On October 22, the Department of Communication recognized outstanding alumni who have made a difference in their communities at our annual Alumni Hall of Fame and Alumni of Distinction awards dinner. This year, we celebrated the 2025 Hall of Fame inductees and honored more recent graduates through our Alumni of Distinction awards—Outstanding Early Career Award, Alumni Award for Excellence in Mentoring, and Communication Leader Award. It was a lovely evening filled with inspiring speeches from our incredible honorees who represent the best in their fields, from journalism, to academia, advertising, civic leadership, and more. View more photos from the ceremony here.
Meet the 2025 honorees!
2025 Alumni Hall of Fame Inductees
ANGELA KING, BA, 1994
Angela King is a nationally recognized journalist who’s been a part of the northwest news scene since the early 1990s. She is a proud University of Washington alumna, with degrees in Broadcast Journalism and American Ethnic Studies. She graduated with honors (Phi Beta Kappa/cum laude) in 1994.
King started her professional career as a TV news writer in Seattle before becoming a TV news reporter and anchor in Seattle, Portland, and Albuquerque.
King’s work has been honored by such groups as the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. UW’s Viewpoint Magazine also named her as one of the “Top 40 to Watch” in 2009.
In 2017, King transitioned from her work in TV to become the local host of NPR’s Morning Edition on KUOW 94.9fm.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the University of Washington,” says King. “That’s why it’s so nice to come back home, where it all started.”
Some of the top honors King holds dearest are those from the University of Washington. She received the President’s Achievement Award – the highest honor bestowed upon an undergraduate in the UW’s Educational Opportunity Program. She later received the 2025 Charles E Odegaard Award – the highest achievement in diversity at the University of Washington (and the only University and community selected award).
In addition to her work as a journalist, King is an independent documentary producer and has contributed her talents to a variety of local organizations such as The UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, Seattle City Club, and Neighborhood House.
King’s interests outside of work include making candles, listening to Prince, and spoiling her grandchildren.
BILL LANE, BA, 1967
In his almost 10,000 days at the J. Walter Thompson Company, Bill Lane became one of the most decorated copywriters of his time – winning dozens of awards for his work on Kodak (Times of Your Life), Ford (Have You Driven a Ford…Lately?), Sprint and Northwest Airlines (Some People Just Know How to Fly). During Lane’s first years at J. Walter Thompson, he wrote the Kodak film “For the Times of Your Life” campaign, which won Clio for Campaign of the year and was later named Copywriter of the Year. Along with composer Roger Nichols, he wrote the song “Times of Your Life,” which was recorded by Paul Anka and became a top ten hit and gold record. During his career, Lane held Creative Director positions in the New York, Detroit, San Francisco, and Los Angeles offices of J. Walter Thompson, and also served as the General Manager of the J. Walter Thompson San Francisco office. Until retirement, Lane was Executive Vice President at Thompson and served as a member of its worldwide board of directors. He was the only advertising student recruited directly after graduation by J.Walter Thompson, New York. Lane is the Winner of numerous advertising awards – including a half-dozen Clios and several Gold Lions from the Cannes Film Festival.
KRISTIN MORAN, MA, 1997, PHD, 2000
Kristin Engstrand Moran earned her M.A.(1997) and Ph.D.(2000) from the School of Communications. She is a professor of communication at the University of San Diego where she teaches a range of media studies courses. During her time at USD,she has held administrative positions, including department chair, the inaugural core curriculum director and associate dean for faculty since 2017. In her role as associate dean,she updated faculty hiring practices, facilitated search committee anti-bias training, and instituted a formal mentoring program to support new faculty and department chairs using a mission-centered approach. During the 2024-2025 academic year,she was a fellow through the American Council on Education (ACE) and placed at Loyola Marymount University where she worked with the executive leadership team.
Moran’s scholarship is grounded in Latinx Media Studies investigating how media discourse shape our understanding of the Latinx community and can be found in the Journal of Children and Media, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Mass Communication and Society and various edited volumes. Her book, Listening to Latino/a Youth: Television Consumption within Families (2011), traces the development of Spanish-language and Latino-themed media in the United States and includes an analysis of how Latinx families incorporate media into their daily lives. Her current research investigates the shifting strategies of digital delivery and its impact on the creative process and audience reception, most recently analyzing the role of Latino Journalism in the contemporary news environment.
2025 Alumni of Distinction Honorees
EVELYNE KUO, Outstanding Early Career Award, MC, 2021
Evelyne Kuo holds a Master’s in Digital Media from the University of Washington, where she developed a passion for bridging technology and communication. Before moving into FinTech,she worked in fast-moving consumer goods and B2B industries, experiences that shaped her broad perspective on how organizations drive innovation and growth.
Now a technical program manager in security, privacy, and engineering, Kuo builds programs that cut through complexity and connect technical work to real business impact. She combines program management and data-driven storytelling to help teams turn challenges into clear, actionable changes.
Fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Turkish, and English, Kuo values multicultural collaboration and work that connects people across geographies. Outside of work,she enjoys hiking in the Pacific Northwest,spending time with her Maltese dog (@booboo_kuo), exploring Seattle’s food scene (@eve.foodie), and traveling to learn from new places and cultures.
ROSIDA MOHAMATHNO, Excellence in Mentoring, BA, 2016
Rosida Mohamathno’s passion for mentoring began as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, where she participated as a DREAM Project mentor and supported college freshmen through Undergraduate Academic Affairs. She also tutored Algebra and Geometry to 7th and 8th graders at Aki Kurose Middle School, the same school she once attended, an experience that confirmed her commitment to working with middle school students during a formative stage in their development.
For the past nine years, Mohamathno has worked at Rainier Scholars, beginning with the youngest students in the Academic Enrichment Program and having the privilege to see them progress through the organization’s 12-year college prep model. For the past three years,she has served as Associate Director of Career Development, mentoring students from middle school through college. In this role,she guides scholars in building confidence, leadership skills, and career readiness while overseeing internships, workshops, and partnerships with schools, community-based organizations, and corporate employers to expand access to meaningful opportunities.
A first-generation college graduate and South Seattle native, Mohamathno remains deeply grateful for the mentors who supported her path and is committed to paying it forward by helping students recognize their strengths, navigate barriers, and thrive as leaders and changemakers.
AMY RAINEY, Communication Leader Award, MC, 2010
Amy Rainey is a strategist and leader, driven by a bias for action and a commitment to social change. She has nearly 20 years of experience leading high-impact communications teams and driving bold initiatives that elevate leaders and philanthropic organizations on the global stage.Amy recently directed the launch and international book tour for Melinda French Gates’ New York Times bestselling book, The Next Day. She also oversees Moment of Lift Books, an imprint dedicated to publishing visionaries working to unlock a more equal world.
Rainey has built and scaled several high-performing teams at Pivotal Ventures, an organization Melinda founded in 2015 to accelerate the pace of progress and advance women’s power and influence in the U.S. and around the world. She previously led the Digital & Creative team and currently leads a team focused strategy, planning, and leveraging research insights to advance impact.
Rainey runs MagdaBrown.com, a personal project she created to honor her grandmother’s legacy and share her story of surviving the Holocaust. A graduate of the University of Washington’s Communication Leadership master’s program and the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rainey lives in Seattle with her partner and two daughters.