Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 5, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke's policy director named dean at Seattle University

OLYMPIA — Wallace Loh, director of policy for Gov. Gary Locke, has been appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seattle University, the university announced today.

Loh has been chief policy adviser to Locke since 1997. He and his staff helped Locke develop many of the policy initiatives represented in the new 1999-2001 biennial budget, which Locke will sign this month. The legislature approved this budget, which included many of Locke's priorities, with bipartisan support on April 25.

"Wallace Loh has been an outstanding policy director for my administration, and you can see his guiding hand in so many of the policy initiatives in the state budget for the next two years," Locke said. "Wallace had a huge impact on higher education because of his work with our 2020 Commission, which provided us with a blueprint for higher education for the next 20 years. I will miss Wallace's inquisitive mind and his instinct for developing policies that will make Washington a better place to live, work and raise a family."

Loh will assume his new duties with Seattle University Aug. 1.

Loh previously served as the vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of faculties at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1995 to 1997, and as dean of the University of Washington Law School from 1990 to 1995.

Loh said he was attracted to Seattle University because of its reputation for excellent and personalized education, its strong sense of community, and its emphasis on public service and ethics — all key qualities of the Jesuit educational vision.

"I am passionate about the arts and sciences as the intellectual core of a university and the importance of liberally educated citizens to civic discourse and democratic government," he added. "For many of the same reasons, I have enjoyed my role as policy director for Gov. Locke. He is committed to making Washington a better place to live, work and raise a family, and it has been my good fortune to direct an outstanding policy staff that is helping the governor achieve his goal."

Loh added, "It's been a joy to work with a first-rate team of policy thinkers and doers. Now it's time to return to my life's calling — education."

Seattle University President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., said the university's faculty and administrators were impressed with Loh's dedication to combining social and civic service with serious scholarship. Sundborg predicted that Loh will bring valuable perspective and insight into the ways that Seattle University can meet the challenges of the 21st century while it continues to nurture its core values and mission.

"I am excited about Wallace Loh leading our College of Arts and Sciences, which is our largest college and central to our mission as a university," Sundborg said. "His public service, his educational leadership, and his commitment ideally suit him to this role."

As director of Locke's Executive Policy Office, Loh recruited and supervised a staff of policy experts who advise the governor on a broad range of statewide issues.

As Seattle University's newest dean, Loh said he will work to forge closer ties between the College of Arts and Sciences and the broader community, including alumni and external constituencies. At the same time, he said, he looks forward to working closely again with faculty and students.

"I'm energized by the dedication and quality of the faculty at Seattle University," Loh said. "They want to advance the college to new dimensions of scholarly, creative, and educational excellence. It's exciting to envision the college's future, and Seattle University's future under the new leadership of Father Sundborg, against the backdrop of the future of Seattle — one of the most economically and culturally vibrant, ethnically diverse, global, and high-tech cities in the country."

In addition to his administrative experience, Loh has a notable record of teaching, scholarship, and service. He has been a visiting professor at Cornell University, Beijing University, University of Texas at Austin, Emory University, University of Houston, and Vanderbilt University. He was chosen by the University of Washington law students as the Outstanding Professor of the Year in 1989.

Loh earned a law degree from Yale in 1974, where he was editor of its law journal; earned a doctorate in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1971; studied at the University of Louvain in Belgium in 1968-69; received a master's degree from Cornell University in 1966; and was awarded a bachelor's degree from Grinnell College in 1965.

Born in China and raised in Peru, Loh immigrated alone to the United States at the age of 15. He speaks Chinese, French and Spanish. He is married to Barbara Loh, a registered nurse, and they have a daughter, Andrea, in the third grade.

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