About the Seattle Business Forum

The WWU Foundation presents an annual Seattle Business Forum featuring a noted business leader as keynote speaker.  This event brings together corporate and civic leaders, alumni, and parents and friends who are interested in the University and business trends.

Now in its 16th year, the Forum continues as a premier event for the exchange of ideas and the examination of issues facing the business community in Washington. An investment in Western is an investment in Washington’s distinctive and competitive edge. Your sponsorship of the Seattle Business Forum today helps Western provide scholarships to the leaders, the visionaries, the entrepreneurs and the difference-makers of tomorrow.

Click here for a printable program with more information about this year's forum and highlights from the sixteen year history of the event. [Adobe Acrobat required]

Past Speakers

2012: Kimberly J. Harris, President & CEO, Puget Sound Energy

2011: William S. Ayer, Chairman & CEO, Alaska Airlines & Alaska Air Group

2010: Tod Leiweke, CEO, Seahawks & Sounders

 

2009: Christine Gregoire, Governor, Washington State

 

2008: Jim McNerney, Chairman, President & CEO, The Boeing Company

 

2007: Kerry Killinger, Chairman & CEO, Washington Mutual

 

2006: Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corporation

 

2005: Alan R. Mulally, Exec VP, The Boeing Co. & President & CEO, Commercial Airplanes

 

2004: Mike McGavick, Chairman, President & CEO, Safeco Corporation

 

2003: Orin Smith, President & CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company

 

2002: Howard Lincoln, Chairman & CEO, Seattle Mariners

 

2001: Kemper Freeman, Jr., CEO, Freeman Development Company

 

2000: Gerald "Jerry"Grinstein, Chairman, Agilent Technologies

 

1999: John Warner, Senior VP & Chief Administrative Officer, The Boeing Company

 

1998: Richard Rosenberg, Retired CEO, Bank of America