CAAE Member Spotlight, February-March 2023

Name: Mariah Maki, Executive Director, WSU Alumni Association; Associate Vice President, Advancement

Institution: Washington State University

Q: Are you new to alumni relations, new to your institution, neither, or both?

A: I’m neither new to the field nor to my institution. I worked at WSU in alumni relations under Tim Pavish for 8 years between 2006 and 2014. From 2014 to 2022, I had a number of roles in both development and alumni relations (most recently as the Asst. VP for Constituent Engagement) at University of Arizona, and I returned home to WSU in September of 2022 to lead our Alumni Association efforts—Go Cougs!

Q: Best perk of the job so far:

A: Connecting with graduates of our wine and enology program to have them join Wine by Cougars or host one of our Feast programs. Just meeting alumni in the wine industry who are so incredibly passionate about what they do and sharing a glass of the wine they produce is most definitely a perk.

Q: Biggest challenge so far:

A: Post-pandemic hiring!

Q: If you needed to, could you sing your school’s fight song and/or alma mater?

A: The WSU fight song? Of course! The alma mater might take a bit more time to learn, but I’ll get it. ????

Q: What would it surprise people to know about you?

A: I love road cycling and have ridden many century rides as well as triathlons.

Q: Who would be your dream dinner guests?

A: Our current university president and first lady (Kirk and Noel Schulz), The Far Side’s Gary Larsen (alumnus), and Sherman Alexie (alumnus and one of my favorite authors).

Q: When I'm not on the job, you'll find me...

A: Traveling with my husband and son, riding down a trail or road, or cheering on the Cougs everywhere.