Summer 2023
Senator Patty Murray
Washington state Senator Patty Murray takes a new leadership role. » More ...
Government Leaders
Summer 2023
Getting things done
A Washington representative’s legacy of “getting things done” » More ...
Spring 2022
Pathways for a new education
Washington's superintendent of public instruction imagines the high school of the future » More ...
Spring 2021
Mike Urban
The WSU Global Campus alumnus became the administrator of the city of Pullman. » More ...
Fall 2016
Staying a jump ahead
Long before he was elected to the New Zealand Parliament, served as immigration minister, and held other national cabinet positions, Tuariki “John” Delamere ’74 was a long jumper with an attention-grabbing technique.
Delamere, a fixture on Washington State’s track team in the early 1970s, didn’t invent The Flip. But he so excelled at the leaping mid-air forward somersault it sometimes seemed as if he had.
His style was so gravity-defyingly smooth that when Sports Illustrated wanted to learn more about The Flip, and the debate that would eventually lead to the technique’s prohibition, the magazine sent a crew to the 1974 … » More …
Spring 2016
A veterinarian to the corps
He was the old guy in airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, a U.S. Army veterinarian holding his own with soldiers half his age, preparing to leap from a plane.
JOHN L. POPPE ’86 DVM had parachuted recreationally back in his Pullman days but was taking command of a special airborne veterinary unit in 2001 and wanted to be jump ready.
“I was determined to do it,” recalls Poppe, now a brigadier general and chief of the U.S. Army’s multifaceted Veterinary Corps.
He was a 42-year-old lieutenant colonel back in jump school and his commitment to readiness was no academic exercise. Two years later, … » More …
Spring 2016
New ways of training police: Sue Rahr ’79
Former King County sheriff and policing expert Sue Rahr ’79 talks about new ways of police training. Rahr was selected by President Barack Obama for the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. She is also director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC), which has moved toward more intervention and de-escalation techniques for police officers.
Read about Rahr’s work:
Creating guardians, calming warriors—A new style of training for police recruits emphasizes techniques to better de-escalate conflict situations (Washington Post, December 10, 2015)
Can Sue Rahr reinvent policing? (Crosscut, April 28, 2015)
Coming soon: A discussion with Sue Rahr … » More …
Winter 2015
Three portraits of Foley Institute alumni
The Foley path to public service through internships
“In a cynical age, I still believe that we must summon people to a vision of public service. For, in the end, this ethic determines more than anything else whether we will have citizens and leaders of honor, judgment, wisdom, and heart. These are the qualities this institute will nurture and advance, helping this nation become what it has always been destined to be, the best hope of a free people to live in an open and just society.”
—The Honorable Thomas S. Foley
Former LeLoup Intern, John Culton ’11 remembers the day … » More …
Fall 2015
In the USFS hot seat
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell '76 on his WSU education and managing 0wildfires in a warmer climate. » More ...
Spring 2013
Asif Chaudhry ’88—The ambassador
In 2008, when Asif Chaudhry became U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, the small Eastern European country wedged between Romania and Ukraine was in flux. As it moved from Communist rule to a free market, pro-Western government, the country was seeking a stronger relationship with the United States.
Chaudhry ’88 PhD knew the new Moldovan government faced economic problems as well as social issues with human trafficking. He also recognized Moldova’s importance as a former Soviet state and an economic partner with the European Union.
“The biggest challenge that we faced was a country that previously was not as strong in terms of the … » More …