WSU Honors Dean Libby Walker Named President of the Western Regional Honors Council
PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University is pleased to announce that Libby Walker, dean of the Honors College, is the new president of the Western Regional Honors Council (WRHC).
WRHC is the professional organization of faculty, administrators, and students dedicated to the promotion and advancement of undergraduate honors education. Its 126 member institutions are from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as Washington. The list includes the nearby University of Idaho and Eastern Washington as well as the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, University of Washington, University of California at Los Angeles, Brigham Young University, Boise State University, Chapman University, and University of Alaska, among many others.
A WSU alumnus, Walker has been in the leadership of WSU’s Honors College since 1996, serving as assistant dean until 2004, as associate dean until 2007, and since as interim dean. In fall 2008, a new curriculum focusing on global awareness and intercultural competencies with a foreign language requirement was put in place under Walker’s leadership.
This past weekend, Walker led the WSU team of faculty and students hosting the WRHC’s 2009 annual conference. Held at the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane, 11 WSU Honors students were among those chosen to present their research, scholarship, and creative activities through presentations and/or poster sessions.
The theme for the conference was “Pathways to Preservation, Sustainability, and Renewal,” and M. Grant Norton, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the WSU College of Engineering and Architecture, supported the green theme with his keynote address, “Nanotechnology: Fueling an Energy Revolution.”
CONTACT: Beverly Makhani, Communications Director, WSU
Office of Undergraduate Education, 509-335-6679, makhani@wsu.edu