Kathryn Hahn is the founder of the Hahn Writing Fellowship and a retired administrator who worked for the Department of Biology for nearly two decades. Her commitment to the UW and Biology department comes from the love she had for her job and the wonderful years she spent there, “I don't think there was a day I went to work that I thought, ‘Oh, gosh!  Do I really have to go to work today?’ It was the only place I ever worked where most of the faculty made work seem like fun.”

The goal behind the Hahn Writing Fellowship is to free up time for graduate students who are often juggling thesis writing with other duties like being a teaching or research assistant, “I saw graduate students spending long hours in the library. I thought what a gift it would be to have a quarter without a teaching or research responsibility.  Voila! The Hahn Writing Fellowship came into being.”

Kathryn spent her last two and a half years as a UW employee sailing and living on her Nonsuch 36, Zephyrus. After her retirement, she moved to California where she now lives near her children and grandchildren. She still visits Seattle and UW on a regular basis.

Thanks to Kathryn Hahn and her generous donation, graduate students will be able to spend a quarter focusing on writing their thesis without spreading themselves thin or losing focus on their research, “I'm such a small-time giver but I love UW so giving it even a little something makes my heart glad.”