Alumni Stories

Through Mentor Chats, IAS alumni regularly meet with students to discuss how interdisciplinary skills are valued in the professional world and lead to rewarding careers. Alumni Javier Carrasquero (’17) and Jaime Fajardo (’12) are two alumni who recently spoke with students in Jennifer Atkinson’s Portfolio Capstone course.

The Puget Sound Business Journal recently unveiled the 2019 40 Under 40 honorees, putting a spotlight on individuals who are among the business community's brightest and most innovative leaders under the age of 40. Among them is M.A. in Cultural Studies alum Priya Frank (’11), Associate Director for Community Programs at Seattle Art Museum (SAM), where she focuses on partnerships, programming, and equity-related initiatives. Frank is also ...

Cary Westerbeck remembers when Bothell was a smaller town and the North Creek Wetlands were a working cattle ranch.  A lifelong resident, Westerbeck takes pride in his north Lake Washington roots and the bustling region it’s become. Today, he is the principal of westerbeck|architecture, based in downtown Bothell and specializing in modern works of architecture including remodels, custom homes, multi-family, and mixed-use commercial projects. An early IAS alum ...

Morgan Mentzer is co-founder and executive director of Lavender Rights Project, whose mission is to advance a “more just and equitable society by providing low-cost civil legal services and community programming centered in values of social justice for trans and queer low-income people and other marginalized communities.” Last spring Mentzer and Lavender Rights Project (LRP) collaborated with students in Julie Shayne’s “Histories and Movements of Gender and Sexuality” course to chronicle the organization’s history as part of the ...

IAS Early Grad Laura Halpin (’93) enrolled at UW Bothell with set her sights on an international career.  Today she draws heavily from her Liberal Studies foundation to address complex social policy issues as a development consultant and lecturer to European institutions. “No matter which courses I took,” she recalls, “we were always discussing across disciplines ways in which to achieve social justice and effect ethical change. I’ve built it in to everything I do to this day.”