Washington and Lee University

Anna Pobletts ’12, head of Passwordless at 1Password, has been named to Okta Ventures’ 2026 Identity 25 list, which spotlights identity innovators in the AI age.

"It means a lot to be recognized by people in this field I genuinely respect. Previous and current honorees are people who’ve spent decades working on open standards and have quietly shaped how the internet actually works. With Passage, we were trying to get people to move away from passwords to more secure login options, and the challenge was making something secure enough to matter and simple enough that a non-technical person would actually use it. Being included in this group means that the work I did through Passage was valued by the people who deeply understand this technology and problem space."

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/anna-pobletts-12-named-to-okta-ventures-2026-identity-25-list/

From interning with the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington, D.C., to researching the policies shaping international trade and investment, Akash Abraham ’28 used his Johnson Enhancement Funds, provided through the Johnson Scholarship, to turn his academic interests into meaningful professional experience.

“To be a Johnson Scholar is just such a great honor,” he says, “but the Enhancement Funds part of it, which allowed for the pre-professional experience and networking, especially for such a small niche in Washington, that’s just extraordinarily helpful.”

Read more about how Johnson Enhancement Funds open up opportunities for W&L Johnson Scholars: https://columns.wlu.edu/exploring-the-world/

Washington and Lee University has enjoyed another successful year for nationally competitive fellowships for the 2025-2026 academic year, with more than 30 recipients earning opportunities to pursue challenging research and other work around the world.

This year’s cohort includes current students and recent graduates who represent a diverse cross-section of campus involvement, including members of the Bonner Program, Greek life, varsity and club sports teams, the Shepherd Program, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Student Environmental Action League, university music ensembles and the Outing Club.

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/fellowship-awards-allow-washington-and-lee-recipients-to-forge-new-paths/

Washington and Lee University students Chloe Kim ’28 and Mackenzie Morante ’27 were selected to receive the university’s John W. Warner Public Service Award for their interest in public affairs and potential for future leadership in public service. Each year, the award honors two students from the W&L Washington Term to serve in a second political internship through the summer.

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/two-students-selected-for-the-john-w-warner-public-service-award/

Bailey Jordan '26 double majored in business administration and politics at W&L, and now she is moving back to her hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina, to work at Allspring Global Investments, an asset management firm where she is doing a two-year rotational program in their marketing department.

“I was intimidated to not know what I wanted to do as a W&L student, but by taking advantage of every opportunity I could at W&L, I found my way into what I was interested in pursuing for my career. During my summers, I interned with a luxury wedding planner in Charleston, South Carolina, and I worked on Capitol Hill during Washington Term for the Committee on Ways and Means and for Red Ventures, a digital marketing firm, after my junior year. I always knew I wanted to be in something with a creative angle to it, but after trying out politics, I decided I was most interested in the business world. I also spoke with many W&L alumni who helped me learn so much about industries of interest and what a day in the life looks like at so many different roles. This information was pivotal for deciding what I wanted to do post grad.”

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/whats-next-for-bailey-jordan-26/

From applying what she learned in the classroom to climate work at a nonprofit in London to gaining international professional experience, Mia Re*****on ’28 is using her Johnson Enhancement Funds, provided through the Johnson Scholarship, to turn her academic interests into real-world impact.

“It definitely could not have been possible without the funds,” says Re*****on, a global politics and Chinese double major with a minor in poverty and human capability studies.

Read more about how Johnson Enhancement Funds open up opportunities for W&L Johnson Scholars: https://columns.wlu.edu/exploring-the-world/

With a grant from the Keck Geology Consortium, W&L’s Madhumita Chakraborty, assistant professor of earth and environmental geoscience, and a team of students spent five weeks this summer conducting research on the local groundwater, working with residents to sample their private wells and springs and testing the water for a wide range of solutes. With this research, Chakraborty is building a multi-year dataset on the chemistry and quality of groundwater across Rockbridge County, which will provide important information about the groundwater type, how it flows and how suitable it is for drinking.

Providing opportunities for hands-on learning and collaboration is central to undergraduate research at W&L. Chakraborty has particularly appreciated watching the students learn the technical skills of field sampling and analysis and put what they’ve learned into practice.

Read more about their research on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/where-geology-meets-public-health/

Thanks to the generosity of 9,612 donors, the W&L community contributed $84.8 million during the 2025-26 fiscal year — the second-highest fundraising year of the Leading Lives of Consequence campaign and the third strongest in university history.

These milestones reflect more than generosity — they reflect a community united by a shared commitment to providing a consequential education for current and future generations.

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/wl-community-fuels-unprecedented-fundraising-results/

Wildfires are making headlines across the United States. Fueled by widespread drought conditions and high temperatures, recent fires have burned tens of thousands of acres across Utah, Colorado and Minnesota. And, closer to home, a fire in Rockbridge County was first discovered on July 5.

Washington and Lee University’s Calvin Bryan, assistant professor of economics, studies the effectiveness of specific firefighting strategies in halting or delaying wildfire spread. Bryan has a unique background for this field of study: Earlier in his professional life, he worked for several seasons with the U.S. Forest Service in the Rocky Mountains, serving as a trail crew supervisor and wildland firefighter.

In this Q&A, Bryan explains how firefighters battle wildfires, why today's fires are more severe and what you should know if a wildfire threatens your community.

Read more on The Columns: https://columns.wlu.edu/qa-are-wildfires-getting-worse/

From helping with a documentary project with a Florida ocean conservation nonprofit to researching art across Europe, Kat Repka ’26 used her Johnson Enhancement Funds, provided through the Johnson Scholarship, to turn her academic interests into formative experiences around the world.

“I love being able to rave about the opportunities that students have to see beyond Lexington,” says Repka, a double major in sociology and anthropology and art history.

Read more about how Johnson Enhancement Funds open up opportunities for W&L Johnson Scholars: https://columns.wlu.edu/exploring-the-world/