeanor, a thirst for full understanding of the situation and a desire for quick resolution. She is an effective communicator, maintains a positive attitude and possesses excellent leadership qualities. Sarah is constantly searching for new ideas to improve efficiency. She has created an atmosphere for getting work done and thinking outside the box for solutions. Her technical skills surpass what is expected for her position and she utilizes these skills to continue to move HR systems forward. Sarah can quickly build a positive relationship with employees with her respectful and kind approach and has excellent rapport with her customers.

Stephanie Norsby - Human Resources

Assistant Director Human Resources Stephanie Norsby has been a source of continuity in during a period of dramatic transition in HR. Her colleagues admire her for her wealth of HR and institutional knowledge, and the tremendous amount of work she accomplishes, all with a factual, positive, solutions-oriented approach. She recently took on the additional role of the HR liaison to Academic Affairs, which supports nearly 75 percent of employees on campus. Norsby meets regularly with college operations managers to solve a wide array of daily and critical issues, such as emergent medical leaves, priority hiring to fill crucial vacancies, and tricky personnel issues. 

Colleagues who awarded her the Professional Staff Award for Excellence put it like this: “With the loss of so many HR staff members in 2022, Stephanie took on extra work tasks, including communicating directly with all the colleges in Academic Affairs to help keep the human resource needs met and moving forward. Stephanie has shown incredible dedication and remains positive in all her interactions. She makes sure we feel we are heard. She is caring and is easy to approach, as she welcomes anyone with a big smile always. The professionalism that she has displayed, coupled with her ability to problem-solve our time-sensitive issues, contributes to Western’s mission and values that include pursuing excellence, and displaying integrity, responsibility, and accountability in all our work. She is just an amazing employee for Western, and we are very lucky to have her in HR.”

Talisa Manker - Decision Sciences

Talisa is currently the Department Manager for the Department of Elementary Education but was nominated for this award for her work in the Department of Decision Sciences, in the College of Business and Economics, where she worked until February of 2020. In the past year Talisa was selected for five service roles for the College of Business. She was voted by her peers to serve as the staff representative on the college’s Policy Council, she served on three search committees including the university-wide search committee for the Vice Provost for Outreach and Continuing Education and traveled to Vietnam with Study Group to promote Western’s business programs and recruit students.   

Tonya Alexander, Christy Jensen, Gary Malick, Andrea Rodger, Leti Romo, Anne Marie Theiler, Angie Vandenhaak, Dana Weigel - College of Science & Engineering, Financial Aid, ATUS, Business Services, Student Activities, Counseling Center, University Advancement, Budget Office

(L-R)

Andrea Rodger, Business Services

Through Andrea’s leadership, the new Contract Management Module software was successfully implemented, and in less than a year, is an invaluable tool across campus. Andrea’s positive demeanor and “can-do” attitude is infectious.  She is exactly what the Procurement/Contracts office needed to bring all the new processes and personnel together to function at their very highest level.  The bottom line is that Andrea is a fantastic employee, highly focused on both the success of the department and its contribution to the university as a whole.

Anne Marie Theiler, Counseling Center

Anne Marie Theiler, M.S., LMHC, has served in two of three management positions for the Counseling Center throughout this academic year, including Interim Director and Assistant Director of Clinical Operations.  Each of these positions require a significant amount of expertise, interpersonal skills, organization, and motivation.  During this time, Anne Marie has also been involved in national searches for the WWU Counseling Center Director and the WWU Executive Director for Counseling, Health and Wellness. Along with the responsibility of these two significant management positions, her focus has been on continuing to offer the best service possible to Western students.

Christy Jensen, Financial Aid

Christy demonstrates the best of Western and since her arrival, she has wasted no time in impacting process improvement in the Student Business Office.  She has maintained and vastly improved systems and related processes associated with the delivery of financial aid to Western students. Her colleagues often comment on how they don’t know how she juggles the many responsibilities and requests that come her way.  She courageously asks “why” to understand business practices and to encourage others to think strategically about the work we do.

Dana Weigel, Budget Office

During her first six months, Dana worked to redesign the budget for University Relations and Marketing. She also led the submission of the biennial budget request to the State, and took the role of the Interim Business and Financial Affairs Budget Officer.  After her first year writing the fiscal notes for Western during the legislative session, Dana led the collaboration of the six higher education institutions to support consistent interpretation of Legislative activity.  She is a pleasure to work with, is patient, and always willing to help others complete a task or project.

Tonya Alexander, College of Science & Engineering

Initiative is one of Tonya’s principal core strengths.  She has a sound understanding of college operations and has constructed new methodologies and processes to adapt systems for higher functionality. She is a natural leader, and a fundamental part of the college personnel structure, providing a unique combination of genuine caring and structured leadership, that gives people a sense of family.  Tonya brings an infectious sense of humor and positive outlook that provides a sound foundation for high standards.

Angie Vandenhaak, University Advancement

Angie’s 18 years in University Advancement has consistently resulted in innovative and outstanding achievement.  In her current role, Angie has reworked the structure, focus, and foundational elements of the annual giving program, as well as the Alumni Association membership program to develop a best-in-class organization.  She created an annual giving pipeline program, and implemented two successful programs: Western Give Day and Viking Funder, as well as brought back the Employee Giving Campaign, while identifying new software programs and technology to support these efforts.                                            

Gary Malick, ATUS

With over 24 years of service, Gary has been a positive influence at Western.  He has taken strategic leadership in the design, selection, availability, and reliability of audiovisual technology in classrooms and TV studios.  Gary and his team have begun the process of converting classrooms from old analog equipment to contemporary digital standards, including replacing more than 50 projectors. In addition to the outstanding support of classroom AV technology, Gary also oversees the ATUS equipment loan pool.

Leti Romo, Student Activities

Leti has creatively engaged in the restructure of the previously known "AS Resource & Outreach Programs" into the new "AS Student Advocacy & Identity Resource Center."  She encourages the center’s staff to think critically about the work being done, and the opportunities to make an even greater impact.  In addition, she has also been instrumental in bringing to fruition the development and daily operations of Western’s Hub of Living Essentials (WHOLE), which includes the Clothing Closet, Food Pantry, and personal products.  She advocates for student representation, and socially just and equitable practices in the AS to ensure inclusivity.

Viva Barnes, Amelia Cave, Austin Cooper, Debby Cwalina, Linda Flanagan, Karl Klokkevold, Bob Putich, Barbara Sandoval - Anthropology, Prevention & Wellness Services, Academic Budget and Administration, Human Resources, English, Viking Union, Financial Services, President's Office

Viva Barnes, Anthropology

“That’s a Viva question!” “Ask Viva!” These are commonly heard expressions around the Anthropology Department, where she is deeply appreciated for her attitude as well as her encyclopedic knowledge.  She is noted as “almost supernaturally cheerful” while at the same time completely professional. Her compassion matches her competence, an extraordinary combination. Viva was noted as the “life force” and the “glue” of the Anthropology Department, gifted with seemingly "endless patience," and  professional at all times. Viva is unfailingly supportive of students, and provides outstanding leadership for the department.

Amelia Cave, Prevention & Wellness Services

For the past three years Amelia has taken on the monumental task of coordinating and implementing the Haven on-line sexual violence awareness and prevention training that has become a requirement for all new Western students.  She has worked tirelessly to finesse the nuances of implementation details, collaborating with a myriad of WWU partners and staff from the software company to make this the success program that smoothly rolls out every quarter.  She troubleshoots problems as they arise, provides implementation information and updates to a variety of Western partners, and responds to student and staff questions.  Amelia also serves as part of the teaching team for Western's Peer Health Educator Program, and manages a demanding load of design projects advertising the department’s student services, programs and outreach campaigns. Amelia is willing to roll up her sleeves’ and do the hard work when needed, and brings an eye for what is possible through creative problem solving to improve and streamline tasks and systems.

Austin Cooper, Academic Budget and Administration

As Assistant Director for Academic Budget and Administration, which oversees the operational and financial aspects of new faculty hiring, review and leave , Austin is in charge of faculty-related processes and data collection and also serves as a policy coordinator for the Academic Affairs division.  Austin's "outside the box" thinking has taken the services Academic Budget and Administration provides to a new level.  He excels at improving processes and using new technology and applications, and has contributed greatly to making the office more effective and efficient.  His design of a new website (www.wwu.edu/aba), and innovative use of technology like SharePoint and Power BI have improved workflow, data gathering, and efficiency of processes throughout the division and the colleges as well.

Debby Cwalina, Human Resources

Debby was hired in 2015 to develop a classification and compensation program for professional staff and has completely transformed the process.  She has displayed an extraordinary level of dedication to the program in the performance of her duties, and exceeded all program expectations.  Working quickly and productively, Debby expertly manages competing demands on her time and maintains determined focus on key objectives.

Linda Flanagan, English

Whether advising students or helping faculty understand the complications of the undergraduate enrollment system, Linda has been critical to the success of the undergraduate mission of the English Department, one of Western's largest.  Her deep knowledge of the English department, administrative fluency, practical know-how, and investment in the success of every student who comes within her orbit have made Linda an invaluable resource to all.  On top of this, according to one colleague, she is a kind, warm, and gracious person--a delight to work with.

Karl Klokkevold, DOS-Viking Union

Everyone who walks through the Viking Union is the beneficiary of Karl's unstinting attention to detail and consistency, which makes the VU a welcoming place for students and the entire Western community.  He does his job with selfless grace, has a can-do attitude, and demonstrates a commitment that is admirable.  He goes above and beyond to support his colleagues, and is the go-to person for daily functions and operations of the VU.

Bob Putich, Financial Services

Bob came to Western seven years ago after leaving a successful career in private industry.  Bob's entrepreneurial background and unique business sense has enabled the Student Business Office to take on the parking operation management, an accomplishment that would not have been possible had Bob not been at the helm. Bob works tirelessly with departments across divisions on efforts to provide a more seamless experience for the student.  And in his role of managing parking operations, Bob has successfully navigated the issues and concerns brought forward by faculty, staff and guests to the university.

Barbara Sandoval, President's Office

As Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Barbara does a masterful job managing and coordinating the activities of the President’s Office and the Office of the Board of Trustees, supporting Western’s leadership at the highest levels.  Barbara’s scrupulous attention to detail, discretion, ability to anticipate problems before they arise, and solve them on the fly when they do, has made her an invaluable asset to the President’s Office and the Trustees.

During the Presidential transition, however, Barbara truly went above and beyond, supporting Bruce and Cyndie Shepard as they transitioned to the next chapter of their lives, the Board of Trustees as they led a search for a new President, and Sabah Randhawa and Uzma Ahmad as they joined the Western community.  At the center of all this change, Barbara worked tirelessly to ensure that the enormous complexities of the transition have been handled with consummate professionalism, respect, and personal care for all of the individuals involved.  Barbara’s outstanding performance behind the scenes in support of others makes her all the more deserving of this recognition.

Wayne Galloway - Facilities Management

Wayne Galloway’s passion for Western Washington University’s custodial teams has powered his determination to establish team building, leadership development, and top-notch customer service skills since he joined the Facilities Management team in Fall of 2016.  His personal attention and care for the university’s custodial staff has created a cohesive, respectful, and caring team. To accomplish this, Wayne meets frequently with the teams and ensures that all custodians are given the opportunity to advance their skills by training for certifications in the custodial trade from ISSA and IICRC. Team members are recognized in quarterly Certificate of Appreciation events. 

Due to his experience in the medical cleaning trade, he has been ensuring that the WWU custodial teams have been consistently trained on the most current information to help them successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic cleaning and disinfection challenges. He has also personally led and been a member of the ISOQ transport team that has safely made over 100 moves of pandemic impacted students to and from the Ridge ISOQ Suites to ensure the safety of the WWU community.

Thanks to Wayne’s leadership, the custodial teams are well known for quickly handling all building service concerns or needs of the WWU community.

Zach McGrew - Computer Science

Zach McGrew, the Computational Science administrator in the Computer Science Department, began at Western as an undergrad in Computer Science where he went on to complete his master’s degree in 2018. After a short stint teaching as a non-tenure track faculty member, he helped create his position, which runs the high-performance computer clusters serving the Computer Science Department and seven other departments in the College of Science and Engineering. McGrew supports faculty and student researchers to build, run, and optimize their research environments and projects. By working directly with faculty and students, he has been able to ensure that academic classes can utilize the cluster environments and that researchers can get access to the computer resources that they need.

In addition to working as the cluster administrator, McGrew helps the Computer Science Support group to run the computer science infrastructure and the environments for their academic and research labs. By leveraging his experience as a student, he provides insight into the problems that students may encounter. McGrew is known in the department for his knowledge and expertise, his skill in explaining complex issues in understandable terms, and his consistently friendly and professional demeanor. 

AJ Barse - Student Technology Center

Described by his colleagues as a “thoughtful, knowledgeable teacher,” a “generous and attentive collaborator” and “my #techhero” for his just-in-time technology rescues, AJ Barse has worked as an Information Technology Specialist at the ATUS Student Technology Center since 2012. He specializes in the digital arts and related software tools and has created in-depth training modules in both scanning and 3D printing. He is passionately committed to teaching students technology skills that will help them in their professional lives.
 

Byron Gouette - Facilities Management

Byron Gouette started his WWU employment as an ACS student worker in 2009 acquiring the skills that led to his current position as Team Lead for the Project/Repair Shop.  After graduating from WWU with a BA in English and Film Studies, he made it a mission to inspire and promote inclusion and equity; so to further his knowledge and better communicate with the deaf members of his team, Byron took ASL classes and continues to provide assistance.

When asked to join the Water Damage Response Team, Byron jumped at the opportunity; quickly becoming instrumental with tackling large and small-scale floods campus-wide.  He contributes as a member of the ACS Safety Committee discussing and strategizing precautionary measures for the department and FM.

Byron serves as one of the three original members of the ISOQ Transport and Response Team alongside his director Wayne Galloway and teammate Jeff Osthimer – relocating sick students (off and on campus) to isolation/quarantine areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.  This high-risk task has been a challenge that he has graciously accepted.

Outside of WWU, he works in film and photography and has utilized these skills to create videos highlighting the WWU FM team and all of their hard work.

Carrie Annett - Chemistry

Chemistry Department Manager Carrie Annett leads her department’s administrative office team with a professional, collegial, and friendly approach. As one faculty member put it, “She is undeniably the heart and soul of the Chemistry department.” Annett started working at Western in 1995 as a fiscal technician in the Viking Union and has worked in several areas across campus, including Administrative Computing, Elementary Education, and Chemistry (on two separate occasions) where she began as manager in 2013.

In 2021, Chemistry experienced an unprecedented period of staff vacancies, with six of nine staff positions turning over. Annett remained positive and worked many extra hours to avoid disruption of department operations. She offered creative solutions to hire exemplary people and went above and beyond to train multiple new team members simultaneously.
Annett is an innovative leader with a wealth of institutional knowledge. Her accomplishments over the years include key contributions to the development of flow charts for summer student hiring, onboarding the Chemistry Stockroom as a Banner Store, and serving as mentor to multiple new CSE department managers. One previous mentee stated, “Carrie is an inspiration and someone you can count on to show up and go above and beyond in every situation.”
 

Chase Macomber - Woodring College of Education

Chase Macomber has been an invaluable addition to Woodring College of Education since he joined in 2008. Before, but especially during, the COVID-19 pandemic Chase has gone above and beyond to ensure the needs of Woodring faculty and staff are met. Whether that is helping to loan out equipment, picking up deliveries from Central Services, packaging and shipping necessary equipment to folks who were working remotely, and/or providing computer support in both an online and face-to-face capacities.

Woodring staff and faculty know that they can always ask Chase any question about technology, no matter how silly or small, and he will always answer (more than likely with a smile on his face). As a caring and dedicated employee, he is always willing to assist in all areas of need at the college, with a calm and positive attitude. Chase's prompt solutions to technology issues empowers Woodring College of Education to fulfill its Mission and Vision Statements. In particular, he enables the staff and faculty to be able to foster community relationships and develop collaborative partnerships.

Chase looks forward to many more years of working with all his friends and colleagues at Woodring and the University.

Clarissa Mansfield - Western Libraries

Clarissa Mansfield began working at Western Libraries in 2006, and she became the Libraries’ Communications Manager in 2013. In this role, she leads, coordinates, and manages the communication and marketing needs of all units of Western Libraries. Her work has elevated the Libraries’ communications and publicity efforts to unprecedented levels. Her relationships with her colleagues and the opportunities she has to collaborate with so many dedicated students, staff, and faculty at Western are among her favorite aspects of the work she does.

Clarissa is an advocate for students and cares deeply about their experience at Western. She serves on the Libraries’ Social Justice Advisory Team, a group dedicated to advancing social justice in the library for all stakeholders. She has also been a leader among her classified colleagues, pursuing equity in the Libraries, as well as emphasizing the critical role of classified employees university-wide.  Clarissa is courageous in pursuit of improving the workplace, and is unafraid to speak up and challenge workplace inequity.  

Clarissa is a graduate of Western, receiving her B.A. in 2001 in both Liberal Studies (now known as “Global Humanities and Religions”), and in English. She also received her M.Ed. in Environmental Education from Western’s Huxley College of the Environment in 2014, with her master’s project concentration on exploring the role of academic libraries in environmental education.

Heidi Zeretzke - Facilities Maintenance

Heidi Zeretzke, a grounds and nursery specialist responsible for the care and upkeep of the central area of the WWU campus, is an essential part the outdoor maintenance team at Western.

Jeannine Woelkers​ - New Student Services/Family Outreach

Described by her colleagues as “big-hearted,” “friendly, patient, resourceful,” “student-centered” and “compassionate” --Jeannine has dedicated her years at Western to providing outstanding service to thousands of new students and their family members in support of their transition into the Western community. She cares genuinely for the students, faculty and staff with whom she works, and strives to ensure that students and their family members feel welcome and understand Western’s commitment to their success.

“Jeannine is an expert at understanding what new students and their parents want, even when they lack the words to thoroughly articulate their needs. Sometimes they are frightened or frustrated and this is conveyed in how they deliver their questions and requests. Jeannine understands. Ever the pragmatist, Jeannine would say that addressing concerns is just a part of the job.  However, she possesses the ability and desire to not only provide them with the guidance that they need, but leave them feeling heard, that she cares, and that she and the University are committed to helping them succeed.”

Jimmy Perigo - Facilities

Jimmy Perigo has been a critical member of the Western’s Academic Custodial Services team since November 1998, performing higher level duty assignments in a majority of the construction trade shops at WWU. He has extensive knowledge of the university and knows how much harm building-related emergencies can cause. 

Now supervisor of the Water Damage Response Team, Perigo responds to any emergency where water has intruded into our buildings by either a leak, an overflowed sink or toilet, or an emergency flooding event. He and his team are usually one of the first WWU staff members on location to assist in eliminating the cause of the leak and in creating the clean-up plan. Perigo leads his team in evaluating whether they are able to dry the building material or if it’s better to remove the damaged or contaminated material and replace it. Perigo and his team have minimized unnecessary costs and disruption, especially in large emergency floods, and demonstrate a high level of care to those whose routines were upended by these stressful, unexpected events.

Meanwhile, Perigo has continued to lead and care for the custodial teams assigned to him to ensure the highest level of cleanliness and health for the university community. 
 

Juliet Holzknecht - University Residences

As Program Coordinator for Conference Housing, Juliet’s leadership skills shine during the summer, their busiest season. According to her colleagues, Juliet is the glue that holds the summer Guest Housing staff together, delegating tasks, supporting her student staff and providing others with the tools they need to solve problems.  Juliet was a part of the original team that developed the University Residences Ethics Workshop, and she continues to serve as a committee member and workshop facilitator.  Juliet does a tremendous amount of customer-service related problem solving with visiting guests and conference groups.  Her creativity in this area, and dedication to the institution, has left many, many visitors with a very positive impression of WWU. 

June Fraser Thistle - University Residences

Fraser Thistle’s first job at Western was collecting on the Federal Perkins Loan Program, where her creative approach resulted in achieving the lowest default cohort rates of any Washington state school to date.  She then went on to supervise the Student Accounts department, where she continually worked to improve Western’s customer service and guide students through the sometimes confusing aspects of financing their education. Fraser Thistle now manages the Residence Life office, which actively engages students in leadership roles in Western’s residence halls.

Kate Stevenson - Honors College

Kate Stevenson’s involvement at Western began in 1996 as an undergraduate student employee on the Viking Union Set Crew. Cultivating relationships with staff, faculty, students, and community throughout the years provided her the opportunity to continue her career at WWU. She taught in the Dance Department for three years before starting her career as a classified staff person. Stevenson returned to the Viking Union Operations team as the Event Services manager, then to New Student Services/Family Outreach as the Family Outreach manager, and currently serves as the program manager in the Honors College. 

Stevenson’s colleagues overwhelmingly praise her enthusiastic energy, positive outlook, collaborative and supportive spirit, and ability to get things done. In addition to the great work she does for the Honors College, she is also a popular instructor in the WWU Wellness Program, whipping faculty and staff into shape and making workouts fun. One stated: “In a sea of chaos and anxiety, Kate is an island of tranquility. She is in command without being at all commanding, she exudes competence, and she is simply a delight to work with. She adds luster to any endeavor with which she is associated.”
 

Kevin Dixey - Academic Technology User Services

As an IT Specialist and technology trainer in Academic Technology and User Services, Kevin Dixey believes in teaching skill, and tailors his training workshops to meet the specific needs of students, faculty and staff. 

Luke Mason - Viking Union Operations

Luke started at Western as a gardener in 2011 and moved through the campus community as a utility worker, irrigation specialist, building mechanic, and carpenter. In 2017, he moved to the position of Maintenance Services Coordinator in the Viking Union. During the pandemic, he helped to find ways for his staff to work remotely by providing educational opportunities to work towards certifications based on industry best practices as well as a deeper sense of cultural humility relevant to our increasingly diverse student body. He led his staff in taking on special cleaning and restorative projects that could not have been completed during typical cycles of building activity. He also developed and executed a plan based on pandemic safety recommendations and operational needs for people to move throughout the building safely.

Luke has worked cross-campus to help create a sustainable environment, including creating the Campus to Compost program at Facilities Management that eliminates tons of waste by returning it to campus landscape. Some of his favorite projects during his time at Western have been helping to preserve the Burn’s cabin by Fairhaven College, watching the many campus trees he helped plant grow, and working to create and maintain the student union as a fun, safe and engaging space. 

Margaret Gegenhuber - Woodring College of Education

As Program Coordinator for Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Margaret is known for personal initiative, working collaboratively and being student-centered. Her colleagues note her impressive ability to navigate complex systems and help others understand them as well. Her proactive approach to problem-solving and willingness to share knowledge has increased efficiencies and empowered others to become more competent and confident in accomplishing their own work. Through her leadership, better systems are in place for course registration, advising, and efficient dissemination of information to students.

Margaret builds supportive relationships with students, taking the time to listen to their concerns, and going above and beyond to find solutions. As one colleague noted, “She builds community within the department, not solely by completing administrative tasks, but by engaging with faculty and staff through authentic, open conversations.” Margaret has been at Western since 2001.

Megan Brown - Elementary Education

Megan started working at Western in 2015 as an Office Assistant in the Elementary Education Department. Presently, she is a Program Coordinator in the same department, with specific focus on the Early Childhood Education Program.  

Megan strives to diversify the teaching workforce by recruiting and retaining pre-service teachers that are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, first generation, as well as other underrepresented groups within the teaching profession. Megan’s office is frequently occupied with students, which speaks to the trust she has built with them, and the safe, supportive space she provides. Students highlight the knowledge that Megan provides to them about the program, university and community resources that have been critical for their success in the program. One student shares, “She is always willing to make time for anything I need, whether that is degree related or mental support.”

Outside of her department work, Megan is also a member of Woodring’s Equity and Diversity Committee, and works closely with Woodring’s Office of Access, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to review practices and advocate for strategies that promote equity and honor diversities. 

Megan graduated cum laude from Western in 2014, receiving a B.S. in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Economics. 

Past Recipients 1996-2009 - Various

Rose Kawczynski - Environmental Sciences

Since March 2014, Rose Kawczynski has served as Manager of the Department of Environmental Sciences, one of the largest STEM departments on campus.

Rose is innovative in improving the department procedures. With 100+ field trips per year, there is a high need for frequent access to 12-passenger vans. Rose found a way to transition from strictly using rental car companies to a more permanent leasing of vans from the State of Washington by working with Facilities Management. To date, the department has three large vans on campus which provide a seamless process for field-based classes, keeps academic fees affordable for students, and saves the department thousands of dollars every year. 

Rose recognizes the significance of the faculty research with their countless scientific publications and millions of dollars in external grants. She is not hesitant to go above and beyond expectations to provide the administrative service they need as scientists.

To students, fellow staff and visitors, she always offers a warm gracious smile along with her administrative expertise. She adheres to a strong ethic of inclusivity to ensure that everyone knows that they belong. Her greatest strength is community building. As one faculty member stated “She is the glue that holds our department together.”

Ruth Hackler - Psychology

Ruth has been a guiding force for the Psychology Department since the early 1980s. As the Administrative Services Manager, she provides leadership to the staff in the department and monitors all aspects of the departmental budget and day-to-day operations. She is instrumental in helping the department significantly advance departmental goals, and developing and implementing positive and creative approaches to solving problems.

Ruth received her undergraduate degree in Psychology through the staff waiver process one class at a time while raising three boys. For her Honors project, she participated in a study funded through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to determine if volunteer coaching efforts could reduce unnecessary hospital readmission. She then assisted students in a Psychology Department Seminar in Adult Development and Aging in learning health outreach methodology. The students then worked on campus, at the local senior center, and at a retirement community to teach individuals to manage medications.

Ruth truly cares about the students and staff she supervises. She connects with them. She empowers them. Ruth helps the department respond to changing needs through innovative reorganization and smart hiring. And she has created an incredible community that greatly benefits the students, staff, and faculty of Western Washington University.

Ryan Cullup - Facilities

Ryan Cullup has spent 13 years at Western serving as a custodian, a roofer, and now Facilities Services coordinator – all while working toward his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Cullup has continually contributed to Western from a servant leadership mindset while holistically assisting Facilities Development & Operations in developing the planned maintenance and asset management portfolio. Most recently, he has honed his project management skills on public works projects with a combined construction value of nearly $2 million. He is a member of Western’s Confined Space Rescue team and a former union president. 

Outside of Western, Cullup spends time in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island counties fishing, officiating high school wrestling matches, and raising a family. He is extremely dedicated to a life filled with learning and supporting his fellow employees while serving our customers, our students, and the citizens of Washington state.

Scott Wilkinson - College of the Environment

Scott is a lifelong learner and sees his success at WWU as a product of time spent in both the Chemistry Department (from 2001-2009, as an undergraduate, graduate student, and General Chemistry Lab Coordinator) and the College of the Environment (CENV), where he has served in the role of Lab and Classroom Support Technician since 2009. Over the last 13 years he has seen the College grow substantially and this expansion has afforded opportunities to serve students and faculty who are engaged in ever more interesting projects in disciplines like nanomaterials, the cryosphere, microplastics, restoration, marine science, and more. With help and mentoring from colleagues in CENV, EH&S, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, AMSEC, and SciTech he now has the experience and institutional knowledge to effectively serve as the College’s Safety Officer, Lab Coordinator, Stockroom Attendant, and Purchasing Agent. One of Scott’s mottos is “The show must go on,” and he does his best to provide seamless support for the College’s many research projects, classes, and field trips. Accomplishments over the years include cultivating positive working relationships across campus, maintaining a strong safety record, serving as a Site Supervisor through the pandemic, and helping acquire ~$100,000 in STF funds for CENV.

Susan Cahill - Woodring College

For nearly 10 years Susan has been making sure that Woodring College of Education students are on track to become certified, assisting them down their paths in any way she can. Before working in higher education, she worked for the Olympia School District as the assistant to the director for Special Programs at Olympia High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Government and Journalism from California State University in Sacramento, and after graduation she was a legislative reporter for the League of Women Voters.  

Teri Hall - College of Business & Economics

Teri Hall is the Student Success Specialist for the College of Business and Economics (CBE). She provides advising, both academic and developmental, to students interested in, or already pursuing, a degree within CBE. Teri believes in the transformative power of education, and is dedicated to helping students achieve their goals.

Teri served on the 2019-20 President’s Council for Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice, which works to identify structural barriers at Western, and recommends policies and practices that help create and sustain a more just and inclusive community. She is also a founding member of the CBE Equity, Inclusion and (EID) Task Force. She procured a $32,000 grant for the EID Task Force for 2020-2021, which will enable the Task Force to hire five EID student advocates and to invest in programmatic efforts to increase cultural competency at CBE. Teri also serves on the Value Leader Team for Navigate, the student outreach platform for advising at Western, and has utilized the platform to provide innovative outreach campaigns and advising services in order to reach CBE students and help them on their educational paths. 

Britta Eschete - Career Services Center

Britta Eschete works in the Career Services Center and is celebrating 10 years of employment at WWU. Of equal importance to her job is her lifetime enthusiasm for volunteering and supporting her community. A lifelong Washington resident, she moved to Skagit County in 2000 to launch the North Sound Office of People For Puget Sound. Other volunteering highlights include volunteering at the Lincoln Theatre and RiverSong Farm for the past 20 years, and fostering the same community mindedness in her daughter Noelle. Prior to COVID, she gave her time to support many annual events, including driving golf carts at Lights of Christmas in Warm Beach, and “volunteer vacations” helping at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, NW Folklife, and Wintergrass. A graduate of Leadership Skagit, Britta is an enthusiastic supporter of WWU Community Engagement Fellows, and credits both organizations to helping her be an effective BUA rep for classified staff with Local 1381. She is currently serving on the boards of the Skagit Food Co-op, Skagit River Poetry Foundation, and Lincoln Theatre; serving on the planning team for Storming the Sound, a regional gathering of environmental educators; and she also participates in the Mount Vernon Police Citizen Program. Contribute to your place in the world! 

Community Consortium for Cultural Recognition - WWU and Off-campus Partners

The Community Consortium for Cultural Recognition, led by WWU staff and faculty, coordinate a diverse offering of cultural recognitions and events open to the entire community. These events have been created, funded, and executed in partnership with key community organizations including Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Technical College, Northwest Indian College, Bellingham Public Schools, Peace Health, the city of Bellingham, Swinomish Education Department, and Skagit Valley College.

The partnership started in 2020 in the wake of the national reckoning on systemic racism and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. The consortium’s first project in 2021 was a virtual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Commemoration event featuring Ijeoma Oluo, a WWU alumna and New York Times best-selling author of “So you Want to Talk About Race.” Nearly 1,000 students and community members attended the event.
Since then, the consortium has collaborated to celebrate two more MLK Day events, two Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month. In total, more than 5,000 guests have attended these events to date both virtually and in person. Every event includes a web page hosted by WWU that is shared throughout the community and beyond on our social media channels. These web pages promote the events and educate the community of their significance. They also include online resources to encourage deeper understanding and continued learning. 

MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY CONSORTIUM: 

Bellingham Technical College: Danielle Humphreys, Hannah Simonetti; Bellingham Public Schools: Janis Velasquez-Farmer; Children of the Setting Sun Productions: Free Borsey; City of Bellingham: Deborah Bineza, Janice Keller; Community: Cynthia Zaferatos; Northwest Indian College: Victoria Retasket; Peace Health: Naiyahnikai Gorman, Vincent Green; Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: Michael Vendiola; Western Washington University: Laural Ballew, Frederick Collins, Travis Eller, Nia Gipson, Jacqueline Hughes, Brandon Joseph, Jean Lee, Chris Roselli, Grey Webster, Amy Salinas Westmoreland; Whatcom Community College: Keenan Kaemingk, Tanya Zaragoza-Rosas

David Sattler - Psychology

David N. Sattler, Professor of Psychology at Western since 2000, has a strong record of local, national, and international community service addressing environmental and educational issues. David was responsible for bringing world-renown chimpanzee expert Dr. Jane Goodall to Bellingham. Dr. Goodall inspired students, faculty, and staff at Western and local schools to make a difference in our community. He provides outreach to community groups and schools on issues of social concern (e.g., social media and youth, disaster preparedness), and produced emergency preparedness videos for Western and Whatcom Community College. In the wake of the India Ocean Tsunami, David established the International Tsunami Museum in Thailand to help promote recovery. He served as an official delegate for Tonga at multiple United Nations Climate Change Conferences. David collaborates with colleagues in Mongolia to examine how climate change is impacting the lives of nomadic herders. The Supreme Court of Washington appointed David to serve on the Washington State Bar Association Disciplinary Board. He has been a reviewer for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for more than a decade.

David Willet - Facilities Development/Capital Budget

David is the project manager for the Office of Facilities Development and Capital Budget at Western. Outside the university, Willett is an active community volunteer. He has been a board member of With Change in Mind, a company that creates humanitarian travel adventures, since 2010, he is a member of the City of Bellingham’s Design Review Board, and has volunteered at Bellingham’s Lighthouse Mission. On a recent service trip to the Republic of Malawi in Africa to manage the construction of a playground for an orphanage he taught the older children to mix concrete, read plans, and help with the project while learning new skills.

Emmanuel Camarillo - Student Outreach Services

Emmanuel was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Truman State University in 2011 with a B.S. in Agriculture Science. In 2013 he graduated from Western Washington University with an M.Ed. in Environmental Education and earned a certificate in Leadership and Nonprofit Administration from the North Cascades Institute.

Emmanuel Camarillo has been a staff member at Western Washington University in Student Outreach Services since 2015.  Emmanuel’s passion at Western is to help undocumented students succeed at Western, both as an academic advisor and as a volunteer club advisor for the WWU Blue Group, the student club for undocumented students and their allies.  Emmanuel has given generously of his time and resources to support undocumented students by taking them to conferences and helping with DACA, WASFA and Know Your Rights workshops in Bellingham and Mt. Vernon. He is also an active member of the Skagit Immigrant Rights Council. A colleague describes Emmanuel as having “a kind of dedication and determination that is admirable and inspiring.”

Emmanuel provides services, support and encouragement to an underrepresented, often-misunderstood student population at Western that has unique needs and barriers to receiving a college education.  He is not only helping to educate others about these important issues, he is fostering community and helping students succeed, helping them reach their professional and personal goals, and fostering an environment of hope.

James Loucky - Anthropology

James Loucky began teaching at Western in 1989, and specializes in Latin American affairs, international migration and intercultural education. Since his graduate study at UCLA, he has been involved with the Maya of Guatemala, through expert testimony in asylum cases and helping to build community wellbeing across the diaspora that now encompasses Whatcom County and most of North America.  He serves on the Bellingham Sister Cities Association and for ten years has co-organized the Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival.  Loucky is a vocal advocate for human rights, and frequent contributor to public awareness through presentations on immigration and social equity.  He works closely with the Lummi community, public school teachers, refugees, and colleagues across campus to bring speakers on critical world issues.  His international field courses have involved students in learning from small communities in Peru, India, Thailand, and Kenya.

Jeff Carroll - Psychology

Dr. Carroll’s scientific work is focused on Huntington's Disease (HD), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that currently has no successful treatments, despite 20 years passing since the identification of the mutant gene responsible for the disease. He also has an interest in gene silencing approaches to HD therapeutics, particularly using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). Jeff’s doctoral and postdoctoral studies all involved using mouse models to understand basic mechanisms of HD and preclinical testing of therapeutic interventions in these models. During his doctoral training he worked with Michael Hayden at the University of British Columbia, and his postdoctoral studies were conducted under the supervision of Marcy MacDonald at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. As well as conducting research, Jeff is a member of an HD family and himself carries the mutation which causes the disease.

June Fraser Thistle - Residence Life

June Fraser Thistle has worked at Western since emigrating from Canada in 2003 and is currently the Office Manager for Residence Life.  She has been an active volunteer as an advocate for survivors at Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS) in Bellingham since 2011 and in 2014, she helped sew sock monkeys, here at WWU, for children under the care of Child Protective Services.  From that initial project, she founded a non-profit, The Bellingham Sock Monkey Project where volunteers from 8 states and 3 Canadian provinces contribute to make these comforting creatures for children at Skookum Kids, a local non-profit that provides shelter for children entering the foster care system because of abuse or neglect.  Her nominator for this award wrote, “June has told many stories of stressed and alienated children who open up to her gentle and thoughtful interaction. Co-volunteers marvel at her ability to quickly find and nurture interests and talents in children and help them see a bright future for themselves. More than one child has promised that they’ll never forget her.” Additionally, she established – and actively fundraisers for – the Western Gap Scholarship to assist WWU students in financial crisis, awarded to a gamut of students ranging from homeless or foster youth to moderate-income students, all of whom have critical financial need that, left unmet, would force them to drop out. She invites all WWU employees to join her in helping struggling students earn their degree.

Korry Harvey - Communication Studies

Korry Harvey has contributed to raise awareness about the issues of racism and discrimination for many years in the Pacific Northwest. Harvey has been teaching at Western since fall 2001 as a Senior Instructor and Assistant Director of Forensics in the Department of Communication Studies. He received the Diversity Achievement Award last year. Beyond the class, Harvey has very involved with community events in Whatcom County. He is a former board member and chair of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, which addresses civil rights, social justice, discrimination and race issues in Whatcom County. The organization has hosted the Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Conference every January in concert with Western, Whatcom Community College and Bellingham school district and many community organizations to increase awareness and teaching skills to create partnerships for civil rights and social justice. Harvey was a lead organizer for about five years for the conference.

L.K. Langley - LGBTQ+ Director

L.K. Langley began their role as Western’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Director in August, 2018. Previously, they served as Manager of Equal Opportunity Programs in the Equal Opportunity Office. Langley’s work strives to collaboratively build connections between individuals, between majority world views and forms of knowledge and lived experience that are often unseen on the margins, and between people in the Western community and networks of care and community engagement beyond the University.

Langley is the advisor to TAG Team, a club for transgender and non-binary Western students. Beyond Western, Langley serves on the board of directors of Northwest Youth Services, which provides housing, street outreach, vocational programs, support for LGBTQ+ youth, and connection to mental health services for young people in Whatcom and Skagit Counties.

Langley received their J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and their B.A. from Boston University. After graduating from law school, Langley clerked in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and practiced law in Boston, Massachusetts. As a member of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association’s board of directors, Langley was founding chair of the Association’s Committee on Transgender Inclusion. Langley’s community engagement has also included work with the Bellingham Public Schools, National Center for Transgender Equality, Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, and the National LGBTQ Task Force. Langley and their wife are the parents of three children.

Pete Elich - Parking Services

Pete Elich has worked at Western for 17 years, his first as a temporary gardener in the Grounds Department, then as a Facilities Management utility worker for 16 years before coming to Parking Services. For more than 20 years, Pete has embodied exemplary community service through his volunteer efforts with numerous organizations. He has volunteered as youth group leader at Fairhaven, Whatcom and Squalicum Middle Schools and Bellingham Christian School; counselor for Royal Family Kids Camp; and coach to three to nine year-olds in baseball, basketball and soccer at the YMCA. In addition, Pete is an active fund-raiser for the YMCA, and a caring mentor to an adolescent and a young adult. Each year he participates in a variety of volunteer activities throughout Whatcom county coordinated by his church, such as helping with home repairs and making Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. He has also helped with a stream restoration project in Whatcom Creek and has stocked the shelves at his church’s food bank.

Vernon Damani Johnson - Political Science

Dr. Vernon Damani Johnson has been a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at Western Washington University since 1986 and has authored two books. He currently serves as the Program Director for the Munro Institute for Civic Education and is editor in chief of the "African Journal of Governance and Development."

In addition to his contributions to African and other communities through his academic pursuits, Professor Johnson was on the advisory committee to Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Presidential Campaign in the state of Washington in 1988 and served on the Steering Committee of the Washington State Rainbow Coalition from 1988-92.  When the militia movement swept into the region in the 1990s, he helped found the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, and chaired its board from 1997-2000. He also was President of the board of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, a regional human rights organization, from 2000 to 2003.  He also serves on the board of the Slum Doctor Program and was the recipient of the 1997 Diversity Achievement Award at Western Washington University.  Over the last year, as the Black Lives Matter movement has emerged, Professor Johnson has been an invited speaker and participant at Western's satellite campus in Poulsbo, the Bellingham City Club, and the Tacoma City Club on issues of race and law enforcement.

Wendy Johnson - Viking Union Event Services

Wendy Johnson has worked at Western since 2008 after a long career in the food service industry. Some may remember her from her time with Parking Services, and then she moved to the Viking Union as Event Services Manager in 2018. Wendy is enthusiastic and helpful in supporting staff and students alike in facilitating their set-up needs for events all around campus. She has a long history of volunteering, beginning with her kids’ preschool board, Girl Scouts, Parent Teacher Association, multiple high school sport booster clubs, leading a youth group sandwich brigade, and international youth work trips. Wendy started going to Nicaragua in 2003 with “El Porvenir,” an incredible non-profit in Nicaragua that is solely dedicated to rural water access, sanitation, health education, and reforestation projects. She’s passionate about this organization and has dedicated many family vacations to traveling to Nicaragua for service work trips. Wendy thoroughly enjoys working side-by-side with the various communities, sharing meals, connecting with the women and children, and getting to know people despite the language barrier. She has traveled with the same people many times because they are all deeply touched by the work and the opportunity to work with Nicaraguan communities.  

Bruce Beasley - English

Bruce Beasley, professor of English, has been teaching at Western since 1992. He studied at Oberlin College, Columbia University (M.F.A. in poetry), and University of Virginia (Ph.D. in American literature). He teaches courses in creative writing, poetry and poetics, American literature, slam and spoken word poetry, creative writing and the work of dreams, and an interdisciplinary GUR (with Thor Hansen of Geology) on the literature, mythology, and science of the monstrous. Bruce is the author of seven collections of poems and has won numerous awards for his poetry, including the Colorado Prize, the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series Award, the Ohio State University Press Award, three Pushcart prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Artist Trust of Washington.

Glenn Tsunokai - Sociology

Glenn Tsunokai is an educator, mentor, and sociologist, who teaches classes on race and ethnic relations and social stratification/inequality. Although many of his students possess some knowledge and may have formed opinions about the subject matter before taking his classes, many of them, however, may never have questioned their own taken-for granted assumptions about how society operates. As is often the case, the practice of separating fact from illusion is very difficult for some, especially if they lack an alternative framework to work from to debunk or dispel misconceptions about issues such as racism and poverty. Accordingly, one of Glenn’s primary responsibilities as an educator is to help his students realize that “things are not always what they appear to be,” and to actively encourage them to push the boundaries of accepted understandings by engaging in critical thinking. He truly believes that the ability to think critically is arguably one of the most important skills that students can learn and nurture throughout their college career. Glenn uses active learning pedagogy approaches such as service learning and group projects. He finds tremendous reward in watching inquisitive students transform themselves into budding scholars. Glenn received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Riverside. 

Jane Wong - English

Jane Wong is a poet, essayist, "restaurant baby," interdisciplinary artist, and educator. She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Literature and teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses at WWU. She received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and her M.F.A. in Poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In addition to teaching poetry and hybrid forms, her research interests include Asian American poetry and poetics, migration and transnational studies, the digital humanities, and food writing. She is the author of Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, forthcoming in 2023), How to Not Be Afraid of Everything (Alice James Books, 2021), and Overpour (Action Books, 2016). In 2019, she debuted her solo art exhibit, “After Preparing the Altar, the Ghosts Feast Feverishly," at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. She was also awarded the Womxn of Color Empowerment Award that year for her teaching and mentorship at WWU. She grew up in a Chinese American take-out restaurant and is a proud first-generation college graduate. Her teaching is dedicated to inclusive, innovative, radical, and compassionate community-based learning. 

Jeanne Freeman - Physical Education, Health & Recreation

Jeanne Freeman is an associate professor of Community Health and earned her doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas. Her current research explores cyberharassment behaviors, perceptions and attitudes of young adults. In the last few years, she has co-authored two articles and co-presented at three national conferences with undergraduates regarding this topic. Her teaching interests include theories and planning models of health behavior, grant writing and nutrition. Her passionate approach to teaching resonates with students and prompts them to seek her perspective regarding a breadth of topics. She is known for her ability to laugh, cry and celebrate life with her students.

Jerry Johnson - Mathematics

Jerry Johnson, a professor of Mathematics specializing in math education, captivates his students with thoughtful, probing questions that inspire them to think about math in a new way.

Kristi Lemm - Psychology

Kristi Lemm joined the faculty at Western in 2000, after earning a B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Yale University.  Her training focused on Social Psychology with an emphasis on research methods and statistics.  She enjoys teaching social psychology because students find the topic so interesting, but she enjoys teaching statistics in part because so many students expect that they will not like the course.  She relishes the times when students who thought they hated math come to appreciate and even enjoy learning statistics. She has collaborated with dozens of students on research projects on a variety of topics in social psychology.

LeaAnn Martin - Physical Education, Health & Recreation

Martin started at Western in 1991, just after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas. She teaches in the teacher preparation program and specializes in elementary Physical Education. Martin also serves as the Associate Dean for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In 1995, she was named the College Professional Physical Educator of the Year by the Washington Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In 2003 she was given the Washington Award for Excellence in Teacher Preparation by the Washington State Board of Education. Martin was instrumental in designing the pedagogy program in Physical Education/Health, which has served as a model for other programs. She is also very proud to know that two of her former students have been named National Physical Educators of the Year. For her, it is a true joy to teach and work with students each day and to be a part of developing outstanding physical and health educators.

Lina Dahlberg - Biology

Lina Dahlberg is an educator, mentor, and scientist. She teaches courses in cellular, molecular, and neurobiology, and she studies the impact of research experiences on students’ habits of mind in laboratory courses. She gained experience as an educator through the National Institutes of Health’s TEACRS program at Tufts University, which first introduced her to principles of student-centered learning. Lina joined Western’s biology faculty in 2013 and has used her experiences to help drive pedagogical changes at WWU. Lina uses group work and iterative assessments to help students apply scientific knowledge and gain experience in metacognition; she addresses students’ preconceptions and personal experiences as a way to create an inclusive learning climate. In addition to her work with students, Lina is part of a team that helps educate faculty and staff on issues of equity and inclusion in STEM. She received her B.S. in biology from Haverford College and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Washington.

Mariana Smit Vega Garcia - Mathematics

Associate Professor Mariana Smit Vega Garcia teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in the Mathematics Department. After doing her bachelor’s and master’s at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, she received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Purdue University. 

Smit Vega Garcia’s research interests include partial differential equations, which are the language of modern physics, and more recently, combinatorics. In addition to research and teaching, she has organized numerous professional meetings, including a workshop at WWU for undergraduate students who are interested in mathematics. 

She is also committed to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion, working actively with the Association for Women in Mathematics, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science, and the LatinX mathematics community. Her teaching is focused on building partnerships with her students and is dedicated to inclusivity.
 

Millie Johnson - Mathematics

For the past 41 years, Millie Johnson has devoted herself to teaching Mathematics. Her passion is to engage and challenge students to stretch themselves; to set up an environment where students are encouraged to make sense of mathematics, to visualize, to dig in, play and explore, to develop intuition, to tweak the known and the unknown, to extend, generalize, and prove results, to awaken their drive for discovery, insights, and answers. Johnson says her teaching philosophy can be summed up in the words of her friend and mentor, Ruth Parker, CEO of the Mathematics Education Collaborative:  “My job is not to teach students to see what I see. My job is to teach them to see.”  Although teaching has been her main focus, Johnson is frequently asked to speak and consult on mathematical applications ranging from septic tank design to river flow management to DNA testing to minimal surfaces to animal physiology. 

Paqui Paredes Méndez - Modern & Classical Languages

Paqui Paredes Méndez is a native of Galicia, Spain, where she lived until she completed her degrees in teaching and English at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. She graduated from University of Kansas in 2002, with a Ph.D. in Spanish literature. Paqui teaches language, literature, culture and phonetics courses in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, which she has chaired since 2012. Her research focuses on early 20th century Spanish literature and cultural studies, as well as late 20th and 21st century Spanish literature. Many of her publications focus on visual culture and national identity, specifically on how visual culture--movies, caricatures, textbooks--impacted the creation of a model citizen in Spain. She has been able to incorporate these topics in many of the courses she teaches at Western. She is the author (with José Ballesteros and Mark Harpring) of “Voces de España,” published by Thomson Heinle in 2004 and 2013, a textbook geared toward upper division survey courses of Spanish literature. “Voces” brings a cultural studies approach to the traditional literature survey course.

Past Recipients 2000-2009 - Various

Spencer Anthony-Cahill - Chemistry

An associate professor of Chemistry, Spencer Anthony-Cahill was born and raised in the Seattle area and attended second through 12th grade in Issaquah schools, except for two years as a student in Konstanz, Germany. After graduating from Whitman College with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, he went on to earn his doctorate in Bio-Organic Chemistry at University of California at Berkley, and later carried out a National Institute of Health postdoctoral fellowship at DuPont Central Research. He spent five years as a research scientist in the biotech industry before accepting an assistant professorship at Western in 1997, where he teaches General Chemistry, Biochemistry and Protein Biophysics. His lab is currently working to develop a hemoglobin-based blood substitute. For him, the best thing about Western is the enthusiasm of the students for getting a real education.

Steven Emory - Chemistry

Steven Emory earned his Ph.D in analytical chemistry from Indiana University in 1999. After which he was awarded a Director Funded Post-Doctoral Fellowship to work on the development of advanced nucleic acid sequencing methods at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since joining Western’s Department of Chemistry in 2001, Steven has taught a range of courses including general chemistry, analytical chemistry, materials chemistry, instrumental analysis, and special topics. His student research group focuses on the development of nanoparticle-based analytical imaging methods. He has incorporated several aspects of this research into the courses he teaches. He also demonstrates his passion for science-education outreach through Western’s award-winning student chapter of the American Chemical Society. By utilizing an array of student-centered learning techniques, Steven encourages students to become actively involved in their own learning.

Suzanne Lee - Biology

Suzanne Lee is an educator and molecular cell biologist who joined the Biology Department after receiving a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and completing postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego. She teaches Biology courses in cell and molecular biology at all levels - from Introductory and Upper Division lecture courses to a 300-level skill-building lab to a 400-level research course. As an educator, Suzanne aims to inspire and empower students to become lifelong learners and collaborative problem solvers, employing a diversity of student-centered active learning approaches in her classrooms. Her favorite moments in working with students are those “aha” moments when concepts suddenly click for a student and they feel that thrill of advancing their own learning. In addition, the nature and process of science is woven into all of her courses, whether through data analysis, learning more about the people behind the science, or hands-on student-driven inquiry and authentic research. Motivated by her own experiences and those of others she admires, Suzanne has worked to promote greater equity and inclusion in STEM through implementing evidence-based pedagogical and mentoring approaches and organizing workshops, seminars, and professional learning communities.

Bill Managan - Facilities Management

Bill Managan, assistant director for Operations in Facilities Management, is described as a true “Renaissance Man” who devotes his considerable leadership skills to keeping Western fully operational and innovative. Responsible for maintaining WWU’s buildings, grounds, utilities and vehicle fleets, Managan constantly looks for new ways to improve efficiency, even under the constraints of budget and personnel cuts. He is known for encouraging – and sometimes demanding – innovation. Under his guidance, the Academic Custodial Services achieved national honors for their green cleaning practices and Grounds Maintenance staff members received recognition for the sustainable practice of foregoing pesticides. Managan is also one of the state’s most noted experts on the “Facility Condition Index,” a measure of the repair condition of a building, and his counsel and insight are often called upon by the state of Washington. Currently, he is leading a feasibility study of converting Western’s natural gas-fueled steam boilers to run on biomass fuel. Though extremely technically difficult, the study will help inform Western’s strategy to become “climate neutral” by the year 2030.

Brandon Joseph - Prevention & Wellness

Brandon Joseph coordinates the Men’s Resiliency Program, which focuses on mental health promotion and holistic wellbeing for male-identifying students. In collaboration with campus and community partners, he has hosted various campus wellness events, initiatives, and programs, such as Wellness Wednesdays and Men & Mental Health.

As an Athabascan and Muscogee Creek, Brandon’s work is fundamentally inspired by his Native identity. In August 2019, Brandon established the Black & Brown Male Success Collective (BBMSC), a research-based program that provides male-identifying students from historically marginalized racial and/or ethnic communities with an affinity space for their holistic wellbeing. The group has represented WWU at regional and national conferences and in June 2020 collaborated to host, Not Just Social Media. Social Justice., the first anti-racist workshop at WWU using Zoom, attracting 300+ participants and illuminating the voices of WWUs Black Student Organizations during a crucial time in our history.

Brandon also serves on President Randhawa’s Structural Equity and Bias Response Team and the Social Justice and Equity Committee, where he co-led the Underrepresented Student Needs Assessment Project during the summer of 2020. Finally, Brandon will be completing his Ph.D. in Counseling and Personnel Services at the University of Louisville in August 2021.

Brian Davidson - Tutoring Center, Western Libraries

Davidson is the head of Tutoring for Western Libraries, a graduate of Western’s Adult and Higher Education program, and a recent addition to Western’s professional staff. Before coming to Western in January 2022, Davidson spent 14 years with the community college system supporting students with a wide range of identities and experiences through direct service and program development. He served youth who were unhoused or who were transitioning from foster care, and returning adult students retraining to recover economic independence after a layoff or other traumatic event. 

At Western, Davidson has been working side-by-side with Assistant Head Anika Watson and the 60-plus student staff to heal and learn from the pandemic and to meet emerging needs of students. Together, they’ve eliminated gatekeeping practices that threaten inclusivity in student employment, implemented a coaching model that encourages empathetic, efficient tutoring experiences, expanded capacity for peer coaching to support increasing needs for study skills and executive functioning, aligned with the Hacherl Research & Writing Studio to provide more consistency to students, and redesigned the Tutoring Center to encourage a range of supportive peer-to-peer connections. 

Casey Hayden - Viking Union

Since 2006, Casey Hayden has served as the primary adviser for the AS Club System, AS Productions, and Resource and Outreach programs. He has supported students in leadership development while carefully balancing the needs of the institution, mitigating risks of student events, counseling students in stewardship of S&A Fee funds, and maintaining good relationships with the local community.

Recently Casey went above and beyond in supporting the Students for Renewable Energy (SRE) club in their direct-action organizing efforts for Divestment. Casey supported the development of these student leaders, while facilitating constructive communication between them and the University Administration. When SRE staged a sit-in outside the President's Office, Casey volunteered to spend the night in Old Main to supervise the protest and ensure the students engaged in their activities safely and responsibly. This is just one of many examples of Casey’s skill in finding balance between supporting student development and protecting Western as an institution.

Casey has also been a leader and innovator in using technology to enhance the student experience. He led implementation of the OrgSync Organization Resource Management platform, which has greatly enhanced efficiency of business processes for AS Clubs and Program Offices. 

Catherine Shornick - CHSS

Catherine started in the College of Arts and Sciences the day ground was broken for the Communications Building in 2002, and later assisted as CAS split into the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Sciences and Technology (now Science and Engineering). Catherine became the CHSS Assistant to the Dean and Operations Manager in 2010 after working closely with her predecessor Esther Harris. During her time in the college Catherine worked with five different deans (four in the last six years); as well, she completed her degree in Creative Writing and Communication Studies as an Outstanding Graduate and Presidential Scholar.

She effectively helped navigate the college through implementation of the first and subsequent versions of the faculty bargaining agreement, budgetary ups and downs, new fiscal and travel systems, and shifts in pressures and trends in higher education. Throughout, Catherine has advocated for staff, always vigilant against increased workloads as new policies and procedures were implemented. As a classified staff member, she served on the union bargaining team, and as professional staff she served on the PSO Executive Committee for several years, continuing her efforts toward broad inclusion and equal footing for all Western staff members. Catherine looks forward to retiring in October, 2019.

Dana Edward - Woodring College of Education

Before she came to Western in 1999, Dana Edward had more than 25 years of experience in the public sector.  She has worked for the San Diego Convention Center Corporation, the San Diego Housing Commission, and the San Diego County Department of Social Services. During the academic year, she works with faculty and staff across campus dealing with curricular revisions and proposals, and advises on educator certification. For the last few years, her focus has been on the coordination of a concurrent state program approval and national accreditation site visit.

David Bass - Western Libraries

David is the Senior Developer for Digital Initiatives for Western Libraries, a position he has held since 2013. David creates and enhances software systems that further the mission of the Libraries and the University.

David Davidson - Border Policy Research Institute

David Davidson has served as the Associate Director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western since 2005. Before his position at BPRI, he served as the City Administrator in Sumas for eight years and has gained a wealth of experience with the border between Whatcom County and Canada over the last 20 years. He earned his master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington.

David Hansen - Student Health Center

Dr. Hansen began his career working in finance and marketing.  After participating in numerous volunteer medical missions to Central America, Dr. Hansen left corporate America to pursue a life in medicine. Dr. Hansen earned his medical degree at Brown University’s School of Medicine. He then completed his training at the Tacoma Family Medicine Residency Program. He is a board-certified family physician and has been with Western’s Student Health Center (SHC) since 2017.

As the Student Health Center’s Associate Medical Director, Dr. Hansen has actively been involved in Western’s Incident Command response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Assuming the role of Western’s public health officer, Dr. Hansen and the dedicated team at the Student Health Center have designed, implemented and overseen many COVID-related processes including: the COVID Clearance Status System for students on campus, the Fraser Hall COVID Testing Program, the SHC Annex (a respiratory clinic created specifically for COVID patients), Western’s contact tracing efforts in support of the local health department, Isolation and Quarantine coordination with housing and facilities management, and the rollout of COVID vaccines. His colleagues praise his thoughtful and inclusive communication style, his integrity, and his commitment to truly serving and listening to WWU students.

Devlin O'Donnell - Prevention & Wellness Services

O’Donnell has worked in the field of violence prevention in Whatcom County since 2001 and been the Coordinator of Crime and Sexual Assault Support Services (CASAS) since the fall of 2006. As CASAS coordinator, O’Donnell provides support for students after a traumatic event and helps survivors connect to all available resources. O’Donnell also coordinates two peer educator groups, Women’s Empowerment and Violence Education and the Men’s Violence Prevention, which lead violence prevention programs in residence halls and across campus.  She trains hundreds of student leaders each year on bystander intervention tips, how to recognize abusive behavior and how to support survivors. 

Jeniene Bengtsson - University Advancement

Jeniene Bengtsson has worked in University Advancement for more than 15 years and is a 2004 graduate of Western, following her family’s Viking tradition. Throughout her tenure, she has consistently brought integrity, innovation, and professionalism to her division from her previous roles as administrative assistant, then office manager, and her current role as the Associate Director, Alumni and Constituent Relations, Western Engaged. Western Engaged is revolutionizing not only alumni engagement at WWU, but is seen as a model in the Advancement/Alumni Relations profession nationally, raising the stature and visibility of Western. Jeniene enjoys and excels at collaborating and partnering with colleagues across campus in strategic efforts to keep Western alumni engaged throughout the University. Due to COVID-19, Jeniene creatively pivoted from in-person to remote events including managing dozens of Western Insight and CFPA, Huxley, and CHSS webinars to bring thousands of attendees and dollars to support the Racial and Equity Fund and the Student Emergency Fund.

When not working, Jeniene enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys outdoors and finding new places to explore.

Justina Brown - ATUS

Justina Brown, M.Ed, is an instructional designer in the ATUS Teaching, Learning, & Technology division, and directs the Center for Instructional Innovation, WWU’s teaching and learning center. She leads faculty professional development efforts, creates online resources to support best practices and promote teaching excellence, and supports faculty use of innovations in their teaching. 

In this role, she found herself perfectly poised--along with the team assembled from ATUS, OCE, and the Library-- to be at the fulcrum of support for faculty during the monumental pivot to teaching remotely this past spring and summer.  

Since 1999, the annual Innovative Teaching Showcase has been one of Justina's most enjoyable and challenging projects, featuring exceptional teaching practices of over 70 WWU instructors. A compliment to the Showcase is the Teaching Handbook, a resource she has developed for 20 years. 

Justina has worked to promote open educational practices at Western. She was the project director for a $36,000 Washington State grant to help faculty replace high‐cost textbooks with free and openly-licensed materials--saving about 2,000 students over $270,000 in the first year alone. 

Justina also teaches a first-year seminar (FIG), where students examine issues of diversity, class, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual identity, and mental health from different perspectives.  

Linda Norman - Enterprise Application Services

Linda Norman has worked as a Senior Systems Analyst since 2000, developing and enhancing IT systems that support student success. She serves as a bridge between the institution’s complex technical systems and the departments interfacing directly with students, faculty, and staff. Currently she is the lead analyst assigned to the Degree Works Implementation Team, which is responsible for replacing Western’s current degree audit software with a new system designed to increase student achievement by improving retention and graduation rates.

According to one of her colleagues, “If you can’t figure out how something works or the history of how it was developed; Linda either knows or she delves into the data until she finds out.” Another stated that Linda “has an encyclopedic understanding of the Banner Student Information System.”

When asked what she values most about her work at Western, Linda’s response makes it clear that for her, it’s all about the students. “I’ve supported a lot of users in a lot of departments over the years and have always considered it my job to make their jobs easier. Together we have been able to accomplish wonderful things for the students.”

Lisa Rosenberg - Student Activities

Lisa Rosenberg has served Western for twenty-five years, as Assistant Director for Student Activities since 2006, and previously as Student Activities Coordinator/Program Advisor. She is directly responsible for advising a wide range of Associated Students entities, including the AS Personnel Office, Representation & Engagement Programs, Assessment Office, Election Advisory Committee, Management Council, Personnel Committee, and Structure and Program Advisory Committee. She provides resources, training and support to students who are developing their leadership and professional skills while creating an engaging and vibrant campus community through the coordination of high-quality programs, services, administrative functions, employment and involvement opportunities. Lisa also has supervisory responsibilities for staff that manage of the programmatic and service areas including the AS Club System, Resource & Outreach Programs, Publicity Center, AS Review, AS Communication Office, and AS Productions. Lisa is highly regarded for her helpfulness, excellent interpersonal skills, institutional knowledge and willingness to explore new ideas. According to one of her colleagues, Lisa “consistently encourages, embraces and initiates change.” Another stated “I never hesitate to go to her with questions, because she is so welcoming and caring”. Lisa received a Master’s degree in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education from Colorado State University, and her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary.

Nara Samuels - Student Health Center

Nara Samuels is a behavioral health counselor and program coordinator at the Student Health Center. She has worked in college student mental health for 15 years. She joined the Western community in 2017. Nara's career has primarily focused on serving students experiencing mental health crises and post-hospitalization programming. In her role at the Student Health Center, Nara has worked to improve mental health screening and expand access to behavioral health services. With early identification and responsive services students can heal more quickly and get back to the important work of pursuing their goals. It is most important to Nara to create a welcoming, supportive space in which all students feel seen and valued. She is honored to work at the Student Health Center with a team of health care professionals and support staff who are all striving to improve health outcomes for students and to support student success academically, physically, and emotionally.

Past Recipients 2002-2009 - Various

Reneé Collins - Ethnic Student Center

Over the course of many years, Reneé Collins has held a variety of roles, including Director of Student Life, and Equal Opportunity and Human Resource specialist. Reneé obtained both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western, and earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University. In 1999, Reneé was the recipient of the prestigious Community Builders fellowship appointment by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and attended the Community and Urban Development program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She was the founding president of the Northern Puget Sound N.A.A.C.P. and has lived and worked in the Bellingham community for the past 26 years. In 1994 she received the Cultural Arts Award from the City of Bellingham for being instrumental in lobbying for the Martin Luther King, Jr. official city holiday.  Prior to coming to Bellingham, Reneé worked for the Department of Defense as a civilian Personnel Specialist and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Epidemiology Field Services Department. She is most proud of the Collins family obtaining seven degrees from Western and she is passionate about developing students and staff to become responsible and ethical global leaders.

Robert Clark - ATUS Video Services

Manager Robert B. Clark has worked in ATUS Video Services for more than 17 years, consistently bringing integrity, creativity, and professionalism to his productions. During the Covid switchover to online learning, Clark became Western’s “Zoom Czar” and worked long hours with his colleagues to help faculty and students stay connected. After in-person classes resumed, Clark creatively pivoted from producing webinars to managing hybrid events featuring both in-person and remote participants. These new roles were added to his pre-existing menu of services including complex video productions and mentoring students in the media arts. 

Clark enjoys and excels at collaborating and partnering with students, faculty and staff across campus in strategic efforts to keep Western educated and engaged. From field recording to live streaming, Clark’s initiative and creativity are impressive. His position has allowed him to work closely with not only all of our academic colleges, but the President’s Office, Board of Trustees, Alumni, Athletics and Associated Students areas as well. 

Clark also uses his skills to help connect Western and our community to such nonprofits as KMRE Radio, the local League of Women Voters chapter and the Bellingham City Club. When not working, Clark enjoys traveling by train, taking photos, and working on his model railroad. 
 

Shevell Thibou - Western Libraries

Shevell Thibou completed her B.A. and M.Ed at Western Washington University, and joined Western Libraries in January of 2012. During her time at Western she has served in various positions including the Learning Commons Coordinator, Assistant Director of the Learning Commons, and Head of the Teaching-Learning Academy. She currently occupies the role of Director of Teaching and Learning while serving as an instructor in the Adult & Higher Education graduate program. 

Shevell’s contributions align particularly well with Western’s goals to foster a caring and supportive environment where all members are respected and treated fairly, and in Western’s pursuit of justice and equity in its policies, practices, and impacts. Shevell looks forward to continuing her collaborations within the Social Justice and Equity Committee, the Structural Equity & Bias Response Team, and other opportunities focused on dismantling the inequities present within our teaching and learning community.

Stephanie Norsby - Human Resources

Assistant Director Human Resources Stephanie Norsby has been a source of continuity in during a period of dramatic transition in HR. Her colleagues admire her for her wealth of HR and institutional knowledge, and the tremendous amount of work she accomplishes, all with a factual, positive, solutions-oriented approach. She recently took on the additional role of the HR liaison to Academic Affairs, which supports nearly 75 percent of employees on campus. Norsby meets regularly with college operations managers to solve a wide array of daily and critical issues, such as emergent medical leaves, priority hiring to fill crucial vacancies, and tricky personnel issues. 

Colleagues who awarded her the Professional Staff Award for Excellence put it like this: “With the loss of so many HR staff members in 2022, Stephanie took on extra work tasks, including communicating directly with all the colleges in Academic Affairs to help keep the human resource needs met and moving forward. Stephanie has shown incredible dedication and remains positive in all her interactions. She makes sure we feel we are heard. She is caring and is easy to approach, as she welcomes anyone with a big smile always. The professionalism that she has displayed, coupled with her ability to problem-solve our time-sensitive issues, contributes to Western’s mission and values that include pursuing excellence, and displaying integrity, responsibility, and accountability in all our work. She is just an amazing employee for Western, and we are very lucky to have her in HR.”
 

Terri Kempton - Outback Farm

Terri Kempton is the first Farm Manager of the 5-acre Outback Farm on Western's campus and teaches food-related classes at Fairhaven College. Terri comes from a background of agroecology, permaculture, ecological restoration, and community organizing. She is also an accessible and engaging mentor for the students who learn gardening and food production skills at the Outback.  

Terri supervises student farm staff of eight, coordinates independent studies and class projects, and engages in strategic long-term planning for the site. But you can also find her cleaning chicken feet with volunteers or leading tours of the forest garden! Terri restarted the Outback Apiary, has assisted students in Bee Campus certification through the Xerxes Society, and on sunny days is often suited up to get in the beehives.  

Thanks to her dedicated professionalism, leadership, and vision, the Outback Farm has made major progress towards inclusive excellence as a resource for the entire WWU campus community. When COVID hit, Terri partnered with a dedicated farm team to continue growing, turning the focus to food justice and feeding students facing food insecurity, including pantry popups and free farmer's market events. With an eye on equity, Terri organized a speaker series on Food, Farming, Justice, and Diversity in 2021 that culminated in a day with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

Tim McLaughlin - Enterprise Infrastructure Services

Tim is an Automation Engineer for Enterprise Infrastructure Services, where he has worked since 2001. Over that time, his responsibilities have ranged from installing and updating hardware and operating systems, to helping WWU enter the world of server virtualization, to working with containerized and cloud applications.  Tim’s recent work includes implementing an application stack for monitoring important metrics from a wide variety of systems, applications, and processes.  As the use of technology in education continues to get more and more pervasive, the need for better metrics also grows.  This project, using standard tools like Grafana and Prometheus, allows trends and issues to be more visible. Better visibility allows the team to address those issues and to prevent future occurrences.

Tim enjoys tackling new challenges and figuring out how to utilize tools and code to enable his small team to do big things.  He feels privileged to work with a very intelligent group people and with leadership that allows the team to explore options for solving problems. Tim earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Western in 1996.  When he’s not at work, he enjoys reading, community theatre, and playing table games with his wife and their two sons.

Todd Epps - Director of Networking Services

Todd Epps has been in his current position for nearly 16 years where he and his staff support the technical needs for both the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) and the College of Science and Engineering (CSE). Todd’s outstanding performance, tireless efforts and exceptional interpersonal skills have earned him the respect and appreciation of the faculty, staff and administrators in both CHSS and CSE. Todd goes above and beyond the requirements of his position by serving on various college and university committees, including the CSE Technical Operations Committee, CHSS Computer Advisory Committee, CNET Advisory Committee (to Bellingham Technical College), and Western’s IT Professional Group as its long-term chairperson. He has also been a valuable and willing resource in implementing CSE’s Workstation Replacement program, providing technical information for decision packages and Student Tech Fee proposals, and analyzing various space needs for CSE equipment.

Wayne Galloway - Facilities Management

Wayne Galloway’s passion for Western Washington University’s custodial teams has powered his determination to establish team building, leadership development, and top notch customer service skills since he joined the Facilities Management team in Fall of 2016.  His personal attention and care for the university’s custodial staff has created a cohesive, respectful, and caring team. To accomplish this, Wayne meets frequently with the teams and ensures that all custodians are given the opportunity to advance their skills by training for certifications in the custodial trade from ISSA and IICRC. Due to his experience as a Master Water Restorer, FM was able to create the Water Damage Response Team that quickly responded to flooding events and minimize the long term impact, as seen in VU and ES Floods of 2019. 

Thanks to Wayne’s leadership, the custodial teams are well known for quickly handling all building service concerns or needs of the WWU community. Team members are recognized in quarterly Certificate of Appreciation events. 

Advanced Materials Science & Engineering Center - Multi-department

The Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center (AMSEC) was established to promote interdisciplinary materials science research, educate students and improve private sector innovation through access to technology, expertise and a skilled workforce.

Early Registration Team - Multi-department

Gender Affirming Care Team - Various

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Proposal Development Team - Multi-department

The HHMI proposal development team originated as a group of faculty members from Biology, Chemistry and Geology concerned about climate, access and retention for underrepresented students in STEM majors. The group began to meet on a biweekly basis to identify barriers for these students, including enrollment limits on STEM courses, under-preparation for the Math Placement test, and the lack of faculty and graduate student awareness concerning equity and inclusion. When the HHMI, the world’s foremost biomedical research foundation, announced that it would be accepting proposals for $1M grants to increase minority inclusion and representation in STEM disciplines, the team’s previous conversations and shared understandings made it possible to prepare a proposal to address these issues at Western. From a field of 1500 eligible colleges and universities,  and 91 submitted proposals, Western was one of 24 to receive a $1M grant. Because of HHMI’s national prominence and resources, with this grant Western is positioned to become a national leader in STEM inclusion, which can in turn increase Western’s ability to recruit more diverse faculty and students.        

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Spencer Anthony-Cahill, Regina Barber DeGraaff, Emily Borda, Jessica Cohen, Lina Dahlberg, Edward Geary, Daniel Hanley, Bernie Housen, Robin Kodner, David Leaf, Suzanne Lee, Joann Otto, Daniel Pollard, Jackie Rose, José Serrano-Moreno, Shannon Warren

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Access Control Upgrade Team, Commencement Team, Columbia River Treaty Symposium Team, Dean of Students Cultural Competence & Professional Development Committee, Hacherl Research and Writing Studio Team, Faculty Senate Social Justice and Equity Committee, WeAreWWU Team 

Institutional Scholarship and Waiver Streamlining Project - Multi-department

This interdepartmental team collaboratively designed, wrote, tested and implemented software to more efficiently provide critical information to staff members who award and process institutional scholarships and tuition waivers. Thanks to this concerted, cross-departmental undertaking, users can now see all this information quickly, in one place, and determine where student financial awards are in every stage of the delivery process. The end results are not only improved efficiency for users, but more timely processing of awards for students. 

Leadership Philanthropy to Geology Team - Various

A team of professionals across the university worked together to make possible a $5 million gift that endowed a geology professorship and will support geology graduate students for decades to come. They developed and executed a strategy that led to this second-largest cash gift in Western’s history. Members of University Advancement and the College of Science and Engineering came together to engage an alum after a lengthy period of reduced engagement with Western. As they built a relationship with the alum and learned of his interests, they identified what would be transformational for the Geology Department while resonating with the donor. This 18-month collaboration to engage the alum in a meaningful way resulted in a $2 million endowed chair named for the donor’s graduate school mentor Ned Brown, and a $3 million endowment to support graduate students in Geology, creating an enduring legacy for the Geology Department.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS 

Amber Asbjornsen, University Advancement (former); Frances Badgett, University Advancement; Mark Bagley, University Advancement; Mark Brovak, University Advancement; Ty Hill, University Advancement; Bernie Housen, Geology; Zeck Koa, University Advancement; Victoria Martinsen, University Advancement; Sean Mulcahy, College of Science and Engineering; Rayne Rambo, Presidents Office; Liz Schermer, Geology; Angie Vandenhaak, University Advancement (former); Calloway Warnick, University Advancement
 

RUNNER-UP TEAMS

• Fairhaven Staff Team
• Department of Education Leadership & Inclusive Teaching Team

Multi-Purpose Field Team - Multi-department

Several years ago the campus recognized a need for a year-round multi-purpose field that would be available to all students, sport clubs and varsity athletics.  Making this vision a reality required several years of close collaboration between 26 staff, students and faculty members from across the campus. Thanks to their cooperative approach, transparent communication and hard work, Harrington Field, currently under construction on the south end of Western’s campus, will greatly improve campus life for current and future generations of Western students, faculty and staff.  

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Mark Bagley, Linda Beckman, Rick Benner, Mark Brovak, Steve Brummel, Steven Card, Travis Connell, Clark Cripps, Lynda Goodrich, Teresa Hart, Adam Leonard, Barbara Lewis, Pete Lockhart, Sally McKechnie, Sara Nichols, Kunle Ojikutu, Diana Rosen, Marie Sather, Ed Simpson, Amy Suiter, Brian Sullivan, Mike Ulrich, David Willett, Justin Moore, Tamara Jansen, Sara Richards, Sam Hobbs

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Corporate Alliance Program, Energy Studies Team, Ethnic Student Center Office, Network Team

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Team - Multi-department

The Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference had been a mainstay of research on the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin ecosystems since the 1990s, but had foundered without a home and adequate funding since 2011. Through an 18-month long collaborative effort including Canadian-American Studies, Huxley College, Extended Education, University Communications, the Western Foundation and WWU Web Communication Technology, this team effectively planned and executed the largest Salish Sea Conference in history, with over 1200 attendees, at the Washington State Convention Center. The Team leveraged on- and off-campus partnerships to coordinate the event planning, provide academic leadership, and raise over $155,000 in funds from off-campus sources. Thanks to the Team’s collaborative approach, the Salish Sea Conference has not only set a new standard of excellence but is established on solid financial footing for years to come.    

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Don Alper, Matthew Anderson, Diana Bakkom, Derek Bryson, Lindsay Bureaux, Mary Gallagher, Marlene Harlan, Chuck Hart, Courtney Hiatt, Chris Hussein, Thomas Jones, Wayne Landis, April Markiewicz, Alesha Perrin, Marie Raney, Elliott Smith, Katy Stevick, Joshua Tataran

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Computer Science & Engineering Expansion Advocacy Team, Employee Spanish Language Program, Engineering & Design Department, Enrollment & Student Services Professional Development Team, Facilities Management Singers, Facing the Future Team, Faculty Sustainability Academy Steering Committee, One Western, One Student Team, Shared ILS Migration Project Team, Web Communications Technologies Team

Small Business Development Center - Kitsap - Multi-department

Working collaboratively over a two-year period, this team was able to create broad community enthusiasm and secure support from five different funders to expand Western’s presence on the Peninsulas with a new Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Taking on an aggressive short-term fundraising challenge outside of their ongoing job duties, the team's sustained efforts led to the creation of the University’s newest SBDC serving Kitsap County.  Driven by Western's values of innovative thinking and inspired by new WWU programming in Kitsap County, the idea to create a Western-hosted Kitsap County SBDC was born. Centers require both Federal funding and local stakeholder support, so we looked to the Outreach and Continuing Education’s Puget Sound West team to extend their relationships, share our vision, and lead community meetings far from home. University Advancement’s Major Gifts Team agreed to spearhead the task of securing local three-year funding commitments and we are proud to have reached this goal. 

The Center launched in late summer 2019 and has assisted over 143 entrepreneurs with annual sales of $6.6M through December 2019. Kitsap County is vital to Western’s ‘University of the Peninsulas’ effort and the team saw an opportunity to leverage our popular SBDC program to increase engagement between Western and the local communities of the County.  Working together, the team established new community relationships and forged new local partnerships. It’s amazing what a committed group of professionals can accomplish when we share a passion for service to the university.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

CJ Seitz, SBDC; Mark Bagley, WWU Foundation; Chris Baker, University Communications; Suzanne Blais, University Communications; Stephanie Bowers, University Advancement; Derek Bryson, University Communications; Christa Countryman, University Advancement; John Dlouhy, Special Events; Effie Eisses, Outreach & Continuing Education; Mary Gallagher, University Communications; Earl Gibbons, Outreach & Continuing Education (retired); Donna Gibbs, University Relations & Marketing; Marlene Harlan, Outreach & Continuing Education; Tim Szymanowski, University Advancement; Manca Valum, University Advancement

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Concur Travel Systems Team, Journalism Department Pop-Up Pantry, Residence Life, Public Safety Operational Recovery and Enhancement Team, Window Magazine Staff and Editorial Advisory Board

Sustainability Action Plan Team - Multi-department

The Sustainability Action Plan Team is comprised of students, staff, faculty and administrators representing every division of the University, the Associated Students, and the WWU Foundation. Following a charge from President Bruce Shepard in 2014 to review the President’s Climate Commitment and the 2010 Climate Action Plan, the Sustainability Advisory Committee led the development of Western’s first-ever 20 year Sustainability Action Plan over the course of 18 months of facilitated collaboration and campus-wide input.

The Sustainability Action Plan addresses the continuing need for programs that improve and enhance Western’s commitment to sustainability in all of its operations, sets a vision for growing the intellectual and curricular scope of sustainability in the academic sphere, while recognizing the challenges of operating in a budget-constrained environment. The plan identifies goals, strategies, metrics, and benchmarks that collectively will keep Western at the forefront of sustainable universities. The plan was also animated by a desire to recognize the interconnection between environmental protection, social justice, economic vitality and human health. To produce the plan, the Committee engaged the entire campus through a series of public meetings, participatory seminars, and ongoing surveys. Students, faculty, and staff provided over 1,800 comments and suggestions that were integrated into both the strategic goals and the recommended actions and metrics.

Written to complement Western’s Strategic Plan, the Sustainability Action Plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in April, 2018.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Eric Alexander, VU Operations; Carol Berry, Office of Sustainability; Chris Brueske, Facilities Management; Scott Dorough, Facilities Management; Craig Dunn, College of Business and Economics; John Furman, Facilities Management; Suzanne Hamilton, Office of Sustainability; Pete Heilgeist, Office of Business Services; Steve Hollenhorst, Huxley College; Gwen Larned, Office of Sustainability; Travis Tennessen, Center for Service Learning Education; Seth Vidaña​, Office of Sustainability; Stephen Wadsworth, University Dining Services; Grace Wang, Environmental Studies

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Carver Renovation Steering Committee, Commencement Team, Degree Works Implementation Team, Educational Administration Program Team, Facilities Management Process Improvement Team, Faculty Senate Social Justice and Equity Committee, IDEA Changemaker Fellows Team, New Faculty Mentorship Work Team, Print and Copy Services Team, Strategic Planning Committee, Sustainability, Period Project Team

The Back2Bellingham Weekend Team - Multi-department

Back2Bellingham Weekend is a collaborative event that brings together a large cross section of the University and showcases the best of Western for Alumni, students, prospective students, parents, volunteers and the community at large. B2B Weekend is jointly organized by the Alumni Association and New Student Services/ Family Outreach. They brought together over 260 individuals to participate in the event.  

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Jo Akehurst, Tony Alexander, Mike Bahn, Chris Baker, Sue Baske, Tamara Belts, Jeniene Bengtsson, Mackenzie Boetes, David Bover, John Bower, Rich Brown, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, Anna Carey, Wes Carlson, Jennifer Childress, Fred    Collins, Clark Cripps, Jeff Davis, Joanne DeMark, Deborah DeWees, John Dlouhy, Mary Doherty, Tony Dominguez, Mark Dudzinski, Steve Emory, Diane Flick-Williams, Margaret Gegenhuber, Leigh Ann Giles, Peg Godwin, Stacia Green, Thor Hansen, Courtney Hiatt, David Hirsch, Sue Hoidal, Bernie Housen, Zite Hutton, Joshua Jirava, Brad Johnson, Jake Jorgenson, Jill Jorgenson, Zeck Koa, Dale Kraus, Janice Lapsansky, Lori Larkin, Kevin Leonard, Pete Lockhart, Jim Lortz, Goerge Mariz, Geoff Matthews, Luke Minor, Jennifer Mott, Zach Neuhaus, Eric Nissen, Caitlin O'Brien, Greg O'Neil, Rick Osen, Arunas Oslapas, Cheryl Perks, Jessie Philips, John Purdie, Dan Purdy, Fred Ramage, Liz Raymond, Chris Roselli, Katie Rothenberg, Shar Sarte Prince, Dietmar Schwarz, Cyndie Shepard, Nam Slu, Brad Snowder, Ruth Sofield, Sara Stamey, Pete Stelling, Kate Stevenson, Karen Stout, Kelly Triplet, Joan Ullin, Chris White, Jeannine Woelkers, Jeff Wright, Stephanie Zee, Jianna Zhang, John Zuzarte

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

College of Sciences & Technology Department Managers & Staff, Environmental Health & Safety Office Staff, Softball Field Improvement Project, Space Administration/Transport Services Staff

The Institute for Energy Studies Team - Multi-department

The Institute for Energy Studies was developed to meet the demand for education and training related to the human production and use of energy through interdisciplinary programs that combine energy science, technology, and engineering, with economics, business management, public policy and sustainability.  A multi-disciplinary team from Huxley College of the Environment, the College of Science and Engineering, and the College of Business and Economics collaborated to create four energy degree-related options, including a new major, in just three years.  Essential to this outcome was the engagement, support, advocacy, and shared insight of numerous stakeholders on- and off-campus, including members of the Institute’s Founding Advisory Board and industry partners.  Thanks to this joint effort, the Institute secured funding during the 2013 Legislative Session to hire necessary faculty; private donations were solicited to support curriculum development, equipment for a new lab, travel expenses, and an endowed scholarship.  Most importantly, students have started to enthusiastically pursue the program’s degrees and minors, reinforcing Western’s national reputation as a leader in sustainable energy and innovative interdisciplinary education.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Andy Bunn, Brian Burton, Mark Bussell, Gail Cowan, Marilyn Desmul, Dan Hagen, Steve Hollenhorst, Kathy Kitto, Todd Morton, David Patrick, Kathryn Patrick, Jennifer Seltz, Pete Stelling, Joel Swisher, Phil Thompson, Manca Valum, Thomas Webler

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Action Plan for Global Engagement Team, College of Business and Economics Policy & Procedures Team, eMarket Team, Energy Savings Project Team, Value Leader Team, Western Stands for Washington Campaign Launch Team

The MABEL Team - Multi-department

The MABEL Team is comprised of representatives from Western Libraries, WebTech, Western Marketing & Communication, and Video Services. This team is responsible for the creation of the University’s new centralized, open source, online repository for digital assets. MABEL, which stands for Multimedia Archives Based Electronic Library, is a database of collections that enable the discovery, sharing, and preservation of Western's digital assets, including photos, videos, oral histories, and much more from a central location.  MABEL is the direct result of the work conducted by the members of the MABEL Team, comprising a cross-campus partnership involving content creators, stewards and stakeholders. This new central platform -- the first of its kind at the university -- is a transformative step forward in Western’s efforts to disseminate and preserve digital content.

In alignment with Western’s strategic goals, numerous collections housed in MABEL illuminate the history of the university and the Pacific Northwest, and thereby advance a deeper understanding of and engagement with place and regional history. Housed in an open source software system (i.e., software that is freely available to all people for use and innovation), MABEL bypasses the inequities perpetuated by expensive, licensed software systems and related content, which restrict access to those who can afford to pay. Instead, MABEL is an affordable tool for the university, and its content is freely discoverable to users worldwide.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

David Bass, Western Libraries; Tamara Belts, Western Libraries; Max Bronsema, WebTech; Derek Bryson, University Communications & Marketing; Chris Casquilho, College of Fine & Performing Arts; Jon Dillon, Western Libraries; Elizabeth Joffrion, Western Libraries; Tony Kurtz, Western Libraries; Clarissa Mansfield, Western Libraries; Rebecca Marrall, Western Libraries; Stephanie Mason, WebTech; Tim McLaughlin, Enterprise Infrastructure Services; Justene Merriman, College of Fine & Performing Arts; Casey Mullin, Western Libraries; Nigel Packer, WebTech; Kris Rex, Western Libraries; Ruth Steele, Western Libraries; Jesse Sturgis, Outreach and Continuing Education, Steve Swan, Former VP, University Relations (Retired)

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

Admissions CRM Implementation Team, Banner 9 Admin Pages Upgrade Project, External Recruitment Marketing Team, Forest School Curriculum Development Team, Global Pathway Program, Make Waves Design System Team, President's Advisory Committee on Institutional Resource Modeling, Procurement and Contracts Team, Social Justice Equity Committee, Writing in Accounting, WWU Food Security Network

The Morse Hall Fire Recovery Team - Multi-department

Immediately after the fire in the Morse Hall chemistry building on August 25, 2015, this team came together to ensure its successful reopening in time forTeam Award 2016 Picture the start of the 2015 Fall Quarter only twenty five days later.  The team reviewed, evaluated and implemented solutions to the multiple obstacles to restoring service in the building, considering safety, financial, strategic and operational impacts to the University.  Consistent, swift, and accurate communication at all levels was critical to the success of the response, and each member of the team was empowered to provide information and input at every step of the recovery effort.  Even under intense time pressure, each area within this large team understood their goals and objectives to ensure the safety of students and employees, all coordinated to minimize disruption to Western’s academic mission.  Thanks to the team’s effort, thousands of students, faculty and staff were able to continue their coursework and research without disruption, relocation or resource constraints.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Allan Pack, Amanda White, Amy Cully, Barbara Lewis, Benny Musonda, Bianca Smith, Bill Harrison, Billy Walker, Brian Sullivan, Bruce Boyer, Bryce Flexer, Carrie Thurman, Charlie George, Chris Brueske, Chris Hadley, Chris Pressley, Chris Vallejo, Colin Hanson, Connor Frendt, Dan Miller, Danette Shelton, Darin Rasmussen, Darrin Britton, Dave Creel, Dave Holmwood, Dave Keeney, David Garcia, Dawn Childs, Deana Fuller, Debora French, Dennis Terrell, Dennis Waugh, Derek Jones, Diana Rosen, Don Bakkensen, Donnell Tanksley, Edwin Malpica, Elizabeth Shorter, Emily Gibson, Eric Ellis, Eric Snyder, Ethan Van Diest, Fred Escher, Gary Bocek, Gary Carlton, Geno Carbone, George Liu, Gerry Vermeulen, Glen Huschka, Greg Keeler, Gurmit Bhumber, Hallie Ervin, Hla Win-Piazza, Hoa Do, Holly Woll-Salkeld, Hunter Ross, James Schade, James Vyvyan, Jayson Christopherson, Jeff Osthimer, Jennilyn Michel, Jessica Ibsen, Jim Loudon, Jim Perigo, Jim Reichart, Joe Bailey, John Furman, John Kingsford-Smith, John Lawson, John Mueller, Josh Seyer, Juanito Delarosa, Kasoma Duplantis, Katy MacCoy, Kevin Conforti, Kevin Jenkins, Khoa Truong, Kirk England, Lane Weaver, Lawless Tolliver-Warren, Lea Aune, Linda Chromey, Linda Teater, Lloyd Hungate, Luke Haas, Luke Mason, Mark Carter, Mary Gallagher, Mary Seaton, Matt Hardy, Matthew Anderson, Maureen Christman, Michael Nguyen, Michael Ulrich, Mila Dumatol, Monica Matheny, Monica Morrow, Nancy Phillips, Neil Ingermann, Pam Gibson, Pat Kuehnel, Pat Schuette, Paul Cocke, Paul Mueller, Pete Elich, Pete Heilgeist, Peter Thut, Rich Van Den Hul, Rick Benner, Rick Nichols, Robert Recio, Roger Leishman, Ron Carpenter, Ron Rawls, Ronni Olsen, Russell Stetzer, Ryan Bungard, Sarah Crawford, Scot Vallejo, Scott Stilts, Sean Avery, Seth Crawford, Sonia Baker, Stacey Maxwell, Stacy Jenkins, Stan Wolf, Steve Morrow, Sue Sullivan, Teresa Hart, Thao Nguyen, Todd Epps, Todd Osborn, Tony Nevarez, Travis Ivarra, Tuyet Pham, Wes Wilkinson, Wolf Lipson, Zach Flaton

RUNNER-UP TEAM:

Chart of Accounts Team

Ventilation Improvement Team - Facilities Management

WWU COVID-19 Incident Management Team - Multi-department

Since late February of 2020, this team has planned, implemented, evaluated, and adapted a complex institution-wide response to the global pandemic. In one sense, every member of the university has been part of that team—every one of us has been involved in this response and adaptation to the COVID environment. The members of the Incident Management Team, however, in addition to their regular duties, have spent countless hours working on the details that have kept the university running, assessing situations in real time and recommending critical decisions, even when so much has been unknown and unpredictable. The team’s tireless efforts to anticipate, assess, and evaluate the impacts of the pandemic on virtually every aspect of the institution—and provide recommendations for action—has required extraordinary levels of collaboration, communication, and resilience under sustained pressure. While we may never know how much of their work took place well beyond regular work hours and to the detriment of their “day jobs”, we do know that it has been absolutely central to our ability to navigate the pandemic.

In naming members of this team, we recognize that behind each name are many others, each an integral part of our response. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the dedication that the Incident Management Team has demonstrated over a very long year. A heartfelt thank you to the members of this team, and all that supported them.

INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBERS:

Jesse Atkins, Facilities Management; Linda Beckman, Financial & Capital Resources; Bruce Boyer, Environmental Health & Safety; Max Bronsema, Web Communications Technology; Chris Brueske, Facilities Management; Matt Bryant, Student Success Initiatives; Brian Burton, Academic Affairs; Anna Carlson, Facilities Management; Ted Castro, Budget & Financial Planning; Paul Cocke, University Communications; Austin Cooper, Academic Affairs; Ryan Cullup, Facilities Management; Debbie Curry, Enrollment & Student Services; Holly Diaz, University Residences; John Farquhar, ATUS; Maggie Feeney, Prevention & Wellness Services; John Furman, Facilities Management; Faye Gallant, Budget Office; Wayne Galloway, Facilities Management; Anne Gilbert, Business & Financial Affairs; Jamie Granger, Facilities Management; David Hansen, Student Health Center; Casey Hayden, Student Activities; Jessica Heidemann, Student Health Center; Pete Heilgeist, Business Services; Jack Herring, Academic Affairs; Kevin Jenkins, Transportation Services; Leonard Jones, University Residences; Ichi Kwon, Academic Affairs; Julie Larmore, Facilities Management; Sislena Ledbetter, Counseling, Health and Wellness; Adam Lorio, Counselling, Health & Wellness; Janet McLeod, Counselling, Health & Wellness; Gena Mikkelsen, Public Safety; Paul Mueller, Risk, Compliance and Policy Services; Melissa Nelson, Office of Attorney General; Troy Ragsdale, Registrar's Office; Darin Rasmussen, Public Safety; Andrea Rodger, Business Services; Michael Sledge, Student Life; Brian Sullivan, Business & Financial Affairs; Sue Sullivan, Environmental Health & Safety; John Thompson, University Communications; Steve VanderStaay, Academic Affairs; Lynne Walker, Enrollment & Student Services; Andy Wilken, Facilities Management (formerly); Sara Wilson, Student Success Initiatives; Chyerl Wolfe-Lee, Human Resources; Holly Woll-Salkeld, Environmental Health & Safety; James Yates, Facilities Management

Not Pictured: Lea Aune, Human Resources; Max Cohen, Facilities Management; Connor Culhane, Facilities Management; Jessica Dean, Prevention & Wellness Services; Mark Okinaka, Academic Budget & Administration; Shelli Soto, Enrollment & Student Services; Michael Ulrich, Financial Services; Taya Winter, Registrar's Office;

RUNNER-UP TEAMS:

ATUS Team, Canada House-Transboundary Programs Team, COVID-19 Emergency Aid to Students Team, Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment Team, Custodial Transport Team, COVID-19 Response Team, Enterprise Infrastructure Services Team, Procurement & Contracts Team, Transition to Remote Teaching Team, Registrar's Office COVID-19 Response Team, University Marketing & ATUS Production Team, Virtual Viking Night Team, WACOM-ReADY Tracking Team. 

Brandon Joseph - Counseling, Health & Wellness

Brandon Joseph is the director of Student Resilience in Counseling, Health, and Wellness. He provides non-clinical support for students in navigating their college journey and fostering an experience rich in holistic wellbeing. In collaboration with campus and community partners, he has hosted many campus wellness events, initiatives, and programs.  

As a Koyukon Athabascan and Muscogee Creek scholar and practitioner, Joseph’s work is fundamentally inspired by his Native identity. In 2019, he established the Black & Brown Male Success Collective BBMSC, a research-based program that provides male-identifying students from historically marginalized racial and/or ethnic communities with an affinity space to strengthen connection and belonging. The group has represented WWU at regional and national conferences and hosted several anti-racist workshops on WWU’s campus. 

Joseph also works to support the Native American Student Union and others in the Multicultural Student Services area. He has served on several campus committees devoted to moving forward conversations of accessibility, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at WWU. In 2021, he was appointed as WWU’s first Athletics Diversity and Inclusion designee, charged with overseeing ADEI efforts in Athletics. He also serves on Laural Ballew’s Tribal Advisory Committee.

Christian Urcia - University Residences

Christian Urcia first came to Western Washington University in 2013 working as the ACUHO-I Graduate Intern for Conferences and Guest Housing in University Residences.  He returned to Western in 2014 to serve as the Resident Director of Mathes Hall and later as the Apartment Coordinator for Birnam Wood and New York Apartments.  Christian is currently an Assistant Director in Residence Life and has provided vision, leadership, and mentorship to students and staff over the last two years in this role.  Christian is also providing campus leadership as the President of the Faculty and Staff of Color Council (FSOCC).

Christian’s commitment to equity and inclusion is evident through initiatives working to serve underrepresented students and staff.  Christian has provided leadership in the areas of recruitment, hiring, and retention of diverse staff, providing education through authentic dialogue throughout trainings and his work on the Campus Wide Dialogue committee, supervision of the Inclusion Assistant program, creation of Western’s first food pantry, and the development and implementation of Swipe Out Hunger.  Christian also serves on the Bias Response Team at Western and continues to transform the policies, structures, and practices at Western to create an equitable and just teaching, learning, and living community.

Francisco Rios - Woodring College of Education

Francisco Rios came to Western in 2011 to serve as the Dean of the Woodring College of Education, a six year tenure that he completed in 2017 when he returned to the faculty. As Dean of the College he has overseen the institutionalization of the Diversity Recruitment and Retention Director, the hiring of a more diverse faculty, the partnership program “Maestros Para el Pueblo,” the Fairhaven-Woodring Education and Social Justice minor, three alternate route to teaching programs, partnerships for after-school and service learning programs with the Bellingham School District, and new international partnerships for Woodring College, most notably in Chile, China, Taiwan, and Mongolia.

Beyond Western, Francisco serves as the Senior Associate Editor of Multicultural Perspectives, the Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education, and was the founding director of the University of Wyoming’s Social Justice Research Center. In 2008, he received the Distinguished Scholar Mid-Career Award, from the Committee of Scholars of Color in Education from the American Educational Research Association. Francisco served as President of the National Association for Multicultural Education from November 2014-November 2016.  He is a founding member of the World Coalition for Equity and Diversity in Education. Francisco received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Glenn T. Tsunokai - Sociology

Glenn Tsunokai joined Western's Sociology Department in 2003 as a specialist in race and ethnic relations and stratification and inequality. Since his arrival, approximately 7,218 undergraduates have taken his introduction level GUR race and ethnicity course.  In this class, students are provided with the knowledge and skills to become culturally competent citizens in an increasingly diverse society. Students enrolled in his stratification course can develop meaningful relations with people from various cultural and socio-economic backgrounds via service learning activities. Glenn encourages his students to develop a deeper understanding of social issues through research.

Over the past 16 years, he has sponsored 148 senior theses and independent studies that have focused on such issues as cultural appropriation, prejudice and discrimination, and media (mis)representation. Glenn has also invited many students to work with him on his own research projects that deal with interracial relationships. He has co-published five articles with eight undergraduate students. While at Western, Glenn has created and co-facilitated diversity and equity workshops, has served on various university committees that focus on diversity related issues, and he continues to serve as an (in)formal mentor/advisor to students from underrepresented backgrounds. Glenn received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Riverside.

Joan Ullin - Student Outreach Services

Ullin, coordinator of academic support in Western’s Student Outreach Services office, first joined Western’s multicultural community when she entered Western Washington State College at the age of 17 and immediately joined the Hui ‘o Hawaii student club to build community and cultivate leadership skills. Ullin received her bachelor’s degree in English with a teaching certificate from Woodring College of Education, and later earned a master’s in Student Personnel Administration from Western as well.  Since then, she has notably fostered partnerships between Northwest Indian College and Western’s College of Sciences and Technology, and will soon introduce a WWU chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics, Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. Ullin is president of Western’s Minority Employees Council and, continuing her work to empower women and support multi-ethnic advancement, she is serving her second term as president of the Bellingham YWCA. Joan also received the Women of Color Empowerment Award this year for her work in coordinating their annual dinner. 

Joseph E. Trimble and Trula Nicholas - Psychology and Health & Community Studies

Joseph Trimble holds multiple academic appointments at Western. He is a Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Psychology and Professor in the Woodring College of Education. He is also a President’s Professor at the Center for Alaska Native Health Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, former Senior Scholar at the Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research at Colorado State University, and a former Research Associate for the National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research.  For the past 40 years he has served on more than 15 different scientific review panels for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.

As a member of Western’s Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Trimble’s research and teaching focuses on multicultural topics in psychology, including mental health and the experiences of indigenous populations, diversity and leadership, and cross-cultural perspectives on health and mental illness.  He has authored over 150 publications including 22 books.

In addition to previously receiving Western’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Paul J. Olscamp Outstanding Faculty Research Award, Trimble has received numerous regional, national and international recognitions for his contributions to the field, including the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Washington State Psychological Association, the Peace and Social Justice Award from the American Psychological Association (APA), and the International Lifetime Achievement Award, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. 

Dr. Trula Nicholas is Associate Professor of Human Services in the Department of Health and Communities Studies (Woodring College).  She completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Western Washington University (WWU) where she learned from mentors, such as Dr. Joseph Trimble, about equity and social justice work.  Over the years Trula has served on numerous local, state, and national nonprofit boards including the National Organization for Human Services, Washington Nonprofits, the Whatcom Council of Nonprofits and the Whatcom Family and Community Network.  At WWU Trula currently serves as chair of the Woodring Faculty Affairs Council, the Faculty Senate Social Justice & Equity Committee, and as secretary for the Faculty Senate.  Trula also serves as a mentor for students and colleagues on campus, continuing to deepen her understanding of how to bring the twin lenses of equity & social justice into all of her work. When collaborating with local and statewide nonprofits, community leadership programs, and local neighborhood associations, the echoes of her original learnings about equity and social justice are ever present.  Trula's teaching, scholarship and service is focused on community building and community development, reflecting the understandings originally imparted at Western.

Kathleen Kitto - College of Sciences & Technology

Throughout her career at Western, Kathleen Kitto has been a leading supporter of gender diversity initiatives for both faculty and students, developing opportunities for women in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Korry Harvey - Communication Studies

Korry has been at Western since 2001 and is a Senior Instructor in the Communication Studies Department, as well as Assistant Director of Forensics. Korry was instrumental in developing, and also consistently teaches the COMM225 course “Communication, Diversity and Controversy,” a course created to help students develop the intellectual and practical skills to engage thoughtfully on the issues they may encounter relating to diversity. Korry has made tremendous contributions as the Assistant Director of Forensics at Western by creating a positive debate team climate and emphasizing how critical it is to engage each other and the broader world with a myriad of perspectives. Korry’s instrumental role in introducing inclusivity and viewpoints of the traditionally underrepresented and sometimes ignored, has strengthened the debate team and contributed to their competitive success.

He earned his bachelor’s in History from Weber State University in 1998. Harvey has served the Northwest Forensic Conference as a leader on the Ethics and Equity Committee, in addition to serving locally as Board Member and Chair on the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force.

Liz Partolan-Fray - Institute for Global Engagement

Liz Partolan-Fray began her career at Western in 1980 at the Multicultural Services Center where she advised international students, students with disabilities, veterans, and mature returning students.  From 1997 to 2016, Liz served as Director of International Programs & Exchanges (now Education Abroad).  During her tenure, the number of Western students studying abroad annually more than doubled, and the number of international students at Western increased significantly as well.  She was an outstanding advocate for increasing diversity on university campuses, receiving the Women of Color Empowerment Award in 2010, and being appointed to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA): Association of International Educators 2016-2017 Diversity Network Task Force. At Western she served on the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee on Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism, and on the Diversity Achievement Award Committee, among other similarly focused groups. 

Liz spend a lifetime advocating for those who were underrepresented at the University.  From developing policies to satisfy immigration regulations, to teaching a course designed for students preparing to study abroad, Liz brought leadership and dedication to Western’s services for international students and those leaving from Western to study abroad. Liz passed away in the summer of 2016 and is dearly missed by her family, friends, and former colleagues at Western.

Lucas Senger - College of Business and Economics, MBA Capstone, Management; College of Fine and Performing Arts, Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation, Music

Lucas G Senger is a first-generation college going Latinx senior instructor in the College of Business and Economics (CBE) where he co-designed the CBE’s MBA Consulting Capstone, and the College of Fine and Performing Arts where he co-authored the Arts Enterprise and Cultural Innovation minor. Both programs are driven by developing equitable organizational ecosystems, ensuring diverse learning communities, empowering creativity, centering human focused design, and building adaptable structures for change.

Lucas’ Equity and Inclusion work at Western spans the university. He is a member of Western's Social Justice and Equity Committee, having served as co-chair from 2018-2021. He is faculty advisor to the Black and Brown Male Success Collective, an organizer of the Campus Wide Dialogue Series on race and a member of Western's Structural Equity Team. Lucas is a founding member of the SJEC team leading the Community Anti-Racist Workshops for WWU faculty, a cohort-based program designed to engage and evolve the curriculum and classroom practices of Western faculty. Within multiple divisions at WWU he has led the development and formation of AEID committees and programs. Lucas is also an Ashoka Change Leader at Western Washington University, connecting the campus to a global network of change oriented academic institutions. Lucas is committed to contributing to Western’s pursuit of justice and equity, and in ensuring the safety and success of all those in our learning community.

Marie Eaton - Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies

Marie has been at Western since 1975, and has served in both administrative and faculty roles, to include Dean of Fairhaven College, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Associate Dean of the School of Education, and Professor, Woodring College and Fairhaven College. In these roles, Marie has dedicated herself to promoting inclusion and equity.

Regina Barber DeGraaf, Robin Kodner, Lina Dahlberg - Physics & Astronomy, Biology, Biology

Dr. Regina Barber DeGraaff teaches physics, astronomy and science communication at Western Washington University (WWU). Regina completed her PhD in Physics in 2011 from Washington State University with a focus in Astrophysics, studying globular cluster systems. She also created the position of STEM Inclusion and Outreach Specialist at WWU, which is devoted to the retention and support of underrepresented students and faculty in STEM. In this part-time administrative position, Regina advises several STEM clubs (such as the WWU Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispancis and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)), hiring committees, grant funded programs, and university inclusion committees. She also facilitates co-created equity workshops, serves on the Minority Employee Council Board, and plans inclusion events. Lastly, Regina is also the creator and host of the KMRE radio show and WWU podcast Spark Science, which strives to make science fun, accessible and human. Through all of her efforts, Regina’s goal is to break apart the scientist stereotype so that anyone can see themselves in science.

Robin Kodner is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Western Washington University (WWU). She earned her BS from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and her PhD in Biology from Harvard University in 2007, and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Washington before joining the faculty at WWU. In her biology research, she uses environmental genomic techniques to study microbial community diversity in marine and alpine environments, with the goal of documenting how these communities respond to changing climate. In addition to her training as a scientist, she has worked as an outdoor educator, specifically for urban-based programs that fostered development of self-reflection, leadership, and teamwork in a social justice context. She works to bring these same ideals to her science classrooms and was recognized by the WWU Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment’s Innovative Teaching Showcase in 2013 for using service learning in her Statistics course. She is passionate about creating an inclusive culture in STEM classrooms and departments at WWU and beyond.

Lina Dahlberg is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Western Washington University (WWU). She teaches introductory and advanced courses in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Neurobiology. She received her PhD in Biochemistry in 2008 from the University of Washington, and worked as a TEACRS (Training in Education And Critical Research Skills) post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology at Tufts University before joining the faculty at WWU. In the laboratory, Lina and her students use microscopic worms (C. elegans) to study how nerve cells are able to signal to each other under normal and stressful conditions. Lina also studies how independent and collaborative research experiences can improve student problem solving through increased metacognition. Lina is especially interested in exploring ways to make science classrooms and departments more welcoming through evidence-based, student-centered learning practices. She is committed to bringing more STEM faculty and students into conversations surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion by organizing on-campus forums for discussion, learning, and self-reflection. 

Sean Bruna - Anthropology

Sean Bruna, PhD. is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Anthropology, with expertise in medical anthropology and health policy. Sean has B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Chicago, and M.A. and PhD. degrees from the University of New Mexico, where he was a Health Policy Fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

After joining Western in 2014, Sean formed the Medical Anthropology Lab to mentor diverse students that are historically excluded from advanced research. Since joining Western, Sean has advised 38 honors thesis’, self-designed majors, or independent studies, and has served on 31 master’s or doctoral theses committees. Students in his lab research a variety of topics from water practices and policy in Western Kenya, supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals in the Pacific Northwest, video-based type 2 diabetes education for rural Pacific Islanders, and COVID-19 isolation strategies practiced by disabled peoples.

Colleagues, students, and alumni commended Sean’s efforts as a Latinx scholar toward increasing equity and inclusion by bringing together affiliates from multiple and intersecting identities and supporting their self-agency and goals in affirming ways. Sean’s contributions play a critical role in Western’s Strategic Plan by advancing success through deliberate and conscientious mentorship and research, enhancing academic excellence, and increasing Western’s impact in Washington.

Shevell Thibou - Western Libraries

Shevell Thibou completed her B.A. and M.Ed at Western Washington University, and joined Western Libraries in January of 2012. During her time at Western she has served in various positions including the Learning Commons Coordinator, Assistant Director of the Learning Commons, and Head of the Teaching-Learning Academy. She currently occupies the role of Director of Teaching and Learning while serving as an instructor in the Adult & Higher Education graduate program.   

Shevell’s contributions align particularly well with Western’s goals to foster a caring and supportive environment where all members are respected and treated fairly, and in Western’s pursuit of justice and equity in its policies, practices, and impacts. Shevell looks forward to continuing her collaborations within the Social Justice and Equity Committee, the Structural Equity & Bias Response Team, and other opportunities focused on dismantling the inequities present within our teaching and learning community. 

Steven Sulkin - Shannon Point Marine Center

Steve has been at Western since 1985 and was the director of the Shannon Point Marine Center for 28 years before his retirement this past summer. Sulkin developed the Minorities in Marine Science Undergraduate Program, which introduces Native American, Alaskan Native, African American, Latino/Hispanic and Pacific Islander students to the possibility of pursuing careers in the marine sciences. He earned his master’s and doctorate in Marine Biology from Duke University in 1971. Sulkin has been on the editorial board of the scientific journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science since 1990.

Willy Hart - University Residences

Willy Hart said that he received this honor because of the good work of many people in University Residences and the support of colleagues across the campus. He has helped to grow the diversity of University Residences staff and supported Ethnic Student Center heritage dinners from funds available through the University Dining Contract.

Growing up, Willy lived in seven states and three countries because his family was in the military. After earning a bachelor’s degree in History and English at Webster College and a master’s degree in Human Services at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, he worked in housing, campus planning, and human resources at the University of Oregon. He came to Western in 1991, taking the job of associate director of University Residences for facilities for 13 years.  Willy became director in 2004 and will retire at the end 2012.

Brian Hutchinson - Computer Science

Brian began his academic career at WWU, where he earned a trio of degrees (BS Computer Science, BS Linguistics, MS Computer Science), before heading to the University of Washington to earn MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering.  He returned to WWU's Computer Science Department as faculty in 2013, and accepted a joint appointment in 2017 as a scientist in the Computing and Analytics Division of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The work in his research group is highly interdisciplinary: he and his students work with domain experts to use machine learning to tackle important scientific problems arising in astronomy, biology, climate science, education, linguistics, materials science, oceanography, and many other domains. His group also works on fundamental machine learning research, including adversarial machine learning and few shot learning. He is passionate about mentorship in all forms: he has mentored over 70 undergraduate and master's research students; he mentors department TAs and graders as the department's first TA Coordinator; he has helped to organize and run the College of Science and Engineering TA Training program; and he co-founded and served as the first chair of the CS department's Student-Centered Learning Committee, designed to support junior faculty's growth as effective instructors. 

Glenn Tsunokai - Sociology

Glenn Tsunokai, associate professor of Sociology, earned his doctorate from the University of California at Riverside in 2003. His current research interests focus on love and hate. Regarding the former, Tsunokai examines patterns of racial and ethnic inclusion/exclusion by Internet daters. Concerning hate, he investigates how technological innovations in computer-mediated communications have helped hate groups transform themselves into virtual communities. He has co-authored three articles with undergraduate students on these topics. His teaching interests include race and ethnic relations, research methods and stratification/inequality. His students praise him for keeping his lectures relevant by incorporating current discussion topics, new technology and making an effort to engage every person in class.

Heather Davidson - Communications Studies

Heather obtained her BA in Communication Studies and her MEd. in Adult and Higher Education from WWU (2009, 2012). She returned to her alma mater in 2014 as non-tenured faculty in the Department of Communication Studies and has since served as a leader, mentor, and support system for thousands of students. She has served as a Community Engagement Faculty Fellow, a DEI workshop facilitator, and is known as a campus leader for her use of empathy to enhance positive student outcomes. Her facilitation of over 10,000 hours of service-learning in the Bellingham community has fostered employment connections between numerous alumni and local employers. She also developed and directed the student-led #WeAreWWU campaign, raising over $50k in support of Western programs, scholarships, and student services. Countless graduates have found meaningful employment and post-graduate programs because of her mentorship and recommendations on their behalf, many of whom nominated her for this honor. Though she was recently informed that her contract will not be renewed due to seniority and departmental needs, she is grateful to take this final laurel with her as her professional journey continues to develop. 

Janelle Leger - Physics & Astronomy, and Chemistry

Janelle Leger was the first faculty hire for the Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center, with a split appointment between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry.  Janelle was an NSF Discovery Corps Postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington Department of Chemistry from 2005 – 2008, after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz Department of Physics. Her research group explores organic and hybrid electronic and optoelectronic devices as well as structures for subwavelength optics. She has mentored over 30 undergraduate research students in interdisciplinary scholarship since joining WWU in 2008.

Joan Stevenson - Anthropology

Joan Stevenson received her doctorate in biological anthropology from University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee and taught briefly at three other institutions before coming to Western.   She has published in teams and often with students on the genetics of European immigrants, Mennonite demography, ADHD, growth and symmetry, digit ratios, Southwestern Pueblo pottery, the resilience of Inupiaq peoples, food allergies, and determining the sex of an individual by looking at the skull.  Her highest priorities are to be a good teacher by being current in the literature and expecting a professional-level performance from all.  She most enjoys the discussions in her office about current projects and life’s challenges.

Lyle Harris - Journalism (Retired)

Journalism Professor Emeritus Lyle Harris Sr. had the pleasure of teaching on the WWU journalism faculty from 1976 until retirement in 2005. His high expectations of student journalists, combined with unwavering patience and encouragement, continue to inspire a generation of WWU journalism graduates. 

“Lyle Harris changed the course of my life when he wrote on my end-of-quarter paper ‘You’re really good at this. Keep at it!’” one alum wrote. “I’m now 20 years into a journalism career where I feel like I make a difference in the world every day. I thank Lyle for inspiring and motivating me while I was in school. Every student should be so lucky to have a Lyle in their lives.”

Harris was a professional journalist before coming to Western, working for United Press International and the Evening Star in Washington, D.C. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri and was a fellow at the Washington Journalism Center. While teaching at Western, Harris was also a public speaker and expert witness on First Amendment issues. 
After retiring from Western, Harris continued to be involved with campus classes and leading teaching abroad programs. He and his wife Betty will soon celebrate their 59th anniversary. They raised three sons, Lyle Jr., Jack and Nicholas. Nicholas passed away in 2019 from complications relating to MS. They have two grandsons, Sam Harris and Coleman Harris.

Michael Seal - Engineering and Design

Michael Seal, founder and faculty emeritus of the Vehicle Research Institute holds degrees from the University of British Columbia, Western Washington State College (’65), and earned his doctorate from Texas A&M University in 1969. He joined Western in 1968 and founded the VRI in 1979, focusing his research on High Fuel Economy and Low Emissions. He retired in 2004 after 35 years of teaching at Western, building and overseeing three dozen innovative, fuel-efficient hybrid cars. The most notable car won the 1990 World Championship for two-seat solar cars in the race across the Australian Outback. Other research efforts include work with Subaru engines and the vacuum degassing techniques developed in the engineering technology foundry which were studied by the Porsche research department. His former students wrote glowing nominations, including one who said, “Dr. Seal’s passion for teaching and learning was evident in everything he did at Western. Whether lecturing to an entry-level class or mentoring a team engaged in competition, he brought out the best in his students by providing engaging and relevant opportunities.” Another former student remarked, “Dr. Seal has measurably contributed to the national stature of WWU during his long tenure and richly deserves this honor.”

Millie Johnson - Mathematics

A well-known adage says to follow your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life. For 44 years, Millie has had the privilege of exploring the most fascinating mystery in the universe: How humans learn. In every class, she feels like a kid in a bottomless candy store, full of curiosity and excitement about what the students will uncover and what role she might play in the process. A worthy venture occurs when her students stump her and, as equals, work their way out of the tangle. Better yet is when they are unable to find their way, when the emails start to come in at midnight, 2 a.m., 4 a.m., and she can’t sleep either. They are hooked. We are hooked. Ignition. Blast off!

Patty Bourne - Music

Patty Bourne came to Western five years ago with more than 20 years of experience as a public school music educator. She accepted the title of coordinator of Music Education with a single mission: to advise, instruct, supervise, and celebrate pre-service teachers who graduate and become outstanding and highly effective educators. Based on the outstanding successes of recent music education graduates, that mission is being realized. Patty presents workshops throughout the country on this topic, guided by the belief that great teachers can change the world. In a nomination that typifies her students’ feelings about her, a past student writes, “Patty Bourne was my hero at Western. She always had my back, and she always knew how to handle situations that came up while I had her as an advisor.  I owe a lot to Dr. Bourne and I’m thankful every day that I know her."

Peter Haug - Decision Sciences

Peter is the program director of the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management program in the College of Business and Economics. He received a B.A. and M.A. in military history, an MBA from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Philosophy in business studies from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and his Ph.D. in operations management from the University of Washington. Peter manages the Manufacturing and Operations Management Advisory Board that designed and sustains the MSCM degree, whose motto is “industry partnered education.” He has served as the faculty sponsor of the student chapter of APICS for over 25 years. He is passionate about mentoring and engaging his students with alumni and industry professionals through summer internships, company projects, facility tours, and guest speaker sessions and dinners. His research focuses on empirical and case studies in supply chain management, and his overseas teaching and travels have enhanced his ability to integrate global perspectives in his pedagogical philosophy and efforts. He has also been a Fulbright Scholar, teaching in China and India, and a visiting professor in Scotland and Iceland.

Wayne Landis - Institute of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry

Wayne Landis served as Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry from September 1989 until December 2021. He is now a Research Professor within the Institute that is part of the now College of the Environment. He graduated with a BA in Biology from Wake Forest University and his MA and Ph. D. in Zoology from Indiana University. His first research position was as a Research Biologist, Toxicologist for the Chemical Research and Engineering Center of the US Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. At WWU his research and teaching focused on toxicology, population biology and risk assessment. Since arriving at WWU, his group has published over 140 papers and books, most with students as coauthors and many with undergraduate or graduate student first authors. He also taught three Honors courses on the history of the formulation of Evolution by natural selection and the scientific and cultural impacts of synthetic biology brought about by CRISPR technology. Since 1990 he has been a regular at the Noontime Basketball Association at Carver (now at the Rec Center) and enjoys flying light aircraft. When he got the announcement of the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award he could not think of a better recognition from Western.

William Lay - Special Education

William (Bill) Lay, senior instructor, Department of Special Education, has been at Western since 1983, initially as a graduate student and subsequently as an instructor and curriculum development specialist with Woodring College of Education. Lay has designed and taught a number of educational foundations courses in the teacher certification program, and is currently focusing his work on a social science GUR class that provides undergraduate advisement and mentoring. Lay's service to the university includes several years as the former executive director of Western’s Center for Global and Peace Education and the editor of Woodring’s newsletter. He currently serves on the executive board of the United Faculty of Western Washington. His academic interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning and the empowerment of student voices.  Retiring at the end of this academic term, Lay is looking forward to fly-fishing the blue-ribbon trout streams of his native Montana.