We alums of the past six decades can prevent the loss of the foundational courses in a simple, painless way. Change your estate planning to include

Friday Harbor Labs
Marine Life Endowment
of the University of Washington.

An endowment of $4.5 million will generate the funds necessary to ensure the contin­uation and quality of these courses.  FHL alums have already pledged over half of it.

We asked some alums about the impact of these courses on their lives. Their letters are at depts.washington.edu/fhl/MLE.htm

…In my opinion the summer program at Friday Harbor Laboratories is the best marine natural history program in the world and it has been for some 100 years.  The best marine ecologists in the world have passed through the FHL summer program, either as students or often as visiting professors and scientists. The fact that the students at FHL are exposed to these scholars, either as professors, visiting scientists and often as fellow students has made the FHL experience, the premier learning experience in the world. Paul Dayton   Professor of Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD

 My classroom experiences at Friday Harbor were extra­ordinary, and provided not only foundations for my research career, but still provide essential training that is allowing me to move my research into new areas. Diana Padilla Professor of Zoology, SUNY, Stony Brook

 …Not only do these courses instill excitement in students, and a broad vision of life on earth, they also serve to pass along to each successive generation of students an accumulated body of knowledge about animals and plants in a whole-organism and ecological context…Richard Brusca   Executive Program Director, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, co-author of  Invertebrates

 I still remember vividly the two spectacular courses at FHL in 1973 – invertebrate zoology and invertebrate development – [which] had a huge impact on my scientific training, career, and perspective…. Marine organisms provide a beautiful way of studying systems and organismal biology. And Friday Harbor Laboratory at the University of Washington is one of the very best places in the world to study and learn biology at this level. Corey Goodman     President & CEO,  Renovis, Inc.

… By dissecting and drawing marine organisms collected from the intertidal zone and later drawing the developmental stages of marine embryos, I learned to develop an "eye" for detail. Paul Matsudaira   Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering, Director Computational and Systems Biology Initiative, MIT

 …my grad advisor Graham Hoyle knew what I needed.  He insisted I show up ASAP at FHL after Yale (Physics), to start a ‘proper’ education.  The Invert course transformed my life. Dennis Willows   Professor and Director Emeritus (1972-2005) UW/FHL.

 …FHL is the only place on earth that has sustained classes devoted to seaweeds since it began doing so over 100 years ago. These and other organismal courses are the glue that holds the disparate fields of biology together, and they have been in serious decline nationwide… Susan Williams. Professor/Director Bodega Marine Lab.  UCDavis

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 …I took Embryology in ’64 from Arthur Whiteley and Katsuma Dan. I learned a way of thinking about the biochemistry of diverse organisms and the biophysics of development. The lessons learned from these premiere scientists have served as guidelines in all my research that has included both approaches… Charles Lambert     Professor emeritus of Biology, Cal State University at Fullerton.

 …The Invertebrate course, together with the researchers I met at FHL, changed my world.  So that others can enjoy a similar experience, I have added FHL to my will with a bequest to support the core courses.    Katherine Graubard   Research Professor, Department of Biology, University of Washington

Mention Friday Harbor Laboratories and a avalanche of experience, people and learning comes to mind. Out in the rocky intertidal, the myriad of life forms, beautiful, strange.  Out on the night water, phosphorescent creatures lining the boat's wake in dancing lights…. Georgiana May     Associate Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota 

Robert Fernald’s comparative embryology course was without a doubt the best class I have ever taken. The FHL and its courses are rare and irreplaceable gems that serve a global role, benefiting our society by advancing diverse fields including ecology and medicine. Randall Moon  Professor of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; Director, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. University of Washington.

Field stations like Friday Harbor are one of the most important institutional ways in which we can expose students to wild nature. The wondrous diversity of marine invertebrates that I learned about at Friday Harbor was one of the highest and most memorable experiences of my life, let alone my graduate career. This summer field station experience, perhaps as much as any other, crystallized my passion to become a professional ecologist. Stephen P. Hubbell     Distinguished Research Professor, University of Georgia 

….Many graduates and  teachers of these courses have gone on to become independent faculty members or major contributors to industry and I am sure the experience at Friday Harbor has seriously contributed to their success. Richard Scheller,    HHMI Professor, Stanford University, Exec Vice President, Genentech Inc.

There are more at depts.washington.edu/fhl/MLE.htm

Thank you, very much.

Betsy Gladfelter and Dennis Willows