Alumni Spotlight: Ryan Biava, 1999-2000 ASUW President

What was your most memorable UW class? Why?
Linguistics 404, “Indo-European,” where I learned one of my favorite bits of trivia: the English word “royal” and the Hindi word “raj” share the same root. Great, creative class about human thought that argues for strong humanities funding.

Who is your hero? Why?
If forced to choose, I would have to say the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung, who warned us away from hero worship and who taught that the unconscious parts of ourselves have real effects on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Individually and collectively.

What would be your go-to karaoke song?
I don’t subject others to my singing. Hard pass.

What is your favorite Husky tradition?
I’m going to say research. Everything at UW exists, ultimately, because people come together to understand the world better–and then to share it with others. Research underlies it all.

What has been your favorite memory of the HUB?
What I remember most of all is the camaraderie that existed in the activist groups and student government meetings I was involved with. I think sometimes we took ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously, but it was rewarding and I learned a great deal about myself and others.