The Celebration of Distinction is a wonderful evening that gives an eloquent answer to the eternal question graduating seniors and their parents ask at this time of year: “But what can you DO with a liberal arts degree?”

The alumni we honor this evening show that the answer is “Whatever your heart and mind lead you to do.”  Change the world by fighting for human rights; understand the structure of molecules; touch people’s hearts and minds through poetry; prove that laughter is good medicine. We are here to honor four alumni for their achievements, and also to celebrate the larger College community in which all of you play a part.

As the liberal arts core of this great research university, we create foundations for learning, not only during the time students are at the University but for a lifetime. We strive for excellence, creativity, and an innovative spirit in all that we do. Here are some achievements the whole College can be particularly proud of this year. Instead of a “top ten” we chose a “nifty nine.”

• For the third time in four years, a UW student was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar. And for the third time, that student is from the College of Arts and Sciences.

• For the third time in three years, our undergraduate math students won top honors in an international mathematical modeling competition.

• Our faculty brought in a record $91.4 million in research awards last year from public and private grants. That’s a 50% increase over the last ten years.

• Our faculty and staff donated a record amount to support graduate students through a matching program the College offers each fall. With matching funds, the 293 gifts received will provide almost a quarter million dollars to support graduate students.

• We held our first Faculty Donor Fete, a dinner honoring donors to endowed faculty positions and the faculty who hold them. When I became dean, the College had thirteen endowed professorships and three endowed chairs. We now have sixty-five endowed faculty positions and five annually-funded term professorships.

• The College of Arts and Sciences, jointly with the College of Education, received a five-year, $5 million dollar grant fro the Carnegie Corpororation of New York to invent new approaches to K-12 education, as part of Carnegie's "Teachers for a New Era" initiative.

• As part of our ongoing improvements to undergraduate education, we launched Freshman Discovery Seminars last fall, and 360 incoming students participated. These small seminars help freshmen make the transition from high school to college by emphasizing discovery as the primary mode of learning at a research university.

• A new public artwork opened on campus: the Turrel Skyspace at the Henry Art Gallery attracted thousands of visitors. Because it lights up in a range of colors, it's striking artwork even at night when the Henry Gallery is closed.

• Finally, the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) opened in renovated space: an experimental studio where artists, engineers, designers, and scientists collaborate, often developing new technologies to create work that could not have been imagined before.

I want to take a moment now to introduce faculty and students in the College who are receiving special honors this year for their outstanding work. I frequently talk about four “C’s” in describing what I think should be emphasized in a liberal arts education: Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Citizenship. These people are outstanding in all of those qualities.

Each year the University honors faculty members with Distinguished Teaching Awards, and graduate teaching assistants with Excellence in Teaching Awards. These awards are based on nominations from students and colleagues, and the College always does well. This year we honor:

• Ann Baker, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy
• Betsy Cooper, Director of our Dance Program
• Steve Hanson, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of our Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies Program.

Our graduate students won both of this year’s Excellence in Teaching Awards:

• Lance Rhoades, Comparative Literature
• Britt Yamamoto, Geography

Mentoring is a very intensive form of teaching, and the University recognizes that through the Marsha L. Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award. This year’s winner:

• Mona Modiano, Professor of English and Comparative Literature

One of the saddest events in the College this year was losing Jim Clowes, Associate Director of the Comparative History of Ideas Program. Jim had a tremendous impact on our students and programs as a teacher, mentor, and friend. Jim is being honored posthumously by the University with the S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award, given to a faculty member who demonstrates exemplary leadership in community-based instruction. The world was Jim’s classroom, and his students engaged with it from Seattle to South Africa .

Finally, I’d like to recognize the students who were chosen as this year’s Dean’s medalists, based on their academic records and recommendations from faculty

• Daniel Linehan - Dance major, Division of Arts
   
• Allyssa Lamb - Double major in Classics and Biblical and Anc Near Eastern Studies, Division of Humanities and a Rhodes Scholar

• Terri Moore - Double major in Math and Computer Science, Division of Natural Sciences  

• Jennifer Devine - Double major in Geography and International Studies, Division of Social Sciences

Someday these students, taught by these and other faculty, may come back here to be honored as Distinguished Alumni. We have done our best to help prepare them to be independent thinkers, productive citizens, and leaders in whatever they choose to do. They are the newest generation in the cycle we celebrate tonight: talented students are taught by dedicated faculty; they go on to become distinguished graduates whose achievements help to make this a better world.

This evening has provided many examples of where a liberal arts education can lead one in life, and it all comes back to our Mission Statement. I’d like to share part of that Mission Statement, which was crafted by faculty, students, staff, and volunteers from our College Board as the most appropriate way to close out the evening.

This is who we are, what we do, and why we do it: 

As the intellectual core of the University of Washington, the College of Arts and Sciences discovers, preserves and transmits fundamental knowledge in the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences.

Discovery lies at the heart of our enterprise. Our faculty, with the active participation of our graduate and undergraduate students, continuously expand the frontiers of knowledge through research, scholarly interpretation and creative production.

The College provides a liberal arts education in a research university with rich opportunities to explore our cultural and natural worlds. Our students learn to think rationally, creatively and critically; to communicate clearly, correctly, and persuasively; to gather and interpret data; and to engage the arguments of others with understanding and respect. These skills and intellectual attributes form the foundation for a lifetime of learning and a thriving democracy.

The College plays a vital role in the cultural, economic and public life of local, national and international communities. We prepare our students to become leaders in an increasingly diverse society.