Alumni News

Recent Alumni News

Jasmin Weaver

2025 Distinguished Alumni Award 

Award Recipient Jasmin Weaver The Political Science Department is proud to present the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award to Jasmin Weaver, who is honored for her outstanding contributions to policy and public service. Throughout her career, Jasmin has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to addressing social and economic inequalities, a passion that was evident even during her time as a student and has only grown stronger in her… Read more
ArtSci Roundup: May 2025

ArtSci People & Research in the Media: Winter Quarter Roundup

The College of Arts & Sciences is home to many distinguished researchers, faculty, and students. Their work and contributions have been featured in media outside of the UW and across the country. Take a look at some ArtSci features from this past Winter Quarter. From new telescopes to UW in high schools, ArtSci in the Media has something for everyone! Continue… Read more
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Career Conversations with Alumni

In our annual Career Conversations, alumni share their personal and professional stories with undergraduates. What do they do? How did they get there? Are they doing what they thought they would be doing upon graduation? How did their UW Political Science degree prepare them for their careers? This year students heard from and asked questions of Lindsay Scola and John Amaya. Lindsay is the CEO of… Read more
Bruce Harrell

Political Science and Seattle Politics  

    Bruce Harrell, the department’s 2007 Distinguished Alumnus, is Seattle’s newly elected Mayor after winning 59 percent of the vote.  He received his BA in Political Science in 1979. In 2012 he was distinguished with one of the UW’s “Timeless Awards.”   Bruce grew up in Seattle graduating from Garfield High as class valedictorian. He turned down scholarships at Harvard and Stanford to attend the UW. Bruce… Read more
Election 2020

Election 2020: A Turning Point?

A three-part Zoom webinar series sponsored by the Department of Political Science RSVP… Read more
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The Economic Benefits and Costs of a Liberal Arts Education

Last spring, out of curiosity, I searched the LinkedIn career website for people who included a degree in political science from the University of Washington on their profiles. It was really fun to explore what many graduates of the department are doing and how they got there. This search also got me thinking about the popular view that a liberal arts education may make for better citizens but is not a good career path. The profiles I viewed suggested that many of our graduates are… Read more
Pi Sigma Alpha members wearing logo sweatshirts

Support Pi Sigma Alpha!

The student leaders of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, are raising funds to support their annual end of year dinner for students and faculty.  To do this, they are offering one of a kind UW Political Science swag!  The sweatshirts say “UW” on the front and  "Department of Political Science | University of Washington" on the back. They are very comfortable.  If you would like to support Pi Sigma Alpha (and to see more merchandise images), click… Read more
John Wilkerson, Department Chair

Letter from the Chair

When I tell someone that I teach Political Science at the University of Washington, the response is usually along the lines of “You must have a lot to talk about!” or “These must be very interesting times for a Political Scientist!” Both are observations are true of course. There is always something to talk about and I have learned a lot from the ‘politics of unusual’ that we are currently experiencing. As an American politics scholar, much of what I have observed has only reinforced the… Read more
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Political Science Graduate Alumna Erin Mayo-Adam Garners American Political Science Association "Best Dissertation Award"

A major award for the dissertation of one of our recent PhDs, Erin Mayo-Adam (2017). From the American Political Science Association committee:  On behalf of the Sexuality and Politics section of the American Political Science Association I am pleased to share that we have selected your dissertation Queer Alliances: Paradoxes and Power in the Formation of Rights-Based… Read more
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UW Department of Global Health CAREER WEEK - MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!! Hello students! Are you interested in pursuing a PhD? Wondering about life after graduation? Curious about the career opportunities? Interested in connecting with global health organizations? Thinking about joining the Peace Corps? Want to learn more about adding a Global Health Minor or majoring in Public Health? Want to have fun and show off your trivia knowledge? Then join us for… Read more
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