Summer 2020
Steve Gleason receives Congressional Gold Medal
Steve Gleason, WSU standout football player and fierce advocate for people with ALS, received the highest honor from Congress. » More ...
Football
Summer 2020
Nick Rolovich gets creative with scholarship awards
In the ever-revolving carousel of college football, a team’s head coach is often the most permanent fixture of a program.
Whether engendering support with their winning records or quotable moments during press conferences, college coaches must become well known if they hope to maintain a supportive fan base and attract the next generation of standouts on the field.
WSU Head Football Coach Nick Rolovich has spent the past four months acquainting himself with Coug fans; in-person at spur of the moment fan meetups or with his deft use of social media. His love … » More …
Winter 2018
TalkBack for Winter 2018
Instrumental journey
The article written by Wenda Reed on the life of Gladys Jennings was excellent. I graduated in ’92, and had Gladys as an advisor in the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department. I transferred to WSU from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in the fall of ’89, and Gladys was instrumental in that process. After phone conversations and mailings, the transition from U of A to WSU was seamless. She would guide me in my course choices while in Alaska, and told me that these courses would directly transfer. She was instrumental in the success I had as a student at … » More …
Winter 2017
Steve Gleason ’00
Former Cougar football and NFL standout Steve Gleason ’00, whose battle with ALS has become an international symbol of perseverance and determination, has been named the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus for 2017.
“Steve Gleason epitomizes the essence of ‘Cougar Spirit,’” said Washington State University President Kirk Schulz at the August 10 ceremony. “His passion to persevere and succeed despite life’s challenges has inspired thousands, not only in the United States, but around the world.”
Gleason helped take WSU to the Rose Bowl in 1997 and in 2006 had a punt-blocking dive for the New Orleans Saints that rallied the hurricane-ravaged city’s down-but-not-out spirit. Five … » More …
Fall 2015
Dr. Dan
WSU reinforced a sense of hard work and humility that carried Dan Doornink through graduation, his NFL career, and medical school. » More ...
Winter 2014
The right color back on
Ask Jason Gesser ’02 about the finest decision he’s made and his answer is as pinpoint as each of the 70 career touchdown passes he threw at Washington State.
“Coming to Washington State was the perfect and best decision I made in my life,” he says. “Besides marrying my wife,” Gesser is quick to add, with a laugh. He married his college girlfriend Kali Surplus ’02, a former WSU volleyball player, and the couple has three children.
In his new role as the assistant director of development with the Cougar Athletic Fund, the fundraising arm of the Washington State University Athletic Department, his … » More …
Fall 2014
Video: A tour of the Cougar Football Complex
Washington State head football coach Mike Leach tours the Cougar Football Complex in May 2014.
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Fall 2014
Cougar football—A new home at the core of campus
Mike Leach walks into the new Cougar Football Complex towering between the west end zone of Martin Stadium and Rogers Practice Field for a final tour in May before the program moves in. Looking up, the head coach says, “Where did you get the four-story football player?”
The tour’s leader, WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos ’73, laughs. A huge image of a Cougar football player stretches from the bottom of the open staircase to the top level of the new building. The figure will be even more visible when it’s lit up at night, he says.
It’s a grand entrance for the newest athletic building, … » More …
Spring 2014
After the games
Some students finish school and never take the time to look back. The same goes, perhaps even more so, for student athletes, who often return to their home states or get caught up in either pursuing pro careers or lives outside of sports.
This year, though, one football player made a special effort to reconnect athletes whose names were once synonymous with WSU.
Wanting to give back to the school that gave him a college career, Derek Sparks ’95 approached the WSU Athletic Department and asked if he could be of use in some way. Someone tossed out the idea of his reaching out … » More …
Spring 2013
Replays for all
The idea of having control of his view of a sporting event struck Sankar “Jay” Jayaram in 2009 while he was watching a Seahawks game on TV and wishing he was in the stands.
“I had never been to a Seahawks game and I wished I could put on a 3D headset and be in the stadium,” says the Washington State University mechanical engineering and computer science professor.
Fortunately Jayaram, an expert in virtual reality modeling, had been working for several years on an immersive 3D experience for use on exercise machines. His startup firm 3D-4U Solutions holds patents on the technology which creates 180- or … » More …