GW Alumni Provide Leadership on Capitol Hill
Elected Members of Congress represent constituents nationwide
From Hawaii to New York, GW alumni represent their constituents as Members of the U.S. Congress. They hold some of the most powerful positions in both houses of Congress: Sen. Harry S. Reid (D-Nev.), J.D. ’64, serves as the U.S. Senate majority leader, and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), B.A. ’85, is the chief whip for the House Republican Conference.
Other notable GW alumni on Capitol Hill include war veterans Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), J.D. ’52, and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), M.S.I.A. ’74. Inouye is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and third-longest serving member of the U.S. Senate. Inouye received the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Italian theater in World War II. Johnson, meanwhile, served in northern Vietnam, where he was shot down and held as a prisoner of war for seven years. Upon his release, he started his own business in Texas and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991.
Among the 14 GW alumni in Congress, 11 were elected or re-elected in November 2008. They included former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, B.A. ’77, who became the commonwealth’s junior senator, and Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, J.D. ’84.
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.