The Honors College at WSU welcomes alumnus and State Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) to a fireside chat at 1 p.m. today in the Honors Hall Lounge. He will be available to meet with students and the WSU community at that time.
Baumgartner (’99 Economics and the Honors College) worked as a former diplomat and business consultant prior to launching his political career in 2010. In addition to his WSU degree, the Pullman native earned his MPA from Harvard University, where he was also a teaching fellow in economics.
In Olympia, he introduced Sen. Bill 5931 to consolidate several state agencies, worked on pension reform for state employees, and introduced Sen. Joint Resolution 8225 on higher education funding. He was also a proponent of the funding for the new medical school in Spokane, operated by WSU.