Richard Tillinghast (’11 psych) found his way to WSU Vancouver after he learned he was going to become a father. He commuted to campus several days a week for two years from his home near White Salmon. Years before, he had started college on the East Coast, but family tragedy and the itch to travel […]
Aaron Whelchel, associate professor of history at WSU Vancouver and WSU Global, is the winner of the 2020-21 Excellence in Online Teaching Award, an annual student-nominated award sponsored by Academic Outreach and Innovation (AOI). “Dr. Whelchel has an obvious enthusiasm for the material. He gathered wonderfully thought-provoking content, often primary sources, that encouraged me to […]
Carly Ellingsen (’16 BS zoology) comes from a long line of Cougars. She’s named after her great-grandfather, Carl “Tuffy” Ellingsen, who kicked, ran and threw the Cougars to their second Rose Bowl in 1931. Her grandfather, Don Ellingsen, another Washington State University Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, still ranks seventh all-time in receptions among other […]
Alumna Nikki Brueggeman (’13) reflects on how the field she loves can help us through the pandemic and beyond. After college and graduate school, I wandered away from studying history. My life became filled with employment, relationships, and other distractions. My history books sat on shelves, ignored. Then, a virus began to spread across the […]
Snakes have an amazing sense of smell. They can use their tongues to pick up on all kinds of scents in the air. Whenever we smell something in the air, we are actually sniffing tiny building blocks called molecules. These molecules are what make up the scents of everything around us—things like baked bread, fresh-cut […]
Six CAS women were honored for their accomplishments, service, and commitment to student success at the 15th annual WSU Women of Distinction awards ceremonies this spring. “It is amazing to see what all of these women accomplished over the past year, and we are truly in awe of their dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” […]
For the first time, researchers have hard evidence that human-made hexagonal diamonds are stiffer than the common cubic diamonds found in nature and often used in jewelry. Named for their six-sided crystal structure, hexagonal diamonds have been found at some meteorite impact sites, and others have been made briefly in labs, but these were either […]
A breakthrough in superconductivity has landed a WSU physics graduate in the latest Time Magazine list of top innovators. Ranga Dias (’13 PhD) has been named one of 19 innovation leaders in the 2021 Time100 Next list, which highlights emerging leaders shaping the future. His work to develop a room temperature superconductor represents a significant advancement […]
Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Stefan Bradley (’98 MA history) realized that he learned about Black history mostly at home and at church—not in school. “Most of the things that we discussed in class that had to do with Black people ended up being uncomfortable,” Bradley recalls. “And I’m not blaming this precisely on the […]
Washington State Magazine reached out to Washington State University international alumni to see how they were holding up during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With an email questionnaire and interviews conducted by Zoom, phone, and Skype, the responses came in from ten countries on six different continents. Many reported using the skills and knowledge gained while […]