It all started with a slide rule.

In the fall of 1965, during Cheryl Wright鈥檚 first week at the 天美影视传媒, she went to Suzzallo Library to complete a chemistry assignment. She needed help with a math problem and saw a boy across the reading room who had a slide rule 鈥� an analog calculator. The young pharmacy student who helped her that day was Raymond Wilson. Together the couple, who go by Cherie and Ray, did far more than solve a mathematical equation 鈥� they married and formed a bond that鈥檚 lasted more than six decades.

Cherie and Ray, both members of the Class of 1969,听 went on to have successful academic and professional careers.听 Over the years, their connections to the UW have deepened. They have supported scholarships, created alumni communities, built friendships and professional relationships, and cheered for Husky athletics, including the volleyball, basketball and football teams.

Now, the Wilsons have made a bequest of more than $8 million to be shared among the College of Education, the School of Pharmacy and UW Medicine鈥檚 BRaIN Laboratory. Bequests allow donors to direct their assets to causes after their death. The bequest brings the Wilsons鈥� total giving to more than $10 million and they now will be recognized by the UW as Presidential Laureates.

鈥淭his remarkable bequest reflects not only Cherie and Ray Wilson鈥檚 generosity, but a lifetime of connection to the 天美影视传媒. It represents an enduring relationship grounded in gratitude, trust and a shared belief in the power of education and discovery,鈥� said UW President Robert J. Jones. 鈥淔rom their earliest days as students to this extraordinary commitment, they have invested in people, ideas and communities across our university. Cherie and Ray鈥檚 impact will be felt for generations, expanding opportunity for students and advancing research that improves lives.鈥�

After graduating from the UW, both Cherie and Ray attended the University of Kansas, where Cherie earned a master鈥檚 degree in early childhood development and Ray earned his doctorate in medicinal chemistry. They both earned medical degrees from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, respectively.

Cherie and Ray wanted to return to Washington state and eventually settled near Seattle, where Cherie worked as a pediatrician at Seattle Children鈥檚 and in private practice in Bellevue. Ray set up a gastroenterology practice at the Everett Clinic. Their career success enabled them to give back to the community in several ways, including philanthropically, with several gifts supporting the UW. For Ray, who was able to attend the UW thanks to scholarships, supporting students today is a way to pay it forward.

鈥淥ur giving is out of gratitude for what the University did for us,鈥� Ray said. 鈥淚t certainly helped me when I didn’t have a lot of money. It鈥檚 a privilege to try and help other students who might be struggling to get through school.鈥�

College of Education

Ray was inspired to create an endowed scholarship fund at the College of Education more than a decade ago to support master鈥檚 level teacher training for Native Americans. It was a way to honor his high school baseball and basketball coach, Dan Iyall. Iyall, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, reached legendary status as a pioneer in Washington high school athletics.

Iyall worked for nearly 50 years in education and is a member of the Washington Baseball Hall of Fame. He created the Washington high school baseball championships and is credited with developing a new style of bunting. He coached championship-level teams from four different high schools across Eastern Washington: Coulee City, Deer Park, Oroville and University. He also took a team from Oroville to the Washington State A boys basketball championship.

Wilson said Iyall鈥檚 presence reinforced the importance of inclusivity.

鈥淓ventually, I decided we need more people like Dan Iyall,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淲e need more teachers like that.鈥�

The bequest will grow the Dan Iyall Native American Support Fund by more than 300%. 听Thanks to the fund, more than a dozen Native American fellows have earned their master鈥檚 in teaching. Now, the College will be able to award more fellowships each year.

The Wilsons are also creating the Dean Mia Tuan Endowed Professorship, to recognize Tuan鈥檚 leadership and long-standing emphasis on authentic, reciprocal community partnerships and culturally informed problem solving. The new endowment will allow the College to recruit and retain faculty specializing in community- and equity-based education.

鈥淩ay and Cherie are extraordinary people whose generosity reflects a deep commitment to strengthening our communities,鈥� Tuan said. 鈥淭heir gift will support Native students in becoming teachers while helping diversify Washington鈥檚 educator workforce. I am also deeply moved that their gift will establish an endowed professorship dedicated to authentic community partnerships and culturally grounded problem solving.鈥�

School of Pharmacy

Several decades after Ray received financial assistance to attend the UW School of Pharmacy, he teamed up with classmates and launched the Class of 1969 Scholarship Fund. Set up in the 2000s, it was the first School of Pharmacy alumni class to create a fund to help students.

鈥淚 came from a small town in Eastern Washington with almost no money, and yet, the University provided me with scholarships and completely covered my tuition,鈥� Ray said.

Wendel L. Nelson, a professor and pioneer in medicinal chemistry, recognized Ray鈥檚 talents early on and hired him to work in a lab. The research helped Ray advance his career, and the extra money helped pay for food and housing. More than that, the combination of scholarships and laboratory work enabled Ray to graduate debt-free.

With this bequest, the Wilsons鈥� generosity supports two additional funds in the School of Pharmacy: The Wendel L. Nelson Endowment in Medicinal Chemistry, named for Ray鈥檚 mentor, will support graduate students involved in basic laboratory research in medicinal chemistry. The gift also adds to the Nelson-Mendenhall Summer Scholars Program Fund, which brings undergraduates to the UW School of Pharmacy for a 10-week intensive in pharmaceutical sciences.

鈥淔rom their longstanding financial support to their ongoing participation in School events, to Ray鈥檚 past volunteer leadership, Ray and Cherie have already contributed so much to our School of Pharmacy community, and they have done so with a genuine desire to help students and the School thrive,鈥� said School of Pharmacy Dean Jay Panyam. 鈥淭he Wilsons鈥� estate commitment is yet another example of their incredible generosity, and I know it will have a significant and lasting impact for our students.鈥�

UW Biorepository and Integrated Neuropathology (BRaIN) Laboratory in the UW School of Medicine

The Wilsons鈥� bequest contributes additional funds to the BRaIN Laboratory, part of UW Medicine鈥檚 Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

Researchers at the BRaIN Lab are studying normal brain anatomy and function and how these change in injury and disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy .

Cherie and Ray听 were introduced to the BRaIN Lab鈥檚 groundbreaking research by their former neighbors, Linda and Bob Dahl, whose son, Matthew Dahl, was one of their favorite neighborhood kids. When he died at 24, they were moved to learn about the BRaIN Lab, where Bob and Linda had donated his brain for research and to understand the impact of a childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). The examination determined that Matt鈥檚 childhood TBI had evolved, rather than resolved. The outcome 鈥� Matt鈥檚 brain showed significant damage 鈥� highlighted the importance of such donations and moved the Wilsons to make meaningful philanthropic contributions to the lab.

Cherie said she鈥檚 hopeful the BRaIN Lab鈥檚 work may lead to treatments that could result in better long-term outcomes for patients.

鈥淪ome of these problems are going to be solved,鈥� Cherie said. 鈥淛ust becoming aware of chronic head injury and the effect on kids is really, really important.鈥�

The BRaIN lab is a global leader in neurological research on many topics, including TBI. With this bequest, the Wilsons support the intersection of pharmaceutical research and brain injury and disease.

鈥淩ay and Cherie鈥檚 engagement and generosity will continue to help the BRaIN Lab become a national model for neuropathology research. This generous gift will accelerate our work to better understand the mechanisms of brain injury and disease and to support the development of new strategies for diagnosis, treatment and prevention,鈥� said Dr. Caitlin S. Latimer, director of both the Division of Neuropathology and the BRaIN Lab.

Four 天美影视传媒 researchers have been named AAAS Fellows, according to . They are among 449 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their 鈥渟cientifically and socially distinguished achievements鈥� in science and engineering. New Fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin 鈥� representing science and engineering, respectively 鈥� to commemorate their election.

A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor. AAAS Fellows play a crucial role in shaping public policy, advancing scientific research and influencing national and global perspectives on critical issues. Becoming a AAAS Fellow is among the most distinct honors within the scientific community, and those elevated to the rank have made distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. All fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.

This year鈥檚 UW AAAS fellows are:

, professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine and the director of the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design, was recognized for his groundbreaking work in computational protein design. Baker鈥檚 early work was in predicting how chains of chemicals fold into molecular structures that determine protein functions. He went on to design new proteins from scratch to carry out tasks in medicine, technology and sustainability. His team is developing vaccines, targeted drug delivery for cancer, enzymes to break down environmental pollutants and innovative biomaterials, among other endeavors. Baker received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his scientific achievements to benefit humankind. He has also been awarded the Overton Prize in computational biology, Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences.

, professor and chair of neurobiology and biophysics at the UW School of Medicine, was honored for her distinguished contributions to cognitive and systems neuroscience. Buffalo, who is the Wayne E. Crill Endowed Professor, is particularly noted for her pioneering research on the neural basis of remembering and learning, and for advancing translational research into broader insights on human brain function. She studies the relationship between eye movements and activity in the hippocampus and other nearby brain regions involved in forming memories, navigating and recalling the emotional context of past events. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, which presented her with the Troland Award for innovative, multidisciplinary studies. She also helps train postdoctoral scholars at the UW Medicine Institute for Translational Immunology.

, professor and chair of genome sciences at the UW School of Medicine, was noted for her distinguished contributions to the fields of genetics and genomics. She is known for advancing knowledge of the mechanisms underlying molecular evolution and genetic variation in yeasts and in humans. Her lab develops new tools to study mutations and their consequences, genome structure, gene interactions, and the evolution of gene expression. She has a longstanding interest in how copy number variations 鈥� how many times a particular segment of DNA repeats 鈥� affect adaptation, and how these variations arise. Dunham applies her genomics methods to diverse topics, including the biology of aging and the emergence of multi-drug antibiotic resistance. Dunham is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar.

, UW professor of chemistry, was honored for distinguished contributions to the theoretical understanding of nanoscale light-matter interactions, particularly for the design and interpretation of advanced spectroscopies that use electrons and light to probe material excitations. Masiello is an applied physicist whose research focuses on creating simple-yet-rich theoretical models that bring insight and understanding to observations spanning from quantum materials to nanophotonics. Masiello was hired as an assistant professor at the UW in 2010. He is a faculty member in both the Molecular & Engineering Sciences Institute and the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, and is also an adjunct professor of applied mathematics and of materials science and engineering. Masiello’s honors include receiving an NSF CAREER Award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, called PECASE, awarded by President Obama at the White House.

Tohoku University and the 天美影视传媒, two leading academic research institutions of the Pacific Rim, announced 鈥淨-DREAM,鈥� a significant expansion of their decades-long collaboration.

The agreement, signed by university leaders in Tokyo on Friday, provides a broader, future-oriented framework that represents areas of the highest potential synergy. The two universities will engage in joint research, education and innovation in quantum information science & engineering, disaster resilience, engineering and advanced manufacturing, and medicine 鈥� summarized with the acronym Q-DREAM.

The Q-DREAM agreement will accelerate joint research and global impact, increase student and faculty exchange programs, enhance international visibility and funding opportunities, and foster innovation ecosystems connecting academia, industry and government. The first part of this new initiative will focus on quantum materials and is set to begin immediately. The remaining focus areas are expected to roll out over the next few years.

The UW-Tohoku collaboration has grown and deepened since it began in 1996. Rooted in aerospace research, the relationship has broadened to include clean energy technology related to transportation, materials for industrial applications and seismic engineering. Since 2017, Academic Open Space (AOS), has provided a strong foundation facilitating research matching across diverse fields and fostering vibrant faculty and student exchanges. And Q-DREAM allows for even more trans-Pacific interaction.

Q-DREAM鈥檚 work will include the following focus areas:

• Quantum: Builds on both institutions鈥� internationally recognized leadership in quantum materials, information science and technologies to accelerate the translation of discoveries into real-world applications with impact across science, industry and national security.
• Disaster resilience: Addresses natural hazards and climate-driven risks, including earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme weather events, with the goal of strengthening community preparedness and infrastructure resilience.
• Engineering & advanced manufacturing: Advances AI-driven engineering, sustainable and resilient manufacturing, and next-generation robotics.
• Medicine: Collaborates at the intersection of engineering and medicine to drive translational research and health innovation, with the goal of accelerating the path from discovery to clinical and societal impact.

鈥淎ddressing today鈥檚 complex challenges requires bold, collaborative solutions,鈥� said UW President Robert J. Jones. 鈥淲hen leading research universities align around a shared vision, we amplify our ability to advance discovery, drive innovation and serve the public good. We look forward to deepening this partnership with Tohoku University and advancing our shared work in the years ahead.鈥�

Tohoku University President Teiji Tominaga echoed those sentiments.

鈥淥ur shared strengths in engineering, science and medicine position us to deliver even greater global impact,鈥� said Tominaga. 鈥淭hrough this collaboration, we are committed to building resilience, advancing scientific discovery and improving lives.鈥�

The Q-DREAM agreement was signed by the leaders of both institutions on the eve of UW Converge Tokyo, the UW鈥檚 annual gathering for its global community of alumni and friends.

Come curious. Leave inspired.

While February might be just 28 days, the UW offers an exciting lineup of more than 40 in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. In addition, take a look ahead at what’s happening in March.

In addition,听.

ArtSci On Your Own Time

Recorded Lectures: 听(History)
Incarceration is a hotly debated topic in the United States, a country that has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world. Looking at the practice from a historical perspective, what can incarceration teach us about who we were and who we are now? What might histories of incarceration, and the histories of those who have been incarcerated, tell us about power dynamics, belonging, exclusion, struggle, and hope across societies in the past and present? The 2026 History Lecture Series explores the practice of incarceration, tracing its change over time from antiquity to our modern world. Following the lectures, the recordings will be available online.

Podcast: (School of Drama)
A lively and opinionated cultural history of the Broadway Musical that tells the extraordinary story of how Immigrants, Jews, Queers, African-Americans and other outcasts invented the Broadway Musical, and how they changed America in the process.In Season One, host David Armstrong traces the evolution of American Musical Theater from its birth at the dawn of the 20th Century, through its mid-century 鈥淕olden Age鈥�, and right up to its current 21st Century renaissance; and also explore how musicals have reflected and shaped our world — especially in regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, and equality. Free.

Exhibition: (Henry Art Gallery)
Primarily featuring works from the Henry collection created in the twenty-first century, Figure/Ground reflects a period in which hard-won civil rights and claims to self-determination have been eroded across the US, disproportionately affecting Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities. Free.

Book Club: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (UW Alumni)
Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of more than forty novels, collections, novellas and comic books. He is a professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder, and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana. Free.

Recorded Lectures:
Featuring selected lectures from 1996 to today, UW Graduate School’s Office of Public Lectures YouTube features an incredible lineup of artists, scientists, researchers, and more!

Week of February 2

January 29鈥揊ebruary 8 | (School of Drama)
In this new translation of Chekhov鈥檚 鈥漵erious comedy of human contradictions鈥�, a group of artists and dreamers meet in the countryside and wrestle with the costs of ambition, unspoken longings, and the harsh realities of artistic pursuits. Set against a backdrop of love, passionate aspirations, and the search for meaning,听The Seagull听captures the fierce hopes and quiet heartbreaks of an artistic career.听 Directed by MFA Student Sebasti谩n Bravo Montenegro.

Online – February 2 | 听(Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Radhika Govindrajan, Director, South Asia Center and Associate Professor, Anthropology, 天美影视传媒; Sunila Kale
Professor, South Asia and International Studies 天美影视传媒; and Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Trump in the World 2.0 is an online series of talks and discussions featuring guest speakers and faculty exploring global perspectives on a second Trump administration. Free.

February 3 | (Asian Languages & Literature)
This is a unique opportunity to learn from UW Professor Zev Handel and get a peek into a linguistic history that has shaped the world. Like the book, this talk will be accessible to everyone鈥攔egardless of whether you have any knowledge of Chinese characters or East Asian languages. Free.

February 3 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
A Welcome & Research Presentation with 2025-26 UW Fulbright Canada Special Foundation Fellow, Clinton Westman. Free.

February 4 |
(History)
This lecture explores the evidence for ancient incarceration in vignettes: reading letters that prisoners wrote on papyrus, investigating spaces where they were held, and analyzing depictions of captives in monuments, law courts, and homes. Roman evidence does not model a just society, but it does offer a mirror where we can see modern practices of incarceration in a new light, asking which aspects of contemporary prisons are unique to modernity, and which reflect longer histories. The 2026 History Lecture Series presents “Power & Punishment – Histories of Incarceration,” exploring the practice of incarceration, tracing its change over time from antiquity to our modern world. Following the lectures, the recordings will be available online. Free.

February 4 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Death is a fundamental first step toward rebirth鈥攂ut this transition can feel daunting without a compassionate guide. In The Book of Zero, our 2026 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident indira allegra presents a multimedia, meditative experience shaped by their research into doula work, death care, and the cyclical nature of bodies and environments. Free.

February 4 | (School of Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring UW School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with UW Libraries. Free.

Online option – February 5 | 2026 University Faculty Lecture – A breath of fresh air: The science and policy saving lives from America鈥檚 deadliest cancer
Lung cancer kills nearly 125,000 Americans each year 鈥� more than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. UW Department of Surgery Professor and Chair Dr. Douglas Wood is out to change that and will discuss the many ways he and his colleagues are raising lung cancer awareness, increasing access to early detection, and ultimately, working to change lung cancer victims to lung cancer survivors. Free.

February 5 | 听(Asian Languages & Literature)
During the dark centuries between the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 CE and the golden age of reunified China under the Tang and Song dynasties (618鈥�1279), the shi poetic form embraced new themes and structure. Using biography, social history, and literary analysis, Ping Wang demonstrates how the shi form came to dominate classical Chinese poetry, making possible the works of the great poets of later dynasties and influencing literary development in Korea and Japan. Free.

February 6 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Since the early 2000s, literary scholarship has read Hebrew and Arabic literatures together to find moments of transgression or trespass, challenging logics of partition. In Static Forms: Writing the Present in the Modern Middle East, Shir Alon develops an alternative model for reading Arabic and Hebrew literatures, as two literary systems sharing a remarkably similar narrative of modernization and developing parallel literary forms to address it. In this talk, Alon will discuss the potential of a paradigm grounded in formal and affective analysis for new understandings of transnational modernism, Middle Eastern literatures, and comparative literary studies at large. She will also explore the limits of this approach, when parallel readings of Hebrew and Arabic literatures obfuscate rather than clarify the conditions of the present. Free.

February 6 | 听(Music and American Indian Studies)
UW Ethnomusicology, Department of American Indian Studies, and the UW Symphony collaborate with Lushootseed Research鈥檚 Healing Heart Project in presenting this special community event. Following a free screening of the documentary film The Healing Heart of Lushootseed, the UW Symphony (David Alexander Rahbee, director) and soprano Adia S. Bowen (tsi s蕯uyu蕯a色) perform Bruce Ruddell鈥檚 50-minute symphony Healing Heart of the First People of This Land. This powerful work was commissioned by Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert (taq史拧蓹blu) shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as a vehicle for, in Hilbert鈥檚 words, 鈥渂ringing healing to a sick world.鈥� Premiered by The Seattle Symphony in 2006, the piece draws inspiration from two sacred Coast Salish songs Hilbert had entrusted to the composer and features a number of percussion instruments native to this region. The performance features soloist and Indigenous soprano Adia S. Bowen (tsi s蕯uyu蕯a色), a UW alumna who graduated in June 2025 with degrees in Voice Performance and American Indian Studies. Free.

February 6 | (Psychology)
Whether you鈥檙e married, dating, or flying solo, Dr. Nicole McNichols has some sex advice for you. And you may want to pay attention because McNichols is not only the professor of 天美影视传媒鈥檚 most sought-after class in its history, she鈥檚 one of social media鈥檚 most popular educators on the topic of sex. Pulling from her book, You Could Be Having Better Sex, McNichols shares the latest data that shows good sex is one of the most powerful and effective sources of joy.

Week of February 9

Online – February 9 | 听(Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Re艧at Kasaba, Professor, International Studies, 天美影视传媒 and G枚n眉l Tol, Director, Turkish Program, Middle East Institute. Trump in the World 2.0 is an online series of talks and discussions featuring guest speakers and faculty exploring global perspectives on a second Trump administration. Free.

February 10 | 听(Simpson Center for the Humanities)
The production and promotion of so-called “AI” technology involves dehumanization on many fronts: the computational metaphor valorizes one kind of cognitive activity as 鈥渋ntelligence,鈥� devaluing many other aspects of human experience while taking an isolating, individualistic view of agency, ignoring the importance of communities and webs of relationships. Meanwhile, the purpose of humans is framed as being labelers of data or interchangeable machine components. Data collected about people is understood as “ground truth” even while it lies about those people, especially marginalized people. In this talk, Bender will explore these processes of dehumanization and the vital role that the humanities have in resisting these trends by painting a deeper and richer picture of what it is to be human. Free.

February 10 | (QuantumX)
Dr. Krysta Svore is Vice President of Applied Research for Quantum Computing at NVIDIA, joining the company after 19 years at Microsoft, where she served as Technical Fellow and VP of Advanced Quantum Development and pioneered reliable quantum computing through the co鈥慸esign of hardware, software, and error correction. She began her career developing machine learning methods for web search before founding Microsoft鈥檚 quantum computing software, algorithms, and architecture program. Free.

February 11 | 听(Chemistry, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, and Bioengineering)
Explore how cutting-edge research is driving material innovation in the built environment. Faculty whose work spans chemistry, engineering, and architecture examine how living systems can be integrated into material design to address pressing challenges related to sustainability, resilience, and the future of construction. Free.

February 11 | (History)
This lecture explores the wide variety of carceral practices in medieval Europe and examines how the recovery of Roman law and the concept of the state in the twelfth century began to transform those practices. Following the lectures, the recordings will be available online. Free.

February 11 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)
Navigating Academia as a Transnational Scholar from the Global South: Treasuring All the Knowledges brings together the voices of 16 women and non-binary scholars who began their postgraduate journeys as non-elite international students and (un)documented migrants in countries positioned as economically more powerful than their places of origin. Inspired by the book鈥檚 creative and relational approach to knowledge, this event will also open a collective space for poetry and storytelling. Participants are invited to write and share short poetic or narrative reflections that speak to their own experiences of abundance, survival, care, and knowledge-making within academic spaces. Free.

February 12 | (Sociology)
The future will be old; Europe, the Americas and Asia will soon have the oldest populations ever known to humanity. Can we cope? It will require major changes in the way we think about youth, women, immigration, and globalization to avoid disaster. Free.

February 12 | 听(Jackson School of International Studies)
In Ghost Nation: the Story of Taiwan and its Struggle for Survival, Chris Horton compares Beijing’s claim that Taiwan has been Chinese territory “since time immemorial” with Taiwan’s actual history. Several different groups have controlled some or all of Taiwan over the last 400 years — the Dutch, Spanish, Tungning, Manchu, Japanese, Chinese, and now, Taiwanese. By looking at those who have ruled Taiwan, Horton also tells the story of the Taiwanese people, highlighting their intergenerational quest for self-determination — and the existential threat posed by an expansionist Chinese Communist Party. Free.

February 12 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Athletes with ancestral ties to the Pacific Islands are dominant fixtures in some of the world鈥檚 most visible sports and over several generations have produced a modern sports diaspora. Tracing Samoan transnational and diasporic movement along divergent colonial pathways, this talk examines the relationship between embodied experiences of racialization and the emergence of Pacific sports excellence in three settler colonial countries (United States, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Australia). It then considers what recent efforts to mobilize Indigenous practice inside and outside sport tell us about the uses and importance of culture in contemporary sport. Free.

February 12 | 听(School of Music)
Faculty pianist Robin McCabe joins forces with guest artist Maria Larionoff in an evening of high octane duos for violin and piano. On the launch pad: Stravinsky鈥檚 Suite Italienne, Beethoven鈥檚 Sonata in G major, Opus 96, and Faure鈥檚 impassioned Sonata in A Major.

Online – February 13 | 2026 Provost’s Town Hall
Join UW Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Tricia Serio as she discusses the state of the University from an academic perspective and the singular role that public research universities 鈥� and the UW in particular 鈥� play in our society. Featured speakers include Jodi Sandfort, dean of the Evans School, and Sarah Cusworth Walker, research professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Ted Poor, associate professor in the School of Music, will introduce the provost.

February 13 | (Open Scholarship Commons)
Douglass Day is an annual transcribe-a-thon program that marks the birth of Frederick Douglass. Each year, sites across the country gather thousands of people to help create new & freely available resources for learning about Black history. A transcribe-a-thon is an event in which a group of people work together to transcribe a collection of digitized historical materials. The primary goal of a transcribe-a-thon is to make the materials more easily accessible, but these events also serve to promote awareness of parts of Black history 鈥� and especially Black women鈥檚 history 鈥� that remain too-little-known. Free.

February 14 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Celebrate Valentine鈥檚 Day with 8x Grammy nominee and NAACP Image Award winner The Baylor Project 鈥� featuring vocalist Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor. Steeped in the heart of jazz, with dynamic performances that are soulful to the core, their musical roots are deeply planted in gospel, blues and R&B. Their eclectic sound and infectious chemistry provide the perfect backdrop for a memorable evening filled with vibrant, spiritual, feel-good music.

Week of February 16

February 17 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Our question to consider: what does the work of indira allegra offer us when thinking about the project of liberation? This program is part of the year-long Liberation Book Club series exploring liberation through shared texts, art, film, music, and workshops. Free.

February 18 | (History)
In 1942, the U.S. government incarcerated more than 120,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps based on the racist argument that they were likely 鈥渄isloyal鈥� to the United States. In the ensuing years of World War II, though, the U.S. government simultaneously sought to demonstrate the 鈥渓oyalty鈥� of Japanese Americans to American democracy. By placing U.S. wartime policies and Japanese American responses in different historical contexts, this lecture will interrogate the meanings of loyalty, democracy, and national security鈥攄uring World War II and in our own time. Following the lectures, the recordings will be available online. Free.

February 18 | (Digital Arts & Experimental Media)
DXARTS presents an evening of 3D music, featuring recent work and world premieres by current staff and graduate students. Free.

February 18 & 19 | & (School of Music)
UW Jazz Studies students perform in small combos over two consecutive nights of original tunes, homage to the greats of jazz, and experiments in composing and arranging. Directed by Cuong Vu, Ted Poor, John-Carlos Perea, and Steve Rodby.听Free.

February 19 | 听(Henry Art Gallery)
Poet, musician, and scholar Rasheena Fountain presents Speculative Land Blues, a blues guitar, poetry, and DJ set. Developed in collaboration with Adeerya Johnson, Associate Curator at the Museum of Pop Culture, the Henry presents Speculative Landscapes. Free.

February 19 | (Burke Museum)
Read the book ahead of time, or join to learn more about the selection. The February book is Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State by Elizabeth A. Nesbitt and David B. Williams. Free.

February 19 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
John Johnson is a recently retired Senior Foreign Service Officer whose career included leadership roles in Brussels, Afghanistan, and with the U.S. Mission to NATO. Since joining the State Department in 2002, he has served in Europe, Asia, and Washington, D.C., earning multiple awards for his service. A Seattle native and UW graduate, John speaks several languages and lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest. Free.

February 20 | 听(Political Science)
The Center for Environmental Politics hosts Amanda Stronza, professor in Texas A&M University Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, and co-founder of the Applied Biodiversity Science Program. Free.

February 21 | 听(Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
yMusic 鈥� named for Generation Y 鈥� is a genre-leading American chamber ensemble renowned for its innovative and collaborative spirit. yMusic has a unique mission: to work on both sides of the classical/popular music divide, without sacrificing rigor, virtuosity, charisma or style.

Week of February 23

Online – February 23 | 听(Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Ambassador Michelle Gavin who is currently Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, Council on Foreign Relations. Trump in the World 2.0 is an online series of talks and discussions featuring guest speakers and faculty exploring global perspectives on a second Trump administration. Free.

February 23 | 听(Asian Languages & Literature)
UW Asian L&L and the Seattle International Film Festival co-host an award winning filmmaker Ash Mayfair at the SIFF Cinema Uptown for the screening of Skin of Youth (2025). A Q&A moderated by Assistant Professor Ungsan Kim will follow the screening.

February 23 | 听(School of Music)
UW music students perform music from the Baroque era under the direction of Tekla Cunningham. Free.

February 24 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Join us for a feature documentary that traces the remarkable history and legacy of one of the most important works of art to come out of the age of AIDS 鈥揷horeographer Bill T. Jones鈥檚 tour de force ballet 鈥淒-Man in the Waters.鈥� There will be a post-screening discussion with Bill T. Jones and Berette S Macaulay. Free.

February 24 | 听(Jackson School of International Studies)
Can political elites shape public opinion by influencing the tone of news coverage, even when they cannot dictate what gets covered? This study addresses that question using text analysis of more than five million Japanese news articles from 2004鈥�2024, showing that rising negativity in legacy media closely corresponds with declines in cabinet approval. A newly compiled dataset of prime ministers鈥� daily schedules further reveals that periods of intensified elite engagement with journalists coincide with less negative coverage. Together, these findings suggest that incumbents may still temper media tone through proactive outreach, though this influence appears to weaken in the age of fragmented, digital media. Free.

February 25 | (History)
Prison is more than a place of punishment. It is also an archive. Yet the official story found in sentencing reports and conduct reviews is only part of the story. Incarcerated people generate a parallel counter-archive of resistance and transformation. The Washington Prison History Project is a multimedia digital effort to document this counter-archive at a local level. Across a series of publications, programs, and protests, incarcerated people have shown prison to be a central feature in the development of Washington State and the country. An examination of this archive tells a different history of our state鈥攁nd its possible futures. Following the lectures, the recordings will be available online. Free.

February 25 | (American Indian Studies)
Featuring Oscar Hokea(Cherokee Nation and Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma). Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.听Free.

Online option – February 25 | The Office of Public Lectures presents: America鈥檚 Character and the Rule of Law with George Conway III听(Public Lectures)
This talk will explore the idea that the endurance of the rule of law in the United States relies not solely on the provisions of the Constitution鈥攊ts structural framework, the institutions it established, or the rights it enshrines鈥攂ut fundamentally on the character of its citizens. Qualities such as public-spiritedness, tolerance, moderation, empathy, mutual respect, a sense of fair play, and, ultimately, intelligence, honor, and decency form the foundation of constitutional democracy. Free.

February 26 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
In this talk, Rachael Z. DeLue will share insights from her current research and teaching on the relationship between art and science in nineteenth-century Europe and North America, focusing on a suite of extraordinary chromolithographs created in the 1880s by the astronomer and illustrator 脡tienne-Leopold Trouvelot. Based on his work at the Harvard Observatory and the United States Naval Observatory, the chromolithographs represent the cross-pollination of art and science in an attempt to generate knowledge about astronomical phenomena that eluded perception and resisted visualization. Prof. DeLue will consider Trouvelot鈥檚 prints in relation to other such attempts on the part of fine artists and scientific illustrators to picture the celestial sphere at a time when technology was limited and space travel was still the stuff of science fiction.鈥�Free.

February 26 | 听(Stroum Center for Jewish Studies)
In this talk, Paris Papamichos Chronakis discuss his new book, The Business of Transition 鈥� Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule, and shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst rising ethnic tensions and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Salonica鈥檚 merchants were present in their own鈥攁nd their city鈥檚鈥攔emaking. Free.

February 26 | 听(Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Taiwan is a unique site of innovation in disability rights. Despite being barred from becoming a States Party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) according to the diplomatic exclusion faced by Taiwan, it has become a model for the localization of the CRPD through its use “domestic review mechanisms.” Furthermore, Taiwan demonstrates the ways in which fundamental divides within human rights discourse, such as Western individualism and East Asian familialism, can be bridged using strategic adaptation that reimagine disability rights as a post-colonial hybrid. Free.

February 26 – March 1 | (Dance)
Presenting seven original student-choreographed works. This platform gives students the opportunity to express their creative voices through choreography and costume design, as well as collaborating with lighting designers and mentors.

February 26 – 28 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Thirty years after its historic premiere, the groundbreaking dance theater work by Bill T. Jones returns to the stage. Still/Here shatters boundaries between the personal and the political, exemplifying a form of dance theater that is uniquely American. At the heart of the piece are 鈥渟urvival workshops鈥� Jones conducted with people living with life-threatening illnesses.

ArtSci Roundup goes monthly!

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the UW鈥攚hether in person, on campus, or on your couch.

Previously shared on a quarterly basis, those who sign up for the Roundup email will receive them monthly, delivering timely updates and engaging content wherever you are. Check the roundup regularly, as events are added throughout the month. Make sure to check out the ArtSci On Your Own Time section for everything from podcasts to videos to exhibitions that can be enjoyed when it works for you!

In addition, if you like the ArtSci Roundup, sign up to receive a monthly notice when it’s been published.

Do you have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).uw.edu).

The 天美影视传媒 is proud to announce that 56 faculty and researchers who completed their work while at UW have been named on the list from Clarivate.

The annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the .

Highly Cited Researchers demonstrate significant and broad influence in their fields of research. The total list includes 7,131 awards from more than 1,300 institutions in 60 countries and regions. This small fraction of the global researcher population contributes disproportionately to extending the frontiers of knowledge and contributing to innovations that make the world healthier, more sustainable and which drive societal impact, according to Clarivate.

The that determines the 鈥渨ho鈥檚 who鈥� of influential researchers is drawn from data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate.

The list below includes faculty and researchers whose primary affiliation is with the UW, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Please note: Some of the people on the list are no longer with the UW and their current affiliation is noted. This list reflects initial data from Clarivate and may be updated.

Ivan Anishchenko (Vilya)

David Baker

William A. Banks

Gregory N. Bratman

Steven L. Brunton

Guozhong Cao

Ting Cao

Lauren Carter (Gates Medical Research Institute)

Helen Chu

David H. Cobden

Katharine H. D. Crawford

Riza M. Daza

Frank DiMaio

Kristie L. Ebi

Evan E. Eichler

Emmanuela Gakidou

David Ginger

Raphael Gottardo (CHUV)

Alexander L. Greninger

Simon I. Hay

Andrew Hill (Infinimmune)

Eric Huang

Michael C. Jensen (BrainChild)

Neil P.听 King

C. Dirk Keene

J. Nathan Kutz

Eric H. Larson

Aaron Lyon

Michael J. MacCoss

Brendan MacLean

C. M. Marcus

Julian D. Marshall

Ali Mokdad

Thomas J. Montine (Stanford)

Mohsen Naghavi

Marian L. Neuhouser

Julian D. Olden

Robert W. Palmatier

David Pigott

Hannah A. Pliner (Bristol Myers Squibb)

Ganesh Raghu

Stanley Riddell

Andrea Schietinger (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Jay Shendure

M. Alejandra Tortorici

Troy R. Torgerson (Allen Institute)

Cole Trapnell

Katherine R. Tuttle

David Veesler

Theo Vos

Alexandra C. Walls (BioNTech SE)

Bryan J. Weiner

Di Xiao

Jie Xiao

Xiaodong Xu

Jihui Yang

About . Birth before 37 weeks can lead to a cascade of health risks, both immediate and long-term, making prevention a vital tool for improving public health over generations.听

In recent years, researchers have identified a potential link between wildfire smoke 鈥� one of the fastest-growing sources of air pollution in the United States 鈥� and preterm birth, but no study has been big or broad enough to draw definitive conclusions. A new study led by the 天美影视传媒 makes an important contribution, analyzing data from more than 20,000 births to find that pregnant people who are exposed to wildfire smoke are more likely to give birth prematurely.

鈥淧reventing preterm birth really pays off with lasting benefits for future health,鈥� said lead author , a UW postdoctoral researcher in environmental and occupational health sciences. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also something of a mystery. We don鈥檛 always understand why babies are born preterm, but we know that air pollution contributes to preterm births, and it makes sense that wildfire smoke would as well. This study underscores that wildfire smoke is inseparable from maternal and infant health.鈥�

In the study, ,听researchers used data from the , a federal research project focused on how a wide range of environmental factors affect children鈥檚 health. The sample included 20,034 births from 2006-2020 across the contiguous United States.

Researchers estimated participants鈥� average daily exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, generated by wildfire smoke, and the total number of days they were exposed to any amount of smoke. They estimated the intensity of smoke exposure by how frequently participants were exposed to wildfire PM2.5 levels above certain thresholds.

They found that pregnant people exposed to more intense wildfire smoke were more likely to give birth prematurely. In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

鈥淭he second trimester is a period of pregnancy with the richest and most intense growth of the placenta, which itself is such an important part of fetal health, growth and development,鈥� said co-author , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine. 鈥淪o it may be that the wildfire smoke particles are really interfering with placental health. Some of them are so tiny that after inhalation they can actually get into the bloodstream and get delivered directly into the placenta or fetus.鈥澨�

The link was strongest and most precise in the Western U.S., where people were exposed to the highest concentrations of wildfire PM2.5 and the greatest number of high-intensity smoke days. Here, the odds of preterm birth increased with each additional microgram per cubic meter of average wildfire PM2.5.

It鈥檚 possible those results were more precise simply because the West experiences more wildfire smoke on average, making the exposure model perform better, Sherris said. But there may be other factors behind the regional differences.听

The composition of wildfire smoke is different across the country. In the West, smoke tends to come from fires nearby, while in places like the Midwest, smoke has typically drifted in from faraway fires. and reacts with sunlight and airborne chemicals, which could have affected the results. Researchers also noted that external factors like co-occurring heat or housing quality may have effects that aren鈥檛 fully understood.听

Researchers hope that future studies will examine the exact mechanisms by which wildfire smoke might trigger preterm birth. But in the meantime, Sherris said, evidence for a link is now strong enough to take action.听

鈥淭here are a couple avenues for change,鈥� Sherris said. 鈥淔irst, people already get a lot of public health messaging and information throughout pregnancy, so there鈥檚 an opportunity to work with clinicians to provide tools for pregnant people to protect themselves during smoke events. Public health agencies鈥� messaging about wildfire smoke could also be tailored to pregnant people and highlight them as a vulnerable group.鈥�

Co-authors include , doctoral student of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; , clinical associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; , professor of biostatistics at the UW; , associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of epidemiology at the UW; , postdoctoral fellow of epidemiology at the UW; and , assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW. A full list of co-authors is included with the paper.

This research was funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program at the National Institutes of Health under multiple awards. A full list of ECHO funding awards is included with the paper.听

For more information or to contact the researchers, email Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.

• , professor of neurobiology and biophysics, and adjunct professor of applied mathematics
• , Arthur B. McDonald Professor of Physics and director at the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics

Fairhall and Hertzog are among 120 new members and 30 international members elected 鈥渋n recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,鈥� . Chartered in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences provides policy advice and input to governmental, nonprofit and private organizations.

develops theoretical approaches to understand how nervous systems process information. She collaborates with experimental labs across the UW, examining information processing in systems that range from single neurons 鈥� nerve cells that receive and conduct signals 鈥� to neural networks. She鈥檚 studied how mosquitoes use heat and chemical cues to forage, and how neural inputs drive muscle activation and biomechanics in hydra 鈥� tiny, tentacled invertebrates that live in water.

Fairhall grew up in Australia. She completed her master鈥檚 and Ph.D. in physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She was a postdoctoral scholar at Princeton University before joining the UW School of Medicine faculty in 2004. Among Fairhall鈥檚 honors and awards are a Sloan Fellowship, a Burroughs Wellcome 鈥淐areers at the Scientific Interface鈥� Fellowship and a McKnight Scholar Award. She was named an Allen Institute Distinguished Investigator. In 2022, she was Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair at the 脡cole Normale Sup茅rieure in Paris.

Hertzog leads the UW , a research group that has designed and constructed detectors for high-precision experiments with muons 鈥� similar to electrons, but about 200 times more massive 鈥� conducted at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago. The UW team also has led efforts to analyze the massive amounts of data produced in that experiment, known as the听.

The overarching goal is to test the 鈥� a theory to describe how the universe works at its most fundamental level.听Studying the behavior of muons may help determine whether muons are interacting solely with known particles and forces, or if unknown particles or forces exist.

Hertzog completed his Ph.D. in physics at The College of William & Mary. Following time at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Illinois, he joined the UW as a professor in 2010. He鈥檚 served on numerous scientific advisory committees and panels and is coauthor of more than 200 papers and technical reports. He has mentored or co-mentored more than 20 Ph.D. students and 15 postdoctoral researchers.

With this year鈥檚 additions, the National Academy of Sciences now has 2,662 active members and 556 international members.

Every day, hundreds of workers across Washington state are hurt on the job. Some lose their lives. Many of the industries that shaped the state 鈥� forestry, fishing, agriculture 鈥� are riddled with risk.听听

The 天美影视传媒 has for years been instrumental in the state鈥檚 efforts to keep workers safe. UW experts study workplace hazards like the toxic fumes inhaled by nail salon workers and the worsening heat waves faced by agricultural workers east of the Cascades. The UW鈥檚 training and education programs, from undergraduate education to continuing education for industry professionals, prepare trainees to oversee health and safety programs for businesses across the state. UW experts consult with businesses on how to keep workers safe and productivity high. And a provides specialized care to injured workers.听

鈥淲orker health and safety is a vital component of what the 天美影视传媒 does,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences.听

But those efforts are now under threat. This year, the federal government has dramatically cut the programs that fund worker safety efforts like those at the UW. In April, the Trump administration of the (NIOSH), the federal agency dedicated to worker safety. The agency has closed nearly all its research and training programs, creating uncertainty over whether funding will continue. 听

NIOSH has long been a significant source of funding for UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety research and training programs, complementing core funding from the state. Without federal support, much of that work will stop in its tracks. That means less research into the hazards workers face, and fewer people who are trained to mitigate those risks and treat workplace injuries and illnesses.听

Ultimately, Baker fears workers across Washington will feel the impact.听

鈥淚 suspect that if the cuts to NIOSH are maintained and the work that we’re doing here at the 天美影视传媒 no longer continues, the number of workers who are injured or lose their lives in Washington is going to go up,鈥� Baker said.听听

Federal funds support the (NWCOHS), which prepares graduate students to work in occupational health and safety and provides continuing education to industry professionals. The NWCOHS addresses the need for specialists in occupational medicine by supporting training programs for physicians.听

Trainees work out of specialty clinics, including the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, which treats patients who are injured on the job. Physicians at the clinic learn how to connect workplace exposures to patients鈥� health outcomes and craft treatment plans to help workers recover and safely return to work.听

听鈥淚t’s a unique combination of medicine and public health. We鈥檙e thinking about individual patients who are sitting in front of us, and also how to prevent workplace injuries and illness for populations of workers鈥� said , research associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences and former director of the occupational & environmental medicine program at the UW. 鈥淭he goal is for workers and patients to be healthy and feel gratification from the work they’re doing, which often contributes to a healthy and productive workplace.鈥�听

The benefits aren鈥檛 theoretical 鈥� the UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety work has led directly to improved working conditions for some of the state鈥檚 most essential workers.听听

Consider forestry and agricultural workers, who experience higher rates of workplace injury and death on the job. For decades, the UW鈥檚 (PNASH) has received federal funding through a NIOSH program focused exclusively on agricultural workers鈥� health and safety. PNASH experts have built deep ties across the state, working in collaboration with community members and industry partners to build safer, stronger workplaces.听听

A few years ago, PNASH researchers learned that workers tasked with applying pesticides weren鈥檛 always properly wearing their protective equipment and faced frequent exposure to these hazardous chemicals. Researchers leaned into community and industry connections to better understand the barriers. Then they got to work on solutions.

PNASH developed practical training that allows pesticide applicators to see how the sprays drift through the air by using a fluorescent tracer that lights up on clothes or skin. They studied how workers typically apply pesticides and suggested new methods that ensured the chemicals hit their target and didn鈥檛 drift onto workers. And they built tools to translate the warning labels on pesticide containers, which were written almost entirely in English, into Spanish, the primary language of many farm workers.听

The developed in collaboration with farmers, educators and researchers across the state, is designed to benefit both workers and their employers.听

鈥淎 unique role that we have at the UW is being able to listen to those who don鈥檛 have the ability to individually contact their employer or to contact the state, and to really make their voice heard,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences whose research focuses on protecting agricultural workers. 鈥淎nd we work with a wide variety of partners to really engage those essential workers that are growing our food and fishing in dangerous waters and understand how we can return information to them that’s actionable, meaningful and practical.鈥�听

NIOSH funds make that work possible. But the White House has proposed eliminating all federal funding for agricultural worker health and safety, putting PNASH鈥檚 funding in jeopardy. Leaders are searching for alternate funding to support the center鈥檚 critical services.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e very concerned about this sudden change in federal focus and lack of resources being allocated to health and safety research,鈥� Austin said. 鈥淲e worry about our region in particular, that our workers are going to suffer and our businesses are going to have to bear the cost.鈥�听

The 天美影视传媒 is No. 8 on the 2025-26 U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 Best Global Universities rankings, 听on Tuesday. The UW maintained its No. 2 ranking among U.S. public institutions.

The UW also placed in the top 10 in eight subject areas ranked by U.S. News.

Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University topped the list in that order. The University of Oxford is No. 4, followed by University of Cambridge, the University of California, Berkeley, University College London and the UW. Yale University and Columbia University rounded out the top 10.

鈥淯nquestionably, the UW is advancing discovery that saves and improves lives, promotes prosperity, makes our nation stronger and expands human knowledge for the good of all,鈥� said UW President Ana Mari Cauce. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud to see this extraordinary impact recognized through this latest ranking.鈥�

The U.S. News ranking听听鈥斕齜ased on data and metrics provided by Clarivate 鈥� weighs factors that measure a university鈥檚 global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as the number of publications, citations and international collaboration.

The overall Best Global Universities ranking encompasses 2,250 institutions spread across 105 countries, according to U.S. News.

Here are the UW fields of study that are in the top 10 in U.S. News鈥� subject rankings:

Molecular biology and genetics 鈥� No. 6

Clinical medicine 鈥� No. 6

Public, environmental and occupational health 鈥� No. 6

Microbiology 鈥� No. 7

Biology and biochemistry 鈥� No. 8 (up from 9)

Infectious diseases 鈥� No. 9

Marine and freshwater biology 鈥� No. 9

Social sciences and public health 鈥� No. 9

Asthma affects more than 6% of U.S. children, making it the most common chronic disease in kids nationwide. It鈥檚 difficult to isolate any single cause, but one of the most common contributors is air pollution: Studies have shown that breathing air with high levels of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and other environmental pollutants can increase children鈥檚 risk of developing asthma. But it鈥檚 been unclear whether long-term, early childhood exposure to ozone, the pollutant that most frequently exceeds U.S. air quality standards, contributes to the disease.听听

, a doctoral student at the 天美影视传媒, set out to find a possible link. In a study , Dearborn and collaborators identified a puzzling trend: Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 鈥� but researchers didn鈥檛 observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.听听

While the researchers couldn鈥檛 pin down the exact reason, possible explanations include the changing nature of asthma as kids age, which could lead to a drop-off in formal diagnoses, and the influence of other risk factors and pollutants on asthma as children鈥檚 lungs grow.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a puzzling finding,鈥� said Dearborn, who led the research in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we spent a long time trying to consider, and I don鈥檛 know if we ever came up with a satisfying answer. But these findings are important. Even if we only see the effects early in life,听there are still all kinds of associated health care costs and stresses for families. There are all sorts of larger contextual factors about having this chronic disease at any point in life.鈥�听

This study relied on data from the (ECHO) program, a federal research project focused on how a wide range of environmental factors affect children鈥檚 health. Researchers drew 1,118 participants from six cities, including Seattle and Yakima, who had low-risk pregnancies and completed validated surveys that asked if their children had been diagnosed with asthma or had experienced wheezing.听听

Researchers estimated exposure in the first two years of a child鈥檚 life using a model developed by co-author , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, of epidemiology and of medicine. They found that a relatively small increase in ozone exposure 鈥� 2 parts per billion 鈥� in a child鈥檚 first two years of life was associated with a 31% increase in asthma and 30% increase in wheeze at age 4-6 years. Asthma and wheeze risk at ages 8-9 was not found to be associated with their early life ozone concentration.听

Researchers also analyzed how exposure to mixtures of three common air pollutants 鈥� ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 鈥� affected asthma outcomes. In this analysis, ozone stood out.听

鈥淲e interpret trends, and what we can conclude from this analysis is that when ozone within the air pollution mixture was higher than about 25 parts per billion, we saw a higher probability of asthma regardless of the concentration of nitrogen dioxide,鈥� Dearborn said. 鈥淲e found a relationship between ozone and asthma only when fine particulate matter was at or above median concentrations, giving novel evidence that the relationship between ozone and childhood asthma may depend on the concentration of other pollutants, like fine particulate matter.鈥�听

The study鈥檚 findings highlight the need for more research into the effects of long-term ozone exposure in early life, Dearborn said. Further study could determine why the increased asthma risk related to ozone is not evident at ages 8-9, and whether it increases again later in childhood.听听

In the meantime, Dearborn said, researchers and public health officials should pay more attention to the effects of long-term exposure to ozone.听

鈥淚n the United States, ozone regulations only consider a very short time period,鈥� Dearborn said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 regulate ozone over the long term, and that鈥檚 where this analysis fits in. Maybe we should be considering both a short- and a long-term threshold for the regulation of ozone.鈥澨�听

Other authors are , a UW professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine; postdoctoral researchers and , research scientist , and clinical associate professor , all of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; , a UW professor of biostatistics; , a graduate student in the UW Department of Epidemiology; of Seattle Children鈥檚 Research Institute and an assistant professor of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine; Margaret Adgent and Paul Moore of Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Yu Ni of San Diego State University; Marnie Hazlehurst and Drew Day of Seattle Children鈥檚 Research Institute; Ruby Nguyen of the University of Minnesota; Kaja LeWinn of the University of California, San Francisco; and Kecia Carroll of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.听听

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 ECHO-PATHWAYS program; the National Center for Advancing Translational Health Sciences; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; the UW Pediatric and Reproductive Environmental Health Scholars K-12 program; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the UW EDGE Center; the National Institute on Aging; and the Urban Child Institute.听