About the College: Facts & Figures

The College of Arts and Sciences provides a liberal arts education of tremendous breadth and depth to more than 27,000 students while advancing research and serving as a resource for the community. The College has four academic divisions: art, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

Core of the University. With more than 7,000 courses offered in the College annually, students can study everything from art to physics.

Cutting-edge Research. From malaria treatment to solar energy to human rights, A&S researchers are tackling many of our society’s most pressing issues. A&S faculty generated nearly $91 million in research funds in 2010-2011 through public and private grants.

Interdisciplinary Emphasis. The College is home to more than two dozen interdisciplinary centers and has ties to many others, encouraging collaboration in fields ranging from the humanities to demography to labor studies to astrobiology.

A Regional Arts Resource. All of the University’s arts units are part of the College: the Schools of Music, Art, and Drama, the Dance Program, Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS), the Henry Art Gallery, the Burke Museum, UW World Series, and Meany Hall for the Performing Arts. They offer more than 280 performances, 60 exhibits, and 100 public programs annually.

International Offerings. The College teaches more than 50 languages and offers study abroad programs in dozens of international locations. A UW center opened in León, Spain in 2009, joining the UW’s Rome Center as an invaluable resource abroad. The Jackson School of International Studies’ eight National Resource Centers were awarded more than $7.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education for the most recent four-year funding cycle.

Partnering with the Community. The College has developed dozens of innovative partnerships with the community. These include summer programs for K-12 teachers in fields ranging from international studies to physics; guided stargazings at the Jacobsen Observatory; public art projects in conjunction with government agencies; year-long partnerships that bring graduate students in the sciences into high school classrooms, and more.

Faculty

• 868 academic faculty
• 1 Nobel Prize in Physics (emeritus)
• 2 National Book Awards (1 emeritus)
• 8 MacArthur Foundation Fellows
• 22 National Academy of Science Members
• 31 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows
• 95 Distinguished Teaching Award Honorees

Students

• 25,100 undergraduate students (14,347 majors; 10,753 premajors)
• 2,482 graduate students
• 5 Rhodes Scholars since 2000
• 4 Gates Cambridge Scholars since scholaship established in 2002.

Alumni

• Distinguished Alumni Award recipients include, among others, author David Guterson, poet Tess Gallagher, artist Dale Chihuly, Egyptologist Kent Weeks, former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, and Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.
• Many A&S alumni have made their mark as elected officials, serving as city council members, state representatives, U.S. representatives, mayor of Seattle, and governor of the state of Washington.
• Alumni have founded theatres such as ACT Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Empty Space Theatre, and Washington Ensemble Theatre.
• Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded to A&S alumni eleven times since 1950, including three since 2001.
• Timeless Awards were presented to 150 accomplished A&S alumni in 2012, in celebration of the College’s 150th anniversary. A book profiling the honorees is available online.

College Board
The Advisory Board of the College of Arts & Sciences is made up of community leaders. These volunteers provide important bridges to the College’s constituencies: prospective and current students and their families; alumni; donors; local, state, and regional communities; business and professional communities; state legislature and federal government. They are the leading advisors and advocates for the College, assisting in securing public and private support on many levels, and working closely with department chairs, directors, and staff, as well as with the Arts and Sciences development and executive leadership.

Areas in which they assist the College include but are not limited to:

• Advising the College on trends and developments in their professions
• Assessing the relevance of curriculum to the current demands of the professions
• Facilitating research and other professional partnerships/internships
• Articulating the University’s goals and objectives in Olympia
• Mentoring and recruiting students
• Fostering understanding of the College’s mission and programs within the community
• Evaluating the University’s messages to its constituencies
• Counseling on alumni programming locally, regionally and nationally
• Generating interest in volunteer involvement
• Making an annual contribution in support of the College/ Departments/Programs
• Thanking donors

These volunteer activities are essential to academic divisions, departments and programs, and the College as a whole. We are grateful for their solid professionalism, guidance and efficacy in producing an environment to support fundraising and the College’s ability to sustain academic excellence.

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Information current as of May 2012