Washington State Magazine

When Washington State College introduced its hospitality program in 1932, no one had yet imagined an airport hotel, a drive-through restaurant, a convention center, or the boom of international travel. Eighty years later, as the industry grows in new and unexpected ways, the School of Hospitality sends its graduates out to meet its evolving needs.

Marcia Steele Hoover '90 promotes creativity and health as global director of the Nike Communications Center of Excellence at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.

Brian McTier, a WSU Vancouver-based business school faculty member, and his colleagues explored the impact of influenza on the U.S. stock market. 

3D-4U technology, developed by WSU professor Jay Jayaram and his team of (mostly WSU) engineers, puts replay and different views into the hands of the audience at sports and other events.

Throughout the living world, the nose leads the way, pioneering a course through the environment with the ability to spot virtually invisible perils and prizes.

John Bryant ’88 brought his beer business savvy to Spokane’s No-Li Brewhouse, bringing awards and attention across the United States and overseas to the microbrewery.

Craft distilleries are popping up all over Washington, like Golden Distillery, Dry Fly, and Fremont Mischief, to great acclaim.

China buys $11 billion of Washington exports and sells the state $31 billion of imports, in the last few years overtaking Japan as Washington’s second largest export destination. With WSU’s efforts to overcome linguistic, informational, and trade barriers, who knows where that economic relationship might lead?

Raising the raw ingredients for beer can be just as complex and interesting as growing grapes for wine, says Jason Perrault '97, '01. Like grapes, hops have different varieties and characteristics. Perrault, fourth-generation heir to a hops-farming legacy, runs a hops breeding program for Yakima Valley growers, helping to ensure that Washington continues to provide three-quarters of the hops grown in this country.