Our Honors Alumni

Honors Alumni

We are incredibly proud of our students. Not only do they excel in their undergrad courses and are involved in numerous extracurriculars, they consistently win highly competitive and selective scholarships and fellowships.

Commencement Speakers

Serafima wearing an embroidered top sitting in soft natural light at a table with a coffee cup and a peach
June 2021
headshot of Petra
December 2022

Authors and Publications

Portrait of Kai standing in front of a bookcase wearing a flannel and a beanie.

Western Regional Honors Council Award for Short Fiction for their piece "My Apologies"

World Records

Honors alumni, Devin Crowley, stands outside next to the bipedal robot Cassie, built by Agility Robotics.

WWU Honors alumni Devin Crowley with the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory at Oregon State University set a new world record with their bipedal robot, Cassie, in a 100m race. Currently a PhD student at Oregon State University, Crowley is studying AI and Robotics.

IRIS Undergraduate Internship

In gloved hands, Ula holds a small crab next to her face at the beach.

Ula Jones

Geophysics, Environmental Science (BS)
Astronomy, Mathematics, & Honors Minors

Ula is a senior in the environmental science major and a junior in the geophysics major with minors in math, astronomy, and honors interdisciplinary studies. She was recently accepted to the IRIS undergraduate internship program as a research assistant at Brown University in summer 2022. The project is regarding the propagation of Rayleigh waves from various earthquakes through Alaska and is expected to shed light on some of the unusual aspects of the Alaskan subduction zone. After graduating in Spring 2023, Ula hopes to broaden her understanding of geophysics and other interdisciplinary sciences and go on to study planetary science or another application of geophysics.

Goldwater Scholarship

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award for college juniors and seniors preparing for a career in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.

Portrait of Darby smiling in a Western sweatshirt

Darby Finnegan

Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, Duke University, 2017

Goldwater Scholarship, 2019

BS, Marine Biology, 2020

While at Western, Darby's love for the Pacific Northwest's coastal ecosystems evolved into a persistent curiosity about the strange phenomena of the marine environment. Her special interest in fish and their movements ultimately lead to her selection for the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) at the Patek Laboratory of Duke University to study biomechanics. Darby then went on to earn the Goldwater Scholarship, the first recipient for WWU. Upon graduating from Western, Darby had her sights set on graduate school, where she would be able to continue her research.

Hudson Fellowship

The Hudson Fellowship offers outstanding undergraduates the opportunity to study political theory in a way that will broaden and deepen their understanding of public policy and American political principles. 

Petra Ellerby

Hudson Institute Summer Fellowship

BA, History, 2024

English, Honors Interdisciplinary Studies Minors

Fulbright

The English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Programs place Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to the local English teachers. ETAs help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the U.S.

Western Washington University produced five Fulbright winners in 2019 and was named a top national producer for Fulbright Scholarship winners in the 2018-2019 school year.

Portrait of Iris sitting in a field of red tulips
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Taiwan

BAEd, Environmental Studies, 2019

Certificate in Elementary Education

Portrait of Nathan in a flannel with a bookcase, map, and cross on the wall behind him
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Austria

BA, Philosophy, 2014

English, German Minors

Colin wearing a flannel and a backpack in the mountains
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Spain

BA, Communication Sciences & Disorders, Spanish, 2017

Emily stands outside in a yellow tank top and a sun hat, holding sunglasses in her hand
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Spain

BA, Spanish, Biology, 2013

Tobias in a pirate hat poses with a classroom of children in Taiwan
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, Taiwan

BA, History, 2014

International Studies Minor

Fulbright Research Award, Spain

Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship

The Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship was established in 2005 after Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings of South Carolina retired. Hollings was an advocate for ocean policy and conservation and the scholarship was created to bolster undergraduate training in NOAA mission sciences, as well as increase environmental literacy.

Portrait of Thomas wearing a Bears sweatshirt in front of College Hall.

Thomas Morrissey

Hollings, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Jersey, 2016

BS, Chemistry, 2018

Materials Science Minor

Thomas, a student in the Honors Program at Western Washington University, received a NOAA Hollings scholarship to help fund two years of college tuition and an internship at a NOAA facility. During the summer of 2016, he participated in sample-collection and computer modeling at a national laboratory in Highlands, NJ. Under the instruction of NOAA scientists, Thomas contributed to studies on the efficacy of alternative, low-toxicity methods for measuring ocean acidification. This research will help increase the safety and environmental compatibility of future studies which monitor changes in ocean chemistry due to climate change. Following graduation, Thomas hopes to begin a research career in chemistry or materials science.