Partnering with WICHE since 1955
Partnering with WICHE since 1955
Deputy Director, Washington Student Achievement Council
Deputy Director, Washington Student Achievement Council
Don Bennett has been the deputy director of the Washington Student Achievement Council since June 2013. He took military leave from July 2015 to June 2016 to serve full-time as state judge advocate for the Washington Army National Guard. Earlier Bennett held several positions over a six-year period with the Achievement Council’s predecessor, the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, including deputy director, and as executive director from 2010 through 2012. Earlier in his career, Bennett served as executive secretary of the State Personnel Appeals Board from 1997 to 2006, leadership counsel for the Washington State Senate, director of Policy and Legal Services for the Washington State School Directors’ Association, and as staff counsel for the Washington State Senate Education Committee. Bennett has also had a distinguished career in the military: he was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004-05) as staff judge advocate for the 81st Brigade Combat Team. He was commissioned as a judge advocate officer in 1989 after 14 years of enlisted service. Since his promotion to colonel in 2008, Bennett has served as staff judge advocate for the Joint Force Headquarters of the Washington Army National Guard. Bennett earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1986.
Representative, Washington State Legislature
Representative, Washington State Legislature
Representative Gerry Pollet has served in the Washington State House since December 2011. Gerry is an attorney and faculty member at the UW School of Public Health. Gerry is Vice-Chair of the House Higher Education Committee and serves on the Education and Finance Committees. Gerry was the author of the successful efforts in 2016 to pass the nation’s first comprehensive regulation of electronic cigarettes and a comprehensive program responding to the critical shortage of teachers in Washington, including a grant program to pay tuition for low income students seeking to be teachers in under served areas. Gerry has been honored as the “Legislator of the Year” for his work to improve affordable access to higher education and improved student success. He is the House sponsor of “The Washington Promise,” for free community college tuition.
President Emeritus, The Evergreen State College
President Emeritus, The Evergreen State College
Dr. Thomas L. (Les) Purce is President Emeritus of The Evergreen State College from which he retired in 2015 after 17 years of service in that position. The Evergreen State College is known for its innovative approach to interdisciplinary study in the arts and sciences, and for its commitment to equity, inclusiveness, and social justice. It is a higher education leader in environmentally sustainable practices. Previously, Dr. Purce served in senior administrative positions at Idaho State University and as a vice-president at Washington State University. Les is a third-generation Idahoan whose family arrived in Idaho in the early 1900s. He was the first Black elected official in the state of Idaho, serving as a Pocatello City council member and then as Mayor. After that, he served first as Director of the Idaho Department of Administration and later, Director of the Department of Health and Welfare. In the private sector, he served as a partner and chief operating officer of Power Engineers in Hailey, Idaho.
Representative, Washington State Legislature
Representative, Washington State Legislature
Representative Gerry Pollet has served in the Washington State House since December 2011. Gerry is an attorney and faculty member at the UW School of Public Health. Gerry is Vice-Chair of the House Higher Education Committee and serves on the Education and Finance Committees. Gerry was the author of the successful efforts in 2016 to pass the nation’s first comprehensive regulation of electronic cigarettes and a comprehensive program responding to the critical shortage of teachers in Washington, including a grant program to pay tuition for low income students seeking to be teachers in under served areas. Gerry has been honored as the “Legislator of the Year” for his work to improve affordable access to higher education and improved student success. He is the House sponsor of “The Washington Promise,” for free community college tuition.