Part six – University of Washington

From September 1977 until I retired in September 2014, I was a faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle. Initially I was in the Department of Zoology, but Zoology later merged with Botany to become the Department of Biology.

I was lucky to get this job as I was told over 500 people applied. And I was lucky to spend my career there, as I was (and still am) around great colleagues, students, and administrators. When I arrived, the ecological and evolutionary faculty were exceptional (T. Edmondson, J. Felsenstein, J. Kenagy, A. Kohn, G. Orians, R. Paine, S. Rohwer, T. Schoener, M. Slatkin). Six were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The organismal physiology group (D. Farner, A. Gorbman) was also strong.

The Department supported junior faculty. It gave me the freedom to switch areas, organisms, and interests, even those only peripherally related to biology. That would have not been the case in many departments, or if I had taken a position in a museum or research station.