Former KOMO news anchor Mary Nam appointed to WSU Board of Regents
Former KOMO news anchor Mary Nam is stepping into a new role three months after she left the anchor desk.
Gov. Bob Ferguson has appointed Nam to the Washington State University Board of Regents, alongside Fé LopezGaetke, the co-executive director of Purpose. Dignity. Action., a Seattle-based nonprofit focused on community-based alternatives to criminal justice.
The WSU alumni were appointed to fill two of three vacancies on the board, which functions as the university's governing body, WSU said in a statement. A third appointment will be made soon.
The Board of Regents consists of 11 members, one of whom is a student and another of whom is a faculty member.
Nam was the evening news anchor at KOMO, covering breaking news and earning an Emmy award in 2024. She left the anchor desk in March after 20 years with the news outlet.
"The education and experience I received at WSU changed my life - my four years in Pullman led to a 26-year career in broadcasting," said the former news anchor, who graduated from WSU's Edward R. Murrow College of Communications.
Nam has worked with nonprofits like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Seattle Children's hospital and Food Lifeline, the university said, and has volunteered with King County Senior Services' Sound Generations and served as a youth mentor with the VOICE Mentor Program.
LopezGaetke, who is a child of former farmworkers and is from Central Washington, also graduated from WSU, starting her studies at the university's main Pullman campus before finishing her bachelor's degree at the Tri-Cities campus.
She is the co-executive director of Purpose. Dignity. Action. (formerly Public Defender Association). Before that, she was the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Law School Admission Council, the first director of Seattle's Community Police Commission and president of the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington and OneAmerica.
"I look forward to working together to continue moving WSU into innovative sustained growth that is accessible to all who attend," LopezGaetke said in a statement.
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