Our History

Center Names

  • Placement Center
  • Career Planning & Placement Center
  • Center for Career Services
  • Career Center
  • Career & Internship Center
  • Alaska Airlines Career & Internship Center (2015-present)

Locations

Directors

  • J.W. Souther, 1962-1974
  • Ivan Settles, 1975-1986
  • Robert Thirsk, 1987-1993
  • Jean Hernandez, 1993-1998
  • Anne Scholl-Fiedler, 1998-2001
  • Susan Terry, 2001-2019
  • Briana Randall, 2019-present

Sponsorship

  • Alaska Airlines, 2015-present

Career Development Landscape at UW

  • Though the history isn’t entirely clear, in the 60s and 70s, there seemed to be 2-3 career centers focusing on specific populations such as engineering, education, and graduate business students.
  • By the mid-1980s, the centralized center served all students except graduate business students. At some point, that center also started seeing undergraduate business students but that did not last.
  • By 2000, the centralized center served all undergrads. There were other centers designated to law students, MBA students, and MPA students. There were also a few departments that had a staff person who did some career development tasks as part of their role.
  • In 2012, the Foster School of Business opened a center for undergraduate business students.
  • In 2015, the Career Center @ Engineering was launched as a joint effort between the centralized career center and the advancement arm of the College of Engineering.
  • By 2022, there were specialized career roles in several colleges and departments.

College Career Center History