2008: Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus ('74)

B'Nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

"At Fairhaven, I learned how to think. The teachers there, especially Bob Keller, challenged my assumptions, pushed me beyond my comfort zone, and pointed me in a direction of learning and exploration. Fairhaven also taught me that "community" did not just mean "neighborhood," and that diverse individuals could come together for common purpose and mutual benefit."

2007: William (Bill) Dietrich ('73)

Bill Dietrich graduated from Western in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He is currently employed by Western as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Journalism for Huxley College of the Environment the Seattle Times, and HarperCollins.

 

When BIll hears the word "Western" he thinks of meeting his wife in the steam tunnels. He stays involved at Western by teaching and by advising The Planet, a student published magazine. The Western Front was Bill's favorite class and his favorite faculty members were Don McLeod and Bob Keller. Bill is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1990 and received the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard. He is the author of seven books published in twenty-three languages. He has received numerous journalism awards, including the Governor's Writers award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and the Western Washington University Alumnus of the Century award. The Western experience has been a positive thread in Bill's life through the encouragement of self-learning and appreciation of the environment.