Dr. Ana Mari Cauce, interim president of the University of Washington, will deliver the keynote address at UW Bothell’s 24th Commencement on Sunday June 14, 2015. The ceremony will take place at the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the UW Seattle campus.

Cauce was named interim president by the University of Washington Board of Regents by a unanimous vote in February. She joined the university’s faculty in 1986, and is a full professor of Psychology and American Ethnic Studies, with secondary appointments in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, and in the College of Education.

“We are honored that Dr. Cauce accepted our invitation,” said UW Bothell Chancellor Wolf Yeigh. “Her accomplishments speak for themselves, and just as important is the connection that she has to students through her collaborative leadership, her presence in the classroom and her life experience.”

UW Bothell and Cauce share a commitment to providing access to higher education and to social justice. She was a key architect in designing the Husky Promise, a University of Washington program that guarantees low- to low-middle income students from the state of Washington free tuition if they are admitted. More than a quarter of all UW Bothell students are Husky Promise recipients. Of incoming first year students, more than half are first generation college students and nearly 70 percent are students from diverse backgrounds.

Cauce is the first Cuban American and only the second woman to lead the University of Washington. At the age of three, Cauce’s family fled from Cuba, where her father had been the Minister of Education. In Miami, both parents found work in shoe factories, but her father impressed upon his children the importance of education. After earning degrees in English and Psychology from the University of Miami, Dr. Cauce went on to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology, with a concentration in Child Clinical and Community Psychology from Yale University. Her ongoing research focuses on adolescent development and at-risk youth.

Cauce has held numerous administrative positions at the University of Washington, including director of the UW Honors Program, chair of American Ethnic Studies, chair of Psychology, executive vice provost, and dean of arts and sciences and most recently as provost and executive vice president. She was a recipient of the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Award.