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Stepping up for students ‘just like me’

Forty-one years after being accepted to WSU — and after donating about $31 million to students in need of tuition help — Gary Rubens earns his degree in Pullman.

Gary Rubens first considered attending college in 1981 after he graduated from Issaquah (Wash.) High School, but even after being accepted to Washington State University he found the cost of the college education too much to afford.

Rubens instead chose to enter the workforce, where he would build a successful lighting supply company, ATG Stores, based in Kirkland, Wash., which he sold to the Lowe’s Corporation in 2011.

This sale got him thinking about what he wanted to do next.

“I thought back about what I wanted to do to help others and I just realized that I should really focus on helping people that are just like me, that have high potential but low opportunities,” Rubens said.

More than four decades after he graduated high school, Rubens walked across the stage at the Washington State University commencement ceremonies in Pullman to receive his degree in the social sciences with a focus on psychology and sociology.

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News
WSU Insider

Krishnamoorthy named first recipient of Yang ‘Wendy’ Liu Award

Bala Krishnamoorthy.
Krishnamoorthy

Bala Krishnamoorthy, PhD, professor of mathematics and statistics at WSU Vancouver, has been named the first recipient of the Yang “Wendy” Liu Award for Excellence in Teaching International Students.

Krishnamoorthy received the award at the International Students’ graduation gala on May 6. In a videotaped acceptance, he said, “I am incredibly honored to accept the Yang Liu award from International Programs. Wendy set a really high standard for teaching international students well. It is a great honor for me to even be considered for filling the shoes that she left.”

In nominating Krishnamoorthy for the award, PhD student James Asare noted, “In all three of Bala’s classes I took, what struck me the most was his careful approach in recognizing his classroom mix of international and local students and leveraging well-thought-out pedagogies to create a space that was expressive of understanding through active engagement.”

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WSU Insider

History professor Katy Whalen named Libraries’ Excellence Award winner

Katy Whalen.
Whalen

Washington State University History Professor Katy Whalen has been named the 2022 recipient of the WSU Libraries’ Excellence Award.

The award recognizes a non-library WSU faculty or staff member who has shown consistent support for the WSU Libraries. Recipients are chosen based on encouraging students to use the libraries; personal use of the libraries; personal support of or contributions to the libraries’ collections or services; interaction and cooperation with library faculty; and service on library-related committees.

The Excellence Award program began in 1980, honoring C. Gardner Shaw of WSU’s Department of Plant Pathology as the first recipient. Some 35 faculty and staff have received the honor.

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WSU Insider

Lisa Guerrero named WSU Pullman vice chancellor for equity and inclusive excellence

Lisa Guerrero.
Guerrero

Lisa Guerrero has been named the inaugural vice chancellor for equity and inclusive excellence for WSU Pullman, effective July 1, 2022.

Guerrero joined the Washington State University faculty in 2004, and has served as associate vice provost for equity and inclusive excellence for the last two years. As part of that role, she has led WSU’s faculty cluster hire in “racism and social inequality in the Americas.”

“It is critical that we have strong, dedicated leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion at our flagship campus,” said WSU Pullman Chancellor and Provost Elizabeth Chilton. “Dr. Guerrero’s strong experience and leadership make her uniquely qualified for this role. I’m looking forward to working with our equity leaders in Pullman and across the WSU system and building on the important foundation that has already been laid.”

Guerrero has served in several roles at WSU, starting as an assistant professor and advancing to associate professor in 2010. She served as director of the Graduate Program in American Studies from 2012-17, and chair of the UCORE committee from 2013-2018. Guerrero earned promotion to professor in 2020.

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WSU Insider

WSU Jazz Big Band wins DownBeat magazine award for virtual recordings

The Washington State University Jazz Big Band is the winner of the Graduate College Large Jazz Ensemble (asynchronous) Award from DownBeat magazine on the basis of virtual recordings made by the band while WSU was online only.

DownBeat is the most important journal in jazz, often called the “Jazz Bible.” DownBeat Student Music Awards are national in scope, awarded to top jazz programs from around the country. The WSU recordings submitted to DownBeat are included on the Jazz Big Band’s latest CD, “Jazz During Lockdown,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, wsurecordings.com and other online sites.

Greg Yasinitsky.
Yasinitsky

As WSU Regents Professor and Coordinator of Jazz Studies, Greg Yasinitsky, said “WSU has won a number of DB awards over the years, but this one is particularly sweet since I am retiring this spring. This award is a great tribute to our outstanding students and faculty in the School of Music.”

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