Profiles

Peter Chiarelli spent years as a film producer working on Amityville Horror, Eagle Eye, and other projects before trying his hand at screenwriting. His 2009 romantic comedy, The Proposal, starred Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

Robert Kocher, '94, discusses the experience of serving as an adviser to President Obama during the crafting of healthcare reform legislation—and why he thinks the legislation is a huge step forward for healthcare in the U.S. 

A&S alumna Maura O’Neill had just begun working for USAID when a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti in January. "As the agency in charge of international development and disaster relief, we kicked into gear minutes after getting notice," recalls O'Neill, who offers an insider's look at the relief effort. 

H Stewart Parker ('79, '81) spent nearly two decades at the helm of Targeted Genetics. Now she brings her considerable talents to her role as chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Board. 

Harriet Dumba (‘04, ‘07) and Agnes Oswaha (‘05, ’09) founded the Southern Sudanese Women’s Association to help new refugees connect and settle into life in the U.S.

Matthew Alexander (‘01) is founder of Ahmsa, an NGO in Bogotá, Colombia that provides skills training, microcredit, and other support to alleviate poverty in Bogotá.

Craig Nakagawa (’89) is co-founder of VillageReach, an NGO aimed at improving health care distribution systems in the most distant reaches of developing countries, beginning with Mozambique.

When Noah Purcell ('02) first met Supreme Court Justice David Souter, he couldn’t believe he was discussing the law with a Justice. Now, as a clerk for Justice Souter, it's all in a day's work.

In Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, A&S alumna Mary Kollar ('65, '81) shares poetry with passersby through a poetry box outside her house.

Drake Witham ('96) has taken his stand-up act to Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, and U.S. military bases in Iraq. 

Baghdad, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Russia are just a few of the recent assignments for alumni in the Foreign Service. 

"[The students] make me laugh every day. And they will try anything," says Monte Cristo Elementary School teacher Andrea Peterson ('96), recently named Washington Teacher of the Year. 

Alumnus Don Logan, who spent years teaching Seattle public schools after earning two history degrees at the UW, has endowed a chair in the Department of History. 

Just before graduating last spring, Julia Parker created a community service award for future philosophy students, raising the funds for the award herself. 

Alumni in fields ranging from biotechnology to finance believe their UW English degree has been a valuable asset throughout their career. Related stories: A poetry group created by an English alum and friends is still going strong after 15 years; a donor has funded "Ask Betty," an interactive website on English grammar and usage, in his mother's honor.