The University of Puget Sound has been recognized by Colleges of Distinction for its strong undergraduate business program and exceptional career development program. This is a testament to Puget Sound’s commitment to going beyond traditional education, fostering an active learning environment that prepares students for success in their chosen careers.
Professor of Biology Leslie Saucedo has been on a mission to understand what causes unregulated cell growth in the body—a hallmark of cancer. She’ll retire this summer after sharing her passion for cellular biology with students at Puget Sound for 21 years. Her most recent book, Getting to Know Your Cells (Springer), was published in July 2023. We asked Saucedo about her career path, collaborating with an alumna on the illustrations for her book, and the benefits of studying fruit flies.
University of Puget Sound Professor Kristin Johnson has been awarded the prestigious Founders’ Medal by the Society for the History of Natural History. Johnson serves as professor and director of the Science, Technology, Health & Society program at Puget Sound. She is a highly respected scholar whose work has enriched the understanding of natural history and the naturalist tradition in North America.
University of Puget Sound student Julia Kaeppel ’24 has always been interested in computer programming. As a kid, she was a member of her elementary school robotics team and got hooked on programming in middle school as a pathway toward making video games. Kaeppel’s lifelong interest in operating systems and programming later led to an exciting research opportunity at Puget Sound.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, students in University of Puget Sound’s Connections 375: The Art & Science of Color class were split into two groups. One group combined various chemicals to produce Prussian blue—the first modern, synthetic blue pigment—while the other group foraged outside to find the ingredients to create ochre—one of the oldest naturally-derived pigments.
When Logan Day ’15 first set foot at the University of Puget Sound with plans of playing baseball and becoming an English teacher, he had no idea he would find himself working for a renewable energy start-up company. After switching majors a few times, Day graduated with a double major in business and comparative sociology. Employment brought him to Portland, Oregon where he landed a job in the human resources department at Nike thanks to a connection from another Puget Sound alum.
The fading, centuries-old murals on the walls of churches around the Yucatán Peninsula reflect the influence of the Europeans who landed on its shores in the 16th century. It seems only logical to assume that the images were created by the Europeans, whose arrival transformed the entire hemisphere—but that assumption is actually incorrect.
Jeffrey J. Matthews knows leadership. As the George F. Jewett Distinguished Professor in the School of Business and Leadership, he has spent chunks of his career digging into the subject. And, as a historian, he’s also not afraid to call it as he sees it. His new book, Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks: Dishonorable Leadership in the U.S. Military (Notre Dame Press, 2023), is an investigative meditation on military leadership gone wrong—a tour through hiccups, eruptions, and bad judgment that winds through Gen.
For Abby Steward ’25, “glamping” was as close as her family ever got to outdoor adventure during her childhood in Oregon. So when her summer research at Puget Sound took her not only out into the woods to camp for 10 straight days, but 60 feet up into the canopy of bigleaf maples, “it really tested my capabilities,” Steward says. “I was thrown into something completely new. Being able to witness what my body could do in climbing that many trees felt amazing.”
