Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award

About the Award

Distinguished Alumni Reflect the Caliber of a WSU Education

The Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor granted to WSU alumni. U.S. ambassadors, doctors, educators, business leaders, scientists, journalists, athletes, authors, and more—these individuals have made significant contributions to society and, through their accomplishments, brought attention to the quality of a Washington State University education. The list of extraordinary people who have received the award since its inception in 1962 include:

The first chemist to isolate Vitamin C
The father of the atomic submarine
The wheat breeder who sparked the Green Revolution
The founder of home economics extension in Japan
An astronaut aboard space shuttle Challenger II
The first famous television news personality
The creator of The Peter Principle
The founder of the modern school of isotope chemistry
The builder of San Francisco's BART system
The greatest football center to ever play the game
The co-developer of the Rh blood factor test
The creative cartoonist of The Far Side

A Presidential committee accepts and screens the nominations for this award and recommends prospective candidates to the President who subsequently makes recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents approve the award recipients, selecting those "who shall have made a truly distinguished contribution to society, or who, through personal achievement, shall have brought distinction to Washington State University."