Brian Tracey, a graduate student at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, was recently chosen to receive the College of the Environment’s first-ever Outstanding Diversity Commitment Award. Nearly 30 faculty members, staff, and students from the College were nominated, but Tracey nabbed the top prize for his dedication and leadership in working toward a more diverse and inclusive program, College, and University.
Recognized and widely respected for his work in addressing disparities and issues of diversity across the UW campus, Tracey’s thesis will focus on the inclusion of underrepresented minority students in the marine sciences. Tracey chairs the Graduate and Professional Student Senate’s Diversity Committee, which allocates funds to diversity events on campus and challenges the cultural status quos through their Campus Conversations series. He is also the Executive Liaison to UW Diversity Council’s Provost Advisory Committee for Students, and serves on the College of the Environment’s Diversity Committee. He is the co-founder of Empowerment Through Education, a community service-based student group that raises awareness of social justice and diversity issues relating to education and society, and he dedicates additional time and energy to student outreach and engagement with Seattle MESA.
Honorable Mentions for the 2014-2015 College of the Environment Outstanding Diversity Commitment Award include:
- Billie Swalla, professor of biology and director, Friday Harbor Laboratories
- Emily Davis, graduate student, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
- Juan-Carlos Chavez, program coordinator and advisor, NASA Space Grant Consortium
- Greg Hakim, professor and chair, Atmospheric Sciences
Congratulations to Brian Tracey, and all of the Outstanding Diversity Commitment Award Honorable Mentions and nominees! Learn about all the nominees and their efforts to support the growth of an active and diverse community on the College’s Outstanding Diversity Commitment Awards page.
