Stories to be featured on the Future Undergraduate Students audience page
On May 30, a small orchestra at Carnegie Hall will perform an original song written by University of Puget Sound graduate Madison Hening ’26. Hening’s piece, titled “Lily Rose,” was written for a class as part of the Lullaby Project, which pairs new and expectant parents with artists to compose personal lullabies for their families.
University of Puget Sound Assistant Professor of Biology Elisa Frankel has launched a new research program focused on synapses, the vital connections between brain cells, following a successful grant proposal to the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The project investigates the molecular mechanisms that help synapses remain stable as the nervous system ages.
Isa Fitzgibbons ’26 is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts. Since joining the University of Puget Sound as a transfer student, Isa has distinguished herself as an exemplary scholar and artist, stepping into leadership roles both on and off the stage. In 2025, she studied abroad in London and was one of 15 students to receive the Agricola Scholar Award, which she used to develop Every Sound I’ve Ever Made, an original one-woman show weaving together writing from various women authors.
The University of Puget Sound will launch a new interdisciplinary emphasis in Artificial Intelligence and Human Values in Fall 2026, offering students a structured pathway to understand AI not just as a technology but as a force reshaping democracy, creativity, health care, law, and human relationships.
Abi Longbottom ’26, a politics and government major at the University of Puget Sound, has been honored as a 2026 ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) award recipient. She was recognized alongside 168 students across the country for their contributions to creating a more civically engaged culture within their campus communities.
“You know, there is actually an art form to being curious. There is an art form to not knowing yet. And I have to remind myself [of that] every day.”
That’s what Grace Youn ’13 concluded near the end of a visit to campus in February, after she had given two master classes to students and community members as well as the Spring 2026 Susan Resneck Pierce Lecture in Public Affairs and the Arts titled “The Art of Not Knowing Yet.”
It was the evening of April 29, 1997, and something remarkable was about to take place. Students crowded into Schneebeck Concert Hall, buzzing with excitement and nerves. As they navigated to their seats, they whispered to each other, eager to witness the inaugural spring showcase of the Repertory Dance Group (RDG). Chatter filled the room until 8 o’clock struck and the lights dimmed.
University of Puget Sound student Tdohasan Sunray ’27 received a President and Chancellor’s Student Civic Leadership Award during an April 17 ceremony at The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. The award, sponsored by the Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good, recognizes outstanding college student civic leaders from consortium schools. Sunray was joined onstage by Gov.
