IAS selects 2021 Hall of Alumni Excellence inductees

Each year IAS honors the extraordinary achievements and contributions of its alumni through the Hall of Alumni Excellence, and we are excited to announce our 2021 inductees: Woogee Bae, Maximilian Dixon, Morgan Mentzer, Alejandra Pérez, and Ben Wiselogle.

The IAS Hall of Alumni Excellence recognizes alumni at varying stages of career who are established or emerging leaders in their fields, policy changing public servants, and/or devoted and inspiring mentors. You can learn more about these extraordinary individuals in the upcoming spring edition of IAS Intersections, but here’s a sneak peek!

Woogee Bae (MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics ’19) is a poet and editor with Snail Trail Press and co-founder of Gamut: A Literary Series. Bae is also a project-based event organizer with Wave Books and development professional with Seattle Arts & Lectures, who is actively building bridges between the Seattle literary community and MFA community at UW Bothell.

Maximilian Dixon (Environmental Studies ’11) is the Hazards and Outreach Program Supervisor for the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division (WA EMD), who manages the Earthquake, Tsunami, Volcano, Public Education, Preparedness and Outreach Programs and represents WA EMD as the subject matter expert and policy advisor on geological hazards, preparedness and outreach issues.

Morgan Mentzer (Global Studies ’04) is co-founder and lead attorney for Lavender Rights Project, which provides low-cost civil legal services and community programming centered in values of social justice for trans and queer low-income people and other marginalized communities. Mentzer also co-founded the Reckoning Trade Project to increase the representation and retention of queer and transgender folks in the trades.

Alejandra Pérez (American & Ethnic Studies; Society, Ethics & Human Behavior ’16) leads various college and career readiness initiatives through the Road Map Project. Pérez’s passion for educational equity comes from her advocacy with and for undocumented students and their families in Washington State and around the nation. Pérez served as Co-Director for the Beyond HB 1079 Conference, a member of the Dream Educational Empowerment Program (DEEP) National Advisory Council, and is a community organizer with the Washington Dream Coalition.

Ben Wiselogle (Global Studies ’12) is a Foreign Affairs Officer with Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State where he is responsible for developing anti-human trafficking policies for 13 Sub-Saharan African nations. He is a board member for the Congolese Integration Network and a member of the Truman National Security Project Defense Council. While at UW Bothell, Wiselogle served as president of the Student Veterans Association and co-chaired the campaign to fund the Veterans Archway.

Congratulations to these outstanding alumni!