Remembering a Mountaineer

Written by Mike Allende

Sunday, May 10, 2026

SU in the News latest graphic

The passing of SU alum Jim Whittaker drew much media attention, as did Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo and the latest on the war in Iran.

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is a place people can become legends and the passing of one made headlines around the world in April. Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest and one of the leading figures in mountaineering history, died on April 7 at age 97. Whittaker, a 1952 grad of SU in biology, was also the first full-time employee of REI. His death was extensively covered, including in the , , , and .

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Meanwhile, President Trump’s critical words of Pope Leo XIV allowed ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ faculty and staff experts to weigh in. Vice President of University Ministry Luke Lavin penned an op-ed for , while Assistant Clinical Professor of Theology and Religious Studies Brian Taberski (), Vice President of Mission Integration Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos () and Associate Teaching Professor Patrick Schoettmer () were all interviewed.

Schoettmer also continued to be a go-to source for analysis on the ongoing war in Iran, appearing twice on , along with , and . The economic impact of the war was also an important topic, with Assistant Professor of Economics Nick Huntington-Klein speaking to , and about the price of fuel and its impact on travel.

With ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½’s fourth-annual Ethics & Tech Conference coming up on May 15, Professor Onur Bakiner, director of the Technology Ethics Initiative, appeared on KING 5’s to discuss the conference, emerging technology and his new book.

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The Albers School of Business and Economics always seems to be in demand, this time with Economics Professor Emeritus-in-Residence Brian Kelly interviewed by about possible tariff refunds and Professor of Economics Joseph Phillips analyzing Microsoft’s surprising move of offering early retirement for . MBA Sport and Entertainment Management Program Director Natalie Welch was on talking about rumors that Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook may be interested in buying the Seahawks.

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Over at the , Professor of Law talked to about the U.S. Supreme Court hearings on birthright citizenship and Assistant Professor of Law analyzed the Supreme Court’s ruling on .

With former SU President Eduardo Peñalver departing for Georgetown at the end of March, the did a story on Stephen Sundborg, S.J., stepping into the interim president role.

Alumni In the News

did a feature story on Sara Porkalob, a performance artist and graduate of Cornish College of the Arts at ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ who portrays 28 characters in a new show about her family’s immigrant struggles. Kestra Medical Technologies and its CEO Brian Webster—who has a MBA from SU—was featured in .

Former SU athletes were also featured in the news. Men’s soccer player Peter Kingston signed a first-team contract with the Seattle Sounders as covered by , among others. And former cross country runner Michael Van Nuland was one of the biologists featured in a story about a vital global research project in .

Finally, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson filled a seat on a state campaign watchdog panel with ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Law graduate Matt Segal, as covered by the .