About the Award
Distinguished Alumni Reflect the Caliber of a WSU Education
The Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor granted to WSU alumni. Ambassadors, educators, business leaders, scientists, journalists, athletes, authors and more, these individuals have made significant contributions to society and, through their accomplishments, brought attention to the quality of a Washington State University education. A total of 38 individuals have been selected for the award first given in 1962. This extraordinary group includes:
The first chemist to isolate Vitamin C
The father of the atomic submarine
The wheat breeder who sparked the Green Revolution
The founder of home economics extension in Japan
An astronaut aboard space shuttle Challenger II
The first famous television news personality
The creator of The Peter Principle
The founder of the modern school of isotope chemistry
The builder of San Francisco's BART system
The greatest football center to ever play the game
The co-developer of the Rh blood factor test
The creative cartoonist of The Far Side
A Presidential committee accepts and screens the nominations for this award and recommends prospective candidates to the President who in turn makes recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents approve the award recipients, selecting those "who shall have made a truly distinguished contribution to society, or who, through personal achievement, shall have brought distinction to Washington State University."
To contact the Board of Regents, send correspondence
to:
Washington State University
Board of Regents
PO Box 641048
Pullman, WA 99164-1048
or phone or e-mail:
Becki Lande
Assistant to the Board of Regents
509/335-6666
becki@wsu.edu
or Chris Hoyt
Executive Assistant to the
Board of Regents
509/335-6666
hoytc@wsu.edu