News Magazine of the UW Department of Communication
UW President Emmert Discusses How the University Will Address Global Issues
Sarah Cox, COM 361
University of Washington President Mark Emmert discussed how the school will take advantage of key world issues in coming decades on Tuesday. He did so during the State of the University speech in Kane Hall on campus. Among the global topics mentioned were energy, the environment and health care.
Emmert argued that if UW expands its research and education in these fields, it will continue to be one of the strongest public universities in the nation. He said UW “need[s] to be in the right place at the right time,” when it comes to global trends.
The university president outlined his belief that energy and the environment will remain prominent 10 and 20 years from now. Emmert said he believes UW needs to make a point of positioning the College of the Environment in the top tier of the country. If it successfully does so, he believes UW will benefit from state and federal funding.
On global health care, Emmert acknowledged that though UW is one of the nation’s leading health care institutions, it must address the inequality of health care access. Emmert said UW should integrate medicine with every field at UW to tackle the problem of “deeply and unacceptably unequal,” health care access. This includes UW Medicine seeking advice from other departments, including the political science department and the Jackson School of International Studies.
Emmert also discussed the successful completion of the UW Capital Campaign. Over 121,000 people gave to UW, which grew endowed scholarship funds and extended the “Husky Promise” to about 5,600 students.
The “Husky Promise” is a guarantee that academically qualified students will not be prevented from attending college due to financial status. The guarantee is fulfilled through scholarships and grants that provide low-income, Washington state students with full tuition. The audience at the speech applauded the success of the “Husky Promise,” which Governor Gregoire has also praised.
Other successes of the capital campaign highlighted by Emmert were the new Department of Global Health, the William H. Gates Hall for the UW School of Law and the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Sciences and Engineering.
Emmert emphasized his confidence that the success of the capital campaign demonstrates that “UW plays at the highest levels.” He said very few public universities have such successful campaigns, and that this alone shows that UW is one of the most and competitive universities in the nation.
