News Release
May 08, 2017
Contact Lisa Hall 425-352-5461 / lhall7@uw.edu
UW Bothell honors Green family’s roots in campus and community with 2017 Legacy Award
BOTHELL, Washington – The University of Washington Bothell presented its 2017 Legacy Award to the Simonds/Green family for their commitment to education and their contributions to the UW Bothell campus and the city of Bothell.
Ronald Green Jr., Janet Green Hunter and Darrell Green are the grandchildren of Sarah Simonds Green, who is memorialized with a conservatory in her name — a greenhouse, classroom and gardens completed in 2013 on the edge of the campus wetlands.
The 2,800-square-foot complex was fully funded by the contributions of Gordon Green, Sarah’s son and the three siblings’ uncle who died in 2011. Green dedicated it to the memory of his pioneering Bothell family. His grandfather, Henry Simonds, was the first principal of Bothell High School. Green’s father, Charles Green, operated the first Ford dealership in the Bothell area, and his mother, Sarah Simonds, was a member of the first graduating class at Bothell High School and a lifelong devoted gardener. Hunter currently is a member of the UW Bothell Advisory Board.
“This remarkable family has helped shaped the face of our community and our campus,” said Chancellor Wolf Yeigh, who presented the award May 5 at the chancellor’s reception. “Their ongoing generosity epitomizes the spirit of the Legacy Award and serves as an example to all of what it means to give from the heart and to live your values.”
Gordon Green attended the University of Washington for two years before joining the Army Air Corps early in World War II. He completed his bachelor’s at UCLA and went on to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. He was a college professor of English and drama, mostly in Los Angeles. Living frugally – buying secondhand clothes – and making wise investments, Green was able to leave a legacy to his mother’s memory. The conservatory gift remains the largest private donation in UW Bothell history.
From left, Ronald Green Jr., Janet Green Hunter, Darrell Green in greenhouse.
About UW Bothell: UW Bothell provides access to an exceptional University of Washington education to students in a small campus environment that fosters student achievement. Offering more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degrees, options, certificates and concentrations, UW Bothell builds regional partnerships, inspires change, creates knowledge, shares discoveries and prepares students for leadership in the state of Washington and beyond.
